{"id":7576,"date":"2026-02-10T12:03:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T12:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldoftravelling.com\/blog\/?p=7576"},"modified":"2026-02-13T17:39:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T17:39:19","slug":"lake-bunyonyi-should-be-compulsory-on-any-ugandan-travel-itinerary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldoftravelling.com\/blog\/?p=7576","title":{"rendered":"Lake Bunyonyi Should Be Compulsory On Any Ugandan Travel Itinerary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Lake Bunyonyi – photo credit: www.mgahinganationalpark.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the highlights of my 21-day trip to Uganda was a two-night stay at breathtaking Lake Bunyonyi \u2014 one of the most beautiful places in the country. I hope you agree – once you have seen the photos below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bunyonyi, and Bwindi, were tricky places to get to, using public transport, so I used Wagatil Safaris<\/a> to organise this section. Pretty was the name of my contact and she did a fantastic job of coordinating everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lake Bunyonyi is the second deepest lake in Africa and was formed around 10,000 years ago when a river was dammed by lava. Its name means \u201clake of little birds\u201d, and with birdsong constantly filling the air, it\u2019s easy to see how it earned the title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stayed at Seeds of Hope, a basic but comfortable guesthouse on Itambira Island, one of the lake\u2019s 29 islands. Itambira translates as \u201ca place of healing\u201d \u2014 a fitting description for such a peaceful setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeds of Hope is a not for profit organisation. I met one of the directors, Sally, and she told me about the amazing work they do – helping and supporting the community with a range of projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can walk around the entire island in about an hour, meeting friendly locals along the way. Everyone speaks excellent English, and I spent time chatting with Derek, a local farmer, who proudly showed me his crops and explained how he produces such high-quality harvests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On my second day, I took a boat tour with an excellent local guide, Hillary. His running commentary \u2014 covering both daily life and the lake\u2019s extraordinary history \u2014 was fascinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our first stop was Akampene, better known as Punishment Island, where until the 1940s unmarried pregnant women were abandoned and left to die unless rescued by men too poor to afford a regular bride price. A haunting reminder of past traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, we visited Sharp\u2019s Island (Njuyera) so named because of Len and Esther Sharp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1921, shortly after the First World War, Dr Len Sharp and his wife Esther arrived in southern Uganda as Protestant missionaries. While working at Kabale Hospital, Len was deeply affected by the suffering caused by leprosy and went on to establish a pioneering treatment and rehabilitation centre across the islands of Bwama, Bushara and Njuyera. Entire villages, along with a hospital, school and church, were built, transforming thousands of lives. At its peak, 47,000 treatments were administered annually, and by 1948 Bwama was home to over 1,000 residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Njuyera \u2014 later known as Sharp\u2019s Island \u2014 became the Sharps\u2019 private retreat. Once barren, Esther transformed it into a lush tropical garden complete with fruit trees, manicured lawns and even a tennis court. Visitors described it as one of the most beautiful places in Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our next stop was Bwama Island, the former leprosy hospital. Today it is home to a church, school and community hospital. The grounds were packed with patients, supported by volunteer doctors from Slovenia who rotate on three-month placements \u2014 a moving continuation of the island\u2019s medical legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our final stop was a lively lakeside trading hub, where locals buy and sell everything from bananas to beer. It was here that we enjoyed a delicious Rolex \u2014 Uganda\u2019s most popular street food. No, not the watch, but a freshly cooked chapati filled with a vegetable omelette, rolled up and served hot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then it was time to head back to Seeds of Hope for a well-earned lakeside siesta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Arriving at Seeds of Hope<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Pretty, the lady responsible for organising the trickier part of my Ugandan trip – Bunyonyi and Bwindi – www.wagatilsafaris.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Derek showing me around his crops<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Views across the lake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Views across the lake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Bags of charcoal – used for cooking, alongside wood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The national bird of Uganda – the grey crowned crane <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Rolex<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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My guide and boat captain – Hillary<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Late evening Lake Bunyonyi <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lake Bunyonyi \u2014 the \u201clake of little birds\u201d \u2014 is one of Uganda\u2019s most peaceful and powerful places. Island hopping, deep history, incredible people and the best Rolex I\u2019ve had so far. A must-stop on any Uganda itinerary. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7595,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[339],"tags":[349],"class_list":["post-7576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uganda","tag-lake-bunyonyi"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldoftravelling.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldoftravelling.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldoftravelling.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldoftravelling.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldoftravelling.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7576"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/worldoftravelling.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7625,"href":"https:\/\/worldoftravelling.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7576\/revisions\/7625"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldoftravelling.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldoftravelling.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldoftravelling.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldoftravelling.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}