Nyendo: A town of many trades

Progress. A historically crime infested town, Nyendo has now developed into a prominent stopover for travellers. PHOTO | MALIK FAHAD

Two decades ago, if you told people you were from Nyendo town, you would get those weird and sympathetic stares because you were viewed as a person who lived around thieves and all sorts of criminals. Yes, save for grasshoppers, Nyendo was synonymous with high crime rates. 

Located in Masaka city, approximately 116kms from Kampala, today, Nyendo is bustling with activity given that it is the grasshopper season, a delicacy the town gets in very large quantities during this time of the year. People actually make a killing out of it. In times of scarcity, a cup goes for between Shs7,000 and Shs10,000 and as low as Shs3,000 in times of abundance. 

Young men and women, selling raw and fried grasshoppers are what welcome you the moment you get to Nyendo stage. Grasshoppers take about two months to metamorphose from the egg to the adult stage, skipping the caterpillar stage after an adult female grasshopper laying eggs into the ground that are stuck together in a pod. 

Trends in Nyendo have shown that grasshoppers arrive in November, a usually wet month where they thrive best. Traditionally, catching grasshoppers was left for women and children but with the commercialisation of the activity, business people set collection centres with drums and iron sheets, fully equipped with lights to aid in attracting the insects.  The myths around women only stopping at preparing the delicacy for their husbands and not eating it are quickly being phased out, although some of them, well into their old age still hold on to this. 

Treating grasshoppers

According to Musa Kapalaga, a businessman in the town who has dealt in grasshoppers for a long time,  once caught, grasshoppers are boiled shortly and later sundried as a way of preserving them. They are packed in gunny bags and later taken to different parts of the country for sale. If one has a deep freezer they can be preserved for a long time although they might not be as delicious as those prepared fresh. 

 Kapalaga says the trade is not as lucrative as it used to be as he believes that most of the insects must have migrated to some other part of the country. At their most abundant during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s,  Kapalaga says he made enough money that enabled him to fulfill the holy pilgrimage to Mecca. 

The magical  mamba

Since Nyendo is also famous for the fried African lungfish (mamba), those dealing in this particular business are crying foul since most of their customers are resorting to grasshoppers as a substitute. 

The mamba traders get this delicacy from Lambu, Bukakata Town, on the shores of Lake Victoria, approximately 44 kilometres east of Nyendo Town. The delicacy has also economically empowered the community creating mini tycoons since it is consumed by many every day.  

According to Gladys Namatovu,  a vendor who prepares it, once boild,  it is a good aphrodisiac for men. She says this is the reason one is bound to find many men around her fire place located on Nyendo-Kitovu Road. 

The African lungfish majorly lives in freshwater swamps. The female lays its eggs in a nest in a weedy area of its habitat. The male takes on the mantle of guarding the eggs for two months. 

Ku Safari

There is also an entire street from ku safari down to the transformer area where a plethora of food items are sold ranging from scrumptious roasted goat’s meat and chicken, katogo to cow hooves (ekirenge). 

For as low as Shs1,000 once can get a decent meal of matooke fingers and beans katogo. I treated myself to cow hooves, at Maama Biito’s stall at the transformer stage as it is famously known. 

As I went about the business of sucking all the marrow out of the bones of the hooves, she intimated to me that the crime rate had drastically gone down as most of the delinquents had sought greener pastures in the United Arab Emirates. 

One thing that still baffles visitors to this town is the cars that ply the Nyendo-Masaka town route under the town service arrangement. It is the newest Premios that charge a paltry Shs1,000  for a trip. The sort of cars that are a preserve for the middle class in Kampala are the equivalent of taxis in Nyendo. 

Welcome

You cannot talk about Nyendo and forget the famous “Ku Welcome” an area safely placed in intersection of roads with one leading to Mbarara and the other to Masaka City. 

The area attracts a lot of travellers who stop over to have a bite of the savory chops at Banya and Highway Takeaway, later washed down with a bottle or two of beer. It is a favourite for Subaru drivers who are usually heading upcountry on weekends. The place also has affordable and comfortable lodging for those who wish to spend a night. 

Ambience discotheque, is located just after Nakayiba village and during the pre-Covid -19 days, it was the place to be for revellers who wished to dance the night away. On the other hand, the Covid-19 pandemic has not left business as usual. The town that was once upbeat with a lot of economic activity, is only picking up the pieces after the president eased the lockdown recently. Bars and nightclubs still remained closed (at least on the surface).  Finally, as you visit and enjoy Nyendo, you are advised to drive slow not only to take in every bit of the town but because the road that snakes through it is littered with huge potholes.