Beautiful, clear blue skies littered with perfect whites hover over the clean roads whose sidewalks are traded by calm people, many of whom were scarred by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) attacks, an insurgency that left a mark on the districts terrorized by warlord Joseph Kony and his recruits a few decades ago.
Gulu has never looked more peaceful under the scorching noon heat, but even more pleasing is the resilience and determination the eyes and faces of its inhabitants exude as they go about their day.
Older people who witnessed and survived the turbulent times and massacres orchestrated by Kony seem to have buried, to a certain depth, the aches from the past, trudging on to have the best of the rest of their lives. The youths are partly thriving; doing businesses with a visible eagerness to make the most of what they have while the children bask in the benefits the pacification efforts have brought forward.
This is the Gulu whose recent past played out on the front pages of Uganda’s leading dailies; blood sputtered scenes and eyes laden with grief, people grappling with poverty and disease in the Internally Displaced People’s camps and a mortifying tale of insecurity that seemed like a montage from Marvel’s best acted horror film.
Smiles have since returned to people’s faces, young men on their boba bodas hold a conversation without looking over their shoulder as they await a client, not a machete-wielding soldier and women are busy selling their merchandise to have a penny before nightfall.
A flipped script
Despite the years of normalcy, the past image of Gulu and the other districts that were ravaged by the Kony war is still burned at the back of many people’s minds, mine inclusive, especially those that haven’t witnessed the transformation in the area or got a chance to visit this magnificent, calm city.
Once devasted by war and gross crime, Gulu now beams with abundance of food; street markets flooding with an assortment of juicy fruits, ready to eat starch blocks of cassava and yam, dry fish that seems to catch the attention of visiting individuals, potato chips at clean booths and a whole other rich menu once you enter the not so furnished eateries.
“These roads have zero potholes”, I must have caught that phrase about 8 times in the first hour as my colleagues and I searched for an open restaurant at 10pm following our arrival in Gulu for the Explore North domestic tourism campaign on Tuesday.
Glowing street lights line lanes of the many, almost identical, drives within the city center. The pavements appear broader, or could it be because the ones I am used to in Kampala are forever crowded? The night breeze sweeps through the almost deserted streets, bringing with it the aroma of the chicken roasting on the lone stand at the far end of the street.
“Did you carry sunscreen?” a colleague asked before we set off for Gulu. Their reasons were that the place “is really hot” and precaution wouldn’t hurt. Another friend talked about a “dark alley down the street to where we are staying” as we dined later in that night, worrying about their safety. But don’t all other areas have these?
See, the widespread perception of what it must like in Northern Uganda (at least for people who haven’t had first hand experiences) is completely different from the what the area really is. While this doesn’t expel existing issues that have dragged on from years back in some communities, I didn’t get sunburns, neither did I encounter hostility in anyway.
Could it be because of the short stay, maybe, but yet again, how would we know if we never explored the best part of what the region has to offer and sell it like the gift it is to Uganda!
The elite boda boda guys
As we got closer to Gulu, thoughts of jumping on a boda boda to some random street started trickling in. “How is that going to be? How are we going to haggle when I barely know a word in Acholi? This was a negligible concern, but it was there.
I was, however, pleasantly surprised that every boda boda guy I came across was quite eloquent with the queen’s language, or should I say king’s language.
I have never had an easier navigation in a new city than in Gulu. It was easier to make small talk as we rode around in search of a new accommodation facility having ditched the one earlier booked. Apart from a few instances where “gyebale ko sebo” came out unplanned and garnered no clear response, the rest was a smooth sail.
Rebuilding
Since the start of the LRA war in 1987, Northern Uganda has suffered years of insecurity, disintegration, displacement and general retrogression.
With hopes for conflict resolution hitting snag every time and again, the resilience of the people in the affected areas is unquestionable. Piece by piece, the people of Gulu, Pader and Kitgum have, and still put a stone over another every day, rebuilt a city and communities they call home.
A tourist exploring Gulu for the first time will fall in love with the people who are very hospitable, the wide range of accommodation facilities that cater for various budgets (although some of their policies on accommodation sharing will be a shocker), a menu that is rounded and inclusive, good weather with mesmerizing sunrises and sunsets, clean roads and a reliable water supply and a booming night life.
Tourist Attractions in Northern Uganda
Northern Uganda, like other regions in the country has amazing features that satiate the wanderlust of those who respond to the whispers of the North.
From the historical sites like Fort Patiko to the roaring Aruu falls in Pader, the Amuru hot springs, the Lotuturu hills of Lamwo and the spell binding Murchison Falls in Masindi, the beauty of the North is something to behold.
Apart from the traditional, staple tourist attractions-the wildlife that’s abundant in the National Parks and Game Reserves spread across Northern Uganda, the above features offer a myriad of opportunities for tourists to immerse themselves in cultural, infrastructure, religious and eco tourism.
