The just ended festive season brought so many joys indeed, some of which transcended the confines of the red and green themed décor in the finely lit living rooms, the country farms graced by the presence of their unfamiliar owners and the worship houses saturated with one-off church goers and ardent Christians alike.
I didn’t have either of the above experiences. My soul yearned for and anticipated the visit to Mahoma Falls, a place I had never been.
The visit was scheduled for December 29th 2023, day 3 of the Ghetto Kids tour of Tooro subregion and Queen Elizabeth National Park. The tour was sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, a reward for the dancing group’s excellent representation of Uganda.
After the previous night’s light showers in Fort Portal city, the beaming sun was a breath of fresh air as we took the drive to Kabarole to tour Mahoma Falls. The drive itself was nothing short of breathtaking as we made stopovers to take in the beauty of the numerous crater lakes littered along the bumpy, murram road winding through pristine villages.
The youngsters marveled at Nyinambuga Crater Lake, famous for its picture engraved on the 20,000 Uganda Shillings note.
“Look, the tree on the lake printed on the 20k note,” one of the excited kids pulls a friend by the grey t-shirt with a bold “Explore Uganda, The Pearl of Africa” print on the front.
The chit chat carries on as our guide, Nelson Aharizira aka Nelon Touch, confirms the assertion and explains that a few meters away on the opposite side of the road, another Lake, Nkuruba, is another sight to behold.
Our destination was Mahoma Falls, a few kilometers from the Nyinambuga view point.
A shack, the flimsy excuse for a site reception, welcomed us to the Ruteete village. Here, we met our guide Mr. Crescent Kato who was quite elaborate with histories of the Mahoma Caves, the origin of the “Mahoma” name and the actual flow of the waters right from the Rwenzori Mountains through the Mahoma Crater to the Mahoma Falls and eventually joining the Nile.
According to Mr. Kato, the area was named Mahoma because a python, which is called ’empoma’ in the local dialect, inhabited the forests surrounding the falls.
“So basically, ‘Mahoma’ is the plural form of ‘Empoma’ – a type of snake. It is said that the area had a number of these snakes and that’s how it came to be referred to as Mahoma, loosely translating to a place of pythons,” he said.
“At Mahoma, we have activities like visiting the caves which were formed as a result of the volcanic eruption that occurred centuries ago, hiking, bird watching, nature walks, photography and of course, the magnificent Falls. Tourists can also cycle around the Kasenda-Ndali crater belt which is endowed with over 20 lakes,” Mr. Kato explained before we headed for the trail.
While the guide gave us the briefing, the remote rumbling of the falls in a distance not far from where we stood tested our patience, triggering imaginations of how grand the Falls are. As sure as night follows day, we would sooner embark on a descent through the forest, not tricky but not a walk over either, and after navigating the caves, creeks and shaky wood stairs, we wound up at the Falls.
Like that moment when the priest beckons the groom to kiss the bride, glancing at the Mahoma Falls in all its grandeur gave me an unusual chill. The white waters outpour with unbelievable might, crashing against the ginormous, age-old rocks and plunging some good meters into a turbulent pool from which they cascade further down into several streams.
“In the recent past, Ugandans have embraced domestic tourism. We have had more Ugandan tourists coming to visit Mahoma Falls which wasn’t the case 10 years ago. The market was saturated by foreign tourists then. There is definitely a shift in the tourism dynamics and we hope that more people embrace local travel,” Mr. Kato said.
The sound was typical of a waterfall, except, it grew louder, wilder with each careful step towards the pool. But who cares about deafening sound when this could be an opportunity to strike a pose for that million-dollar picture? The daredevils hiked up the dangerously slippery rocks to get a better panorama while the ghetto kids who were visibly excited, wasted no minute hitting the dance floor, or should I say the rock floor?
Boom box comes to life, rare dance strokes are on display and the Falls are a picturesque backdrop whose charm had many under the spell. Shutters click from numerous angles, fellows with a questionable equilibrium slip into the waters with desperate hollers, couples hold hands for memorable snapshots and I, (seated on a wet rock waving the Explore Uganda flag) am thinking to myself, “Uganda is indeed, the Pearl of Africa.”
At some point it was pointless to focus on just one of the spectacles but I could see the Mahoma Falls effect through the glowing eyes of the young, energetic dancers whose choreography was very much complemented by the water splashes with each foot stamp on the submerged rock. Under the torrid afternoon heat, the wet top drenched from spills of the violent current that occasionally hit the rock where I sat was not a bother.
I can’t promise that you will have this particular experience when you visit Mahoma because the Ghetto Kids won’t be there unless otherwise but what’s guaranteed is the splendor of the ever-so-strong, outpouring waterfalls. 2024 has only started, Explore Uganda and live life.