Virunga Ranges: Visiting Kisoro’s marvels

Skeleton Island. A tour guide shows the writer some of the skeletal remains of bodies girls that were kept at the Island.  

In Summary

• The Punishment Island, on the other hand, is more developed. Investors have set up a viewing platform, a camping area, cottage and restaurant for tourists to get the real feel of the region’s culture.
• There, where the lake starts, a bigger deck is under construction in preparation for revelers in the future and it is where this journey ends.

By Eronie Kamukama

For two nights in Kabale, I am lost in the serenade of its nature. About 70 kilometres away, is Kisoro District, so I head there to make more memories.
However, there is no smooth way from Kisoro Town to Mountain Muhavura, my first destination.
Volcanic activity in the past has left its legacy on the road. It remains without tarmac.

Even then, we hit some potholes here and there.
The sun is yet to come out but the weather is friendlier. Back in Kabale, I could hardly take off my jacket.

The air is similarly fresh. The vegetation looks generously watered. The road is alive with men and women briskly hurrying to catch up with the market day.
By now, part of Virunga Ranges, a chain of volcanoes, including Mountain Muhavura, Karisimbi and Sabyinyo draws nearer through the fog.

It takes a few more hours for it to clear, Wycliffe Rushaju, the tour guide, says.

Hiking on Muhavura
In the meantime, my hike to the Muhavura base camp occupies my time.

It is no walk in the park. The path is narrow and stony and I learn that I must wear boots on the next trip.
But I love the well piled volcanic rocks on each side of this track that wades through homes and potato gardens.
Mountain Muhabura, as it is known among the locals in Kisoro, is 4,127 metres above sea level.

Hiking is organised by Uganda Wildlife Authority at a cost of Shs50,000 for any Ugandan.

“You can hire a porter to help because it is not a long distance but the gain in elevation causes a gain in pressure and loss in oxygen so it is strenuous but an interesting activity every Ugandan should do,” Rushaju says.

The first part of the park, he says, is a forest with animals such as buffaloes, mountain gorillas, and golden monkeys.

“As you exit the forest, you go into another zone and can see Rwanda, Kisoro and DR Congo. At the top of the mountain, is a crater lake. It is a feeling you cannot compare to our ordinary lives.”
That feeling sticks with me only in imagination as my hike stops at the base camp.

Lake Mutanda
That afternoon I set off again to Lake Mutanda, 20 kilometres north of Kisoro town.
A drizzle surprise us as we reach but the boat captain and tour guide, Deus Tumwesigye, assures us the drizzles cannot stop us.

The lake is 18 kilometres long and 40.2 metres deep.
“There are no hippos, no crocodiles, and no bilharzia. We have cray, tilapia and cat fish. The lake has two rivers, one inlet called Ruhizanyindo and an outlet called River Kaboko. We have 18 Islands including two special ones, the punishment and skeleton islands,” he says.

Not many local tourists visit though. It is mostly foreigners who come for Lake Mutanda scenic views that allows you to see the Virunga ranges.

Like the Bakiga, the Bafumbira too had no soft spot for girls impregnated without recognised husbands.
The story, however, is deeper than the Bakigas’. The pregnant girls were sent to die on the Punishment Island. The twist is that once dead, their bodies were shipped through dug-out canoes to a cave known as the Skeleton Island today.

“It is four kilometres from the deck and a boat cruise costs Shs60,000. The Skeleton Island is 12 kilometres away so it costs Shs150,000,” Tumwesigye says.
At Skeleton Island, dry human skulls and bones lie in the cave. Their About 250 bodies were discovered here and the practice ceased 92 years ago.

“People stopped it but also education has helped,” Tumwesigye says, adding: “Government is planning to put a permanent fence and a platform on the other side.”
The Punishment Island, on the other hand, is more developed. Investors have set up a viewing platform, a camping area, cottage and restaurant for tourists to get the real feel of the region’s culture.

There, where the lake starts, a bigger deck is under construction in preparation for revelers in the future and it is where this journey ends.

Activities in Kisoro

Apart from seeing the three mountains as part of the Virunga Ranges, you will be sure to catch up with a number of other activities such as boat cruising, bird watching, viewing rare frogs, a lot of history, peninsulas and visits to local communities.

“Every weekend, elders perform traditional dances so it would be good for you,” Sheba Hanyurwa, managing director Rafiki Guest Houses says, “The story about life is in the Great Lakes region including Kisoro, is people still live traditionally. They are welcoming. There is freshly harvested food. All Ugandans should visit the Kigezi sub-region because the countryside is the way to supporting community tourism.”

Story of punishment and skeleton island

The story of the Punishment and Skeleton Islands is a fascinating one. Like the Bakiga, the Bafumbira too had no soft spot for girls impregnated out of wedlock.
The story, however, is deeper than the Bakigas’.

The pregnant girls among the Bafumbira were sent to die on the Punishment Island. The twist, however, is once dead, the girl’s bodies would be shipped through dug-out canoes to a cave known as the Skeleton Island today.