Fun and Interesting Facts about Uganda

Uganda is by no doubt one of the preferred safari destinations in Africa due to its abundant wildlife and enchanting primates to watch. Tourist attractions consist of the endangered mountain gorillas in Bwindi, sparkling waterfalls of Murchison and Jinja Nile, wetlands and rain forests filled with wildlife, and the Batwa tribe living in the untouched impenetrable bwindi forest without any contact with the rest of the world. But a vacation in Uganda is not complete without making time to visit with local people, explore Uganda’s culture and heritage sights, gorilla safaris and do a little shopping for that “just right” souvenir to remind you of your perfect Uganda vacation. Sooth and expect your soul to be touched forever with a safari experience since Uganda is synonymous with wildlife and nature.

Uganda has a warm tropical climate, and is located on the East African plateau, lying mostly between latitudes 4°N and 2°S (a small area is north of 4°), and longitudes 29° and 35°E. It averages about 1,100 meters (3,609 ft) above sea level, and this slopes very steadily downwards to the Sudanese Plain to the north. However, much of the south is poorly drained, while the centre is dominated by Lake Kyoga, which is also surrounded by extensive marshy areas. Uganda lies almost completely within the Nile basin.

The climate in Uganda is controlled by the oscillating effects of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), which sees the convergence of the rain bringing Atlantic westerlies and Indian Ocean easterlies and the dry north-east and south-east monsoon winds. Thus, in keeping with much of tropical Africa, Uganda experiences a wet season and a dry season, its precipitation pattern described as bimodal, the main or long rains arriving March – May, the short rains November – start of December.

Uganda has public taxis, motorcycle taxis (Boda Boda) and private taxis. Public taxis are vans marked with blue squares and where as private taxis usually have squares too but of different colors. Uganda has more of public taxis and boda bodas than private taxis. The boda-bodas are found almost everywhere but we recommend using Safe Bodas (Boda-Bodas with orange helmets and gears), Taxify Bodas (Green jackets) and Uber bodas since these are well trained to ensure your safety while on a holiday in Uganda. The public taxis can be found in the New taxi park, old taxi park or along the roads in Kampala.

The culture of Uganda is made up of a diverse range of ethnic groups. The Bantu tribe carries the biggest potion of ethnicity in Uganda with majority living in the central region, eastern region and southern region of Uganda. In Uganda, they include the Baganda, Basoga, Bacjwezi and several other tribes. In the north, the Lango and the Acholi peoples predominate, who speak Nilotic languages. To the east are the Iteso and Karamojong, who speak a Nilotic language, whereas the Gishu are part of the Bantu and live mainly on the slopes of Mt. Elgon. A few Pygmies (Batwa) live isolated in the rainforests of western Uganda in Bwindi and Mgahinga massifs.

So far English is the national language of Uganda and Kiswahili comes in as an official language too. For the past years, there has been a debate about making Kiswahili the national language but this bill still hangs in balance. These two languages are the most popular in Uganda followed by “Luganda” , the native language of the baganda. Sad thing is a big percentage of people in rural areas are not fluent in English but speak Kiswahili more.

According to Wikipedia; Uganda is diverse religiously with Christianity being the most widely professed religion. According to the 2014 census, over 84 percent of the population was Christian while about 14 percent of the population adhered to Islam, making it the largest minority religion. In 2009, the northern and west Nile regions were dominated by Roman Catholics, and Iganga District in the east of Uganda had the highest percentage of Muslims.

The northern and West Nile regions are predominantly Catholic, while the Iganga District in eastern Uganda has the highest percentage of Muslims. The rest of the country has a mix of religious affiliations. Traditional indigenous beliefs are practiced in some rural areas and are sometimes blended with or practiced alongside Christianity or Islam.

UGANDA WEATHER

Uganda’s most consumed food is Bananas which is traditionally referred to as Matooke. Matooke is collected green, peeled and then cooked and often mashed or pounded into a meal. It can be prepared for breakfast mixed with beef beans, peanut, which make it more tasty. The smashed Matooke can be served with all sauces, chicken beef, fish, groundnuts, beans and peas, which make the meal really delicious.

Uganda is among the top exporters of Matooke in the whole world as claimed by statistics. Most of the households basically live on Matooke and posho especially the percentage in the rural regions of the country. Other widely consumed foods are sweet potatoes, millet, cassava, ground nuts, green vegetable and yams.