My Ssese experience and investment opportunities

I have been meaning to sit and write about my experience on Bugala Island which took place between September 15 and 17, but its clear time has not been on my side because of several engagements including preparing Elephant Plains Ltd. (a new safari lodge located at the boundary of Queen Elizabeth National Park).
General Katumba Wamala, a person I respect a lot, has been on my case for quite a while about setting aside some time to accompany him to Bugala Island which is one of the 84 islands that form Ssese Islands.
Gen Katumba happens to have been born on Ssese Islands and feels Ssese Islands have a lot of unexploited tourism potential.
He wanted me to meet up with the local leadership on the island alongside accommodation investors.
I got to meet the LC5 of Kalangala District, a young man with a great deal of interest in seeing Ssese Islands grow alongside the investors who I exchanged ideas with for more two hours at Brovad Sands Resort.
Taking pictures while travelling to Ssese, especially while using MV Kalangala (ferry) is one of the hardest things for me because of its amazing beauty along the way.
MV Kalangala travels to and from Bugala Island everyday departing Entebbe at 2pm and arriving three hours later.
It spends a night on the island and leaves as early 8am. The transport cost on this ferry are as low as Shs14,000 for the upper class and transporting a car one way is a low as Shs70,000. The ferry has a good restaurant serving food and I must say I enjoyed the whole fish and chips as I was very hungry.
The Ssese Islands are an archipelago of 84 islands like I wrote above in the northwestern part of Lake Victoria in Uganda. The Islands were once named amongst the top 10 hidden Islands of the World by the Lonely Planet, the travel bible of the world.
The Islands are coterminous with the Kalangala District in the southern central part of Uganda, which does not have any territory on the mainland.
The Ssese Islands vary in sizes from 10,000 square metres, to over 40 kilometres in length for the largest of the island in Uganda, Bugala.
The largest island on Lake Victoria is actually found on the Tanzania side called Ukerewe Island just north of Mwanza town.
I also visited a very good community clinic that was built by Gen Wamala Katumba and rotary club and I got to learn that, it serves about 500 people every single month.
The clinic is located about 15 kilometres from Kalangala District headquarters and serving a very poor community.
Gen Katumba and his neighbour have also allocated a big piece of land where a school is to be built or is being built because I saw some buildings coming up. I was definitely inspired by his work alongside the Kalangala Rotary Club.
The Kalangala Rotary Club happened to be on the island offering free medical consultations, legal consultations, etc. having both doctors and lawyers onsite. It is so good observing Ugandans taking volunteering seriously, something I have benefitted a lot from as a human being.
During our travel to Bugala Island, I saw many Ugandans and none of the Ugandans were heading to the islands for the weekend. The captain said, that they experience that every weekend. I think the numbers heading out every weekend must be more than what MV Kalangala can handle and I think if someone invested a very comfortable big boat with proper seats, charging say Shs100,000, many Kampala dwellers would flock to the islands.
I stood for three hours just because the ferry was so full and having money in my pocket to pay for a seat was not enough. A good comfortable big boat would reduce travel time to Bugala by half and would also give travellers enough time to enjoy the islands.
MV Kalangala arrives in Bugala Island at 5pm every day and most people have only three days away from work which means they have only one complete day on the island since they have to wake up at 6am on Sunday to prepare for departure at 8am.
A flexible boat would leave Entebbe say 9am on Friday, arriving at the island before noon and returning to the mainland on Sunday at about 5pm.
I know of many saving groupings in Uganda with solid amounts of money on the accounts but do not know where that money should be invested.
Investing in a beautiful big boat would make some good profits. I hear a Chinese company wants to build one but why can’t we Ugandans take on such challenges?
Bugala Islands needs a high-end supermarket or a shopping centre to serve interests of Kampala dwellers who go enjoying weekends on the island.
The island needs new activities to keep clients engaged, such as quad biking on the island, birding needs to be developed, Sundowners on a beautiful boat would earn someone some good morning alongside doing day trips to other many Ssese Islands.
Others can organise weekend activities like Kalangala marathons, biking along the islands plus visitations to the palm gardens etc.
The island needs a group of young educated people who will be tour guides with knowledge about the island, birds, butterflies, tree species, etc. and this will need patience because learning will take some time.
Anyway, I will do a live discussion next week to discuss areas of opportunities plus I want to thank Kiyimba Rashid owner of Brovad Sands Resort for hosting me at his accommodation. I would recommend it any day!

The writer is the CEO of Great Lakes Safaris and an investment expert
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