Destinations: Entebbe and Kampala
- August 6, 2024
- Posted by: chosen@202q
- Category: Prepare To Travel Tips
Destinations: Entebbe and Kampala
Favored for its abundant hunting grounds and temperate environment, the region that is now the city proper was called the hills of the Impala by the British. This is how the name Kampala originated among the Lugandan people.
Kampala, which was once home to seven hills and is located near the shores of Lake Victoria, has grown in both area and population. It is a busy, purposeful, and beautiful city with a fantastic blend of Buganda, colonial, Indian, and twentieth-century architecture.
It is also delightful, full of markets, traffic jams, and large expanses of migrant workers at the start and end of each day.
Once the seat of the Baganda people, whose rulers, or kabakas, are buried atop Kasubi Hill, Kampala saw a dramatic shift in its ethnic makeup with the ascent to power of Obote and then Amin. Both were from the north, and they had their own networks of friends and family, many of whom worked in the police and army.
With Yoweri Musuveni’s arrival, a second wave of immigrants arrived, this time from the west. This resulted in a fascinating mix of peoples, of which over 60% are still from Baganda.
Entebbe is close by, around 40 kilometers to the southwest of Kampala, and is home to Uganda’s principal international airport. Entebbe, the former official seat of the Baganda judiciary branch, is quieter, smaller, and possibly easier to maneuver than Kampala.
In addition to the botanical gardens and Sesse Islands, it is politically significant because it is the location of State House, the president’s official house.
Entebbe is best remembered for his daring Israeli counterterrorism operation in 1976 that freed about a hundred Israeli Jews who were being held captive by a German-Palestinian terrorist organization, with the approval of a more paranoid Idi Amin.
It is important to keep in mind, too, that Entebbe was once a key colonial administrative hub and is still a major port (if only for ferries heading to Lake Victoria).
With its more diverse range of cultures, history, and lush surroundings, Kampala is unquestionably the more appealing of the two. Regarding accommodations for both, please see below.