Visit Lake Bunyonyi

Motorized boats and dugout canoes are the primary form of transport on Lake Bunyonyi, most locals use canoes to move from one island to another, tourists get to enjoy the beautiful scenery and move between islands while on a motorized boats or a dugout canoes. These canoes or boats are rented from the locals for a small fee and usually there is a man or two to provide a guided informative tour of the islands. This type of activity (Canoeing) is also done at Lake Mutanda in Kisoro district still in western Uganda.

In most local languages, little/young birds are called Obunyonyi (Hence the name Bunyonyi) – meaning that the lake was given this name because it sheltered many little birds and yes it is a paradise for over 200 bird species.

Bird lovers usually go for boat riding mainly to spot birds reaching most of the islands for bird watching, among the most common bird species on lake Bunyonyi are:  the African Harrier Hawk, the Grey Crowned Crested Crane, the Black Heron, the Malachite Kingfisher, the Pied Kingfisher, the Grey Shrike, the Black-Headed Weaver and many others.

Swimming is big on Lake Bunyonyi since the lake is free from Bilharzia, free from crocodiles, hippopotamuses and other water animals. Tourist do find it more interesting and enjoyable to swim from the lake. The water is cool and fresh. The water is deep so inexperienced swimmers are advised not to go swimming.

Relax along the shores of the lake or any of the 29 islands and enjoy the beauty of the lake, the calm environment and evening sunset.

Tourists can go for nature walks around the shores of Lake Bunyonyi. Some people around the lake turned some of islands their homes more especially the refugees so during the nature walks tourists get an opportunity to interact with them. Also during the guided nature walk they do spot rare birds and listen to their sounds, tourists do get enjoy the beautiful scenery

This is a small Pygmy culture locally known as the Batwa tribe.  They used to stay in forests of Bwindi impenetrable national park and Mgahinga national park before these parks were gazetted in 1991. They used to live around the Virunga mountain area. They are primitive people due to fact that they were born and raised up from the forest until 1991. But they are really interesting because of their perspective way of thinking and understanding things. They believe that they were born to live in forests. Some people call them Bush men/forest men like the South African people. At Lake Bunyonyi tourists get into boats/canoes to this small land where the Batwa live. Tourists are entertained by Batwa through their traditional dances and songs.

Lake Bunyonyi has many hills therefore tourists get to move across different hills and enjoy a beautiful landscape, this creates a memorable hiking experience in Lake Bunyonyi Area.

This is also another activity tourists do enjoy very much while at Lake Bunyonyi. Tourists do ride around the hills while meeting people, enjoying the beauty of the lake and also discover many things about the Lake Bunyonyi and the nearby villages since they have access to ride to any place they wish to go to with the help of the tour guide riding with them. Bikes are hired from organized local bike operators.

With its beautiful scenery and cool weather, Lake Bunyonyi itself is a tourist attraction. First of all it is Bilharzia free water body and has not water wildlife animals like crocodiles and hippopotamuses making it possible and easy for the people who enjoy swimming and other activities to love it more.

Lake Bunyonyi is comprised of 29 islets that make a very beautiful scenery.   Islands have good restaurants, accommodation and one of the islands (Kyahugye Island) is a home of a few wildlife like zebras, impalas, kobs and waterbucks. Tourist activities in Bunyonyi include bird watching, canoeing, swimming, mountain biking, visiting local communities, hiking, guided nature walks and relaxing.

Before the end of first half of 20th century, this island was seen has a hell to Bakiga girls. During that time, in case a young girl conceived before marriage, her old brother or father would put her in the boat in the middle of the night, ride to the island and they left her on the island with no food so that she dies of hunger as a sign to the remaining girls that having sex before marriage was evil and unforgivable.

To some few lucky girls, men who would not afford to pay dowry to marry a woman, call them poor men, would come to this island, pick up these girls and make them their wives. Additional to this, it was an abomination to marry a girl who was thrown to the island to the extent that these men were also rejected by their families and this couple ended up living a lonely and miserable life.

In present day this punishment is no more. This island returned into a good tourism site for relaxation

This is an island with a beautiful scenery surrounded with eucalyptus trees, composed of beautiful campsites, wonderful tents for overnights, beautiful restaurants and a children’s playground. It has also several projects that help the orphans, women (they meet every week for sewing lessons, hand craft lessons and new technology) and also other people to generate income for day to day living. While on this island, tourists are free to engage themselves in hiking, bird watching, canoeing and swimming plus other activities

It is a unique island compared to other islands on Lake Bunyonyi, what makes this island unique from others is that it has wildlife for example zebras, waterbucks, impalas, kobs, and debrasa monkeys, making it more popular and more visited by tourists who love wildlife. The beautiful natural vegetation, tree plantations, rare eucalyptus tree species, Alnus tree species, cupresus tree species and  pinus tree species all these attract many tourists more especially those ones interested in adventuring. The island is just few kilometers away from the main land comprised of nice accommodations and restaurants. Tourists do engage in tourism activities like swimming, hiking, canoeing, nature walks, bird-watching and hiking.

It is claimed that Bwama island is the largest among other islands. It became famous in Uganda in 1921 when a white missionary Leonard Sharp came to this island to treat leprosy, he built a hospital and a church. His family stayed in Njuyeera village. Later the hospital was turned into a community secondary boarding school and a primary school was also built.

Lake Bunyonyi is a home of little/young birds and it is among the major tourist attraction to bird lovers. Common birds that can be spotted are: the African Harrier Hawk, the Grey Crowned Crested Crane, the Black Heron, the Malachite Kingfisher, the Pied Kingfisher, the Grey Shrike, the Black-Headed Weaver and many others

Batwa people is small tribe of pygmies who used to live in Bwindi Impenetrable national park and Mgahinga national park before they were gazetted in 1991.  Batwa stay near Lake Bunyonyi always offer their unique traditional dances and songs to the tourists.

Bakiga people are an agro-pastoralist Rukiga-Bantu ethnic group and their main activity is cultivation. No traditional marriage would be allowed without completing the payment of bride wealth.

Tourists on Monday and Friday always visit the local market for adventure and interact with the local vendors plus buying fresh vegetables, onions, tomatoes and others.

• Bunyonyi Eco Resort
• Bunyonyi Overland Resort
• Lake Bunyonyi Rock Resort
• Heritage Lodges
• Paradise Eco-hub
• Lake Bunyonyi Overland camp