Things to Do in Fort Portal
Exploring the Crater Lakes of Fortportal!
Known for having the highest concentration of crater lakes per square kilometer in the world, exploring the crater lakes of Fortportal is an extraordinary experience.
Start at Lake Nkuruba, where you can see more than four species of monkeys and the oldest of the 52 different crater lakes around the Mountains of the Moon.
Continue to the Ndali Kasenda crater lakes, each lake has its own charm, Lake Nyinambuga is one of the largest and most beautiful, and its photo now appears on the 20,000 Ugandan shilling note.
During this tour, there is the option to visit the local vanilla producer who shows you their vanilla farm, the entire process from planting to pollination and harvesting, and finally the drying process. However, it is much better when you buy some vanilla from them, otherwise, they will charge you a small fee to show you the place.
This tour goes beyond the crater lakes, as it takes you through local villages to see how the locals live, banana plantations, and the local market, especially every Monday and Thursday, there is a local farmers' market.
You can choose to have lunch at the local restaurant or return to the Lake Nkuruba Nature Reserve to have lunch at the lodge by Lake Nkuruba.
This tour lasts 3 to 4 hours, but there is the option to hop on bodabodas in case you get tired along the way, another great experience. Bodaboda is a local motorcycle taxi.
WHAT IS NEEDED:
*Trekking boots
*Sunscreen
*Raincoat
*Sun hat 🌞
Some physical fitness is required
Fort Portal Tourism City, is a unique city found in Western Uganda with a rich history, and best of all with happy and hospitable people. It is surrounded by many unique features like the amazing Rwenzori mountains, Kibale the Primate Capital of the world, waterfalls and crater lakes. The city is beautiful and simple and with a history to be told. Taking a walk in the city and going shopping helps to reveal many unique amazing secrets of the city and comes along with meeting it's wonderful people. Around the city are many beautiful scenery spots to enjoy like the many crater lakes, hills and water falls. We take a walk around the town starting from Gardens Restaurant, visit the markets and the city centre. No entrance fees required for the city walk. Then we visited the Amebere Ganyina Mwiru caves and waterfall, then we hike to e joy the beautiful scenery in the hills around the crater lakes. Entrance fee to the mabere caves is 48,000 ugx (13 USD). Transport to Amabere is by we hire a motorcycle which is 3 dollars to and fro. After a good Tour you will understand why it's name was changed from Fort Portal to Fort Portal Tourism City.
On this tour, expect to take a nature walk around the Nkuruba nature reserve for four species of monkeys that inhabit this place, various bird species, visit a local farm where you will meet the local who will take you to visit his coffee plantation. He will then guide you through the traditional way of processing coffee using very local tools. This process begins with a visit to the coffee plantation, going through traditional processing and preparation in the kitchen until the moment of serving.
After this entire process, we head to another local house to visit the vanilla producer, who will also guide you through the entire process of growing, curing, and drying vanilla.
This tour requires you to have:
- hiking boots
- sunglasses
- sunscreen
- raincoat
- camera
The difficulty of the tour:
Easy walk on a good village trail from the meeting point, just under a kilometer to the coffee/local farmer.