Lake Mutanda is a small fresh water lake located in the far south western part of Uganda closer to the Virunga ranges of Muhabura, Gahinga and Sabinyo. Also close to the Mgahinga Gorilla and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Lake Mutanda is joined by Rutshuru River that flows to Lake Edward.
How to get there?
From Kampala, Lake Mutanda is quite far away. Coverage of 494km from Kampala city which takes between 9 to 10 hours using road transport and approximately a 30minutes and 20km drive from Kisoro town. Using a plane, you can use a scheduled flight from Entebbe International Airport to Kisoro Airstrip. Time taken to arrive at the airstrip is 1 hour and 15 minutes. From the airstrip, you can reach Lake Mutanda by road, which takes 40 minutes, a distance of 14.6km.
Activities at Lake Mutanda?
1. Garama cave visit; this is where some of the Batwa inhabitants first stayed. They even marked the cave walls with signs that proved their early presence. People go and visit the caves to have an original and foundation encounter on the Batwa people.
2. Island tours; there are 15 islands located in Lake Mutanda. Many of them have have extensive history. People visit these islands to find more and the history about them in terms of factual research.
3. Mutanda island; the biggest island among them. It is home to the Abagesera clan that has settled their for a lot of decades thus making history. Their population is estimated with 200 and they do fishing and farming. And a church was built on the island where people sail to go and have fellowships
4. Kyangushu island, punishment island; girls in the village that got pregnant before marriage were taken their and abandoned to die. At that island unless a man that was too poor and wouldn’t afford bride price would go and get a wife from their he would be the savior.
5. Range bird island; small bird island that only birds are nested there for example black headed heron, and sacred ibis. Bird-lovers sail their to see these birds on the small island
6. Kabaya island; the island on which there is a small cave in which influential and spiritual people were buried specifically in the ancient days. The island is also referred to be haunted and the legends say the spirits prevail on that island so the brave go there to see the cave.
7. Hapinzi island; legends say this island remained when a visiting witch came and asked for some sorghum and the settlers of the island didn’t give the witch, she sunk some of the islands that were beside to make migration hard in the ancient days.
8. Buhungiro island; also known as the freedom island, this island has it in legends that the fisher men went on it to run away from the Batwa people. The latter didn’t like them and most times killed them. They sought refuge on the island, there is a dense indigenous forest on that island.
9. Canoeing; a boat made out of a tree trunk made into a boat for canoeing gives a great experience at the lake though it needs more efforts using extra support.
10. Motor boat; a fast engine speed boat is used to tour around the lake in a few hours. This makes it easier than the canoe that needs human support.
11. Mountain biking; hire a bike to ride to the top of the hills around the southern wing of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park around Rushaga and Nkuringo sectors with in the park.
Explore Lake Mutanda with us
If you want Lake Mutanda tours to be added to your itinerary, please contact Standard Safaris anytime. We can tailor your itinerary to cater for the experience you desire. The quality of our services are praised by many of our clients, and you can confirm this on TripAdvisor. Meanwhile, your customized itinerary will be designed with your full engagement to include meals, accommodation, transportation and others.
