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Africa’s largest lake sits calmly in a shallow basin,
surrounded by green vegetation. In 1858 British explorer John Speke named it
Victoria, after the Queen of England. The locals in Buganda, however, already
had a different name for it, Nalubaale. Where did the name Nalubaale come from?
The answer could be found in a small rock the size of a bus leaning against
Mpata Island in Buvuma district.
Our voyage to this point on October 31, 2017, started at
Ripon, a dilapidated historical docking point in Jinja. Ripon’s misery is
instantly thrown into one’s face by a dead railroad and some rusty stationary
ships. It was a little after midday, sunrays flickered gently on the water
surface, and the lake was generally calm.
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| Eric at Ripon |
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| L-R: Ronnie, William, George |
Our speed boat was as comfortable as they come. Powered by
two engines of 115 horse power each, it cut through water with the sleekness of
a knife penetrating butter. We kept walking across and taking selfies as it sped further south into
the open waters. Water birds, floating, swimming and softly diving into the
water as we passed by added to the harmonious environment, and made me reflect
on the peace I felt being out there on the water. It was a sharp contrast to
the noisy, polluted atmosphere we had left behind on the mainland.
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| L-R: Stephen, Ronnie, Beat, Eric |
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| William |
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| Dan |
In about twenty minutes we were riding past Malongo, the main
gateway to Buvuma Island. The Kiyindi - Malongo ferry was on the water with
cows, cars and people, sailing slowly towards Kiyindi. Memories of Buvuma
Island, of Walwanda and Kitamiro dwellings, came flying back. I had enjoyed every
moment of my stay in Buvuma on my two previous visits. My first visit there was
in 2014 on a government mission. It was a full week of work in fishing
communities that was as educative as it was entertaining. I fell in love with
the Island. I returned to the Island in 2016 on private business and this time
it was a few crazy days and nights.
On my last night, the owner of the Guest House where I had
stayed on both visits, an old man with so much experience and many interesting
life stories, offered me a drink. For the first time I drank “Eagle Lager,”
made by Nile Breweries, and that was because it was the only beer available.
One, two, three, I swallowed. On the fourth bottle, eagles started to fly
inside my head. Tightly holding my half empty Eagle bottle by the neck, I slowly escaped from my dosing host and
dived into my room, hoping to finish it in the morning. Just as a precaution, because
I was totally drunk, I decided to hide my wallet such that in case an intruder
came in unheard they would have a hard time finding it. I hid it from myself
instead. The morning came. My cargo had been booked on a boat destined for
Kiyindi. I was supposed to go with the morning ferry to get there at least 45
minutes before my cargo arrived. There I were, stuck, unable to locate my
wallet. Finally, I found it in one of the corners of the mattress after about
20 minutes of absolute confusion. I confessed my sin and swore never again to
get close to Eagle Lager. She was not made for me!
Buvuma Island has in the last two decades been steadily
losing its natural forest cover mainly due to increased human settlement and
the demand for timber and charcoal on the mainland. And now that BIDCO, a
vegetable oil company, has bought chunks of land there to plant oil palm, in a
couple of years the natural forest will be no more. How I will miss your beauty
Buvuma!
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| Nyenda Island |
As we moved ahead we passed between several Islands including
Mukwaya and Mpunga. Near these is another called Nyenda. Nyenda’s vegetation
was vividly intact. Looking small in size, it stood tall and firm among its
neighbours. A cloud hovered over Nyenda and started to move towards the
mainland. I started to imagine which part of the Victoria basin would receive
its rain. My guide explained that Nyenda Island had no people. I appreciated
this insight. We humans are by far nature’s worst enemy.
In a short while we were docking at Bunda landing site, on
Mpata Island. People, curious to know what the uninvited guests wanted, started
to gather. From our initial interactions we understood that this was not where
we specifically wanted to dock. We
wanted to be at Nalubaale landing site, just a couple of kilometres away from
here. After exchanging some pleasantries we jumped onto our boat and headed to
Nalubaale.
We were here for two things. One, to present to the fisher
community the owner of over 50 acres of land a small part of which they had
occupied and two, to reflect on projects we could implement here. The locals
had long waited to see their landlord. They were anxious about their future
given land wrangles and rampant evictions occurring throughout the country.
Through our team leader, also their landlord, Ronald Kiyimba, we assured them
that they were safe. We would co-exist here.
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| Community meeting |
Our tour took us to a shore with eye catching ridges, perfect
for artistic imagination, perfect for photo shoot backgrounds.
On the other side of the beach are clear white sands, an
ideal place for swimming and sun basking. About 80% of the land is untouched
natural vegetation, purely balanced by natural factors. You could hear sounds
of birds and apes from a distance.
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| Nalubaale |
Then there is this rock, Nalubaale. The locals here believe
that the name of Africa’s largest lake, Nalubaale, came from this stone.
Nalubaale holds spiritual status. Different groups of both traditional and
foreign beliefs often visit it to perform rituals from there.
If Speke discovered Victoria, Beat, Dan, Eric, George, Ronnie,
Stephen, and I discovered Nalubaale - The Rock. Welcome to Nalubaale!
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