THE MOST EXCITING PLACE I’VE BEEN AT IN UGANDA:

For so many years I had traveled to the Eastern part of Uganda, Mbale district had been the place where I visited concurrently.
Mbale district is a beautiful town with a beautiful view of mountain Elgon. It is mainly occupied by the Bagisu, a tribe in the Bantu ethnic group. Mbale district also has so many Indians and other tribes. I have had the chance to hike on the slopes of Mountain Elgon and reached on some falls such as Wanale falls.
This time round, we as a family wanted to do things differently: something new, a destination we had never visited. The desire and the curiosity to visit a new district was fulfilled on the 28th of December 2019. We chose to visit Sipi falls in Kapchorwa district!!
The distance from Mbale town to Kapchorwa district was 67 km, the time of drive was roughly 1 hour and 20mins.
Kapchorwa district is also one of the districts in Eastern Uganda where the slopes of Mountain Elgon are found. It is mostly occupied by the Sabinyi and some other few tribal groups.
There’s no much difference between Mbale, Sironko and Kapchorwa. They have some common factors like the dark fertile soils that grow Arabica coffee.
The Sipi falls are series of three beautiful waterfalls situated in Kapchorwa district. The waterfalls lie on the edge of Mountain Elgon National Park near the Kenya border.
We managed to hike all the three waterfalls in one day.

Family crew

Yes, this required a lot energy and we burnt some calories🔥.
The excitement and the enthusiasm we all had for the hike was something we couldn’t hide. The falls were calling, the call grew louder!! Somebody had to answer this call, and somebody was us.

picture of me

Family team

It was wise to tour the falls with a tour guide, given the fact that he was a Sabiny who was well conversant with all the falls. He knew all the paths to the falls and he also gave us a pace we were to move, since our aim was to reach the three falls. In addition he handed us hiking sticks which he said were essential for the hike.
The good news is that, we successfully reached the three falls in one day; the highest falling at 100km high, the second at 85km and the shortest at 75km.

Beginning of the hike

The journey to first the falls was much easier given the fact that we were fresh. Our feet were quick and we didn’t need much of the hiking stick. It took us 30 minutes to reach the first falls.

Back view of us hiking

Energy was on 100%...

We finally arrived at the first falls😎... it seemed like the heavy rains coming down from the sky. The fall was too heavy, loud and unstoppable. The winds were too strong, they were blowing the falls. The nearby place was too cold and wet. That didn’t scare us, we wanted more of the falls so we moved closer to the falls for a shower😁. We had come for a new experience, we had come for memories too.

Mighty falls

A shower in the falls

Nevertheless, we had another call on our mind. Despite the fact that we had so much fun at the first fall, the second falls were calling too. There was definitely an answer to the call. The hike to the second fall was quite interesting. They were gigantic caves that left us in awe, I couldn’t stop picturing the formation of the caves. My mind went wild. We proceeded and alas! We reached the second fall. The second fall was situated on a rock that had a gigantic cave. They were other people who had come to visit the falls. They were also in awe of the fall!! As the vigorous water fell from the rock,we were literally under the rock. The roaring of the waters and mighty winds could still blow the waters to the cave. They felt as heavy rain drops and at the same time as drizzles.

Photo at the entrance of the second fall

The huge caves before the second falls

The cave beneath the second waterfall

The guide also suggested that we hike to the top of the second fall. We wanted to explore the falls upside down!
We all welcomed the idea,so we begun on the move to the top. On reaching the top, we were amazed by the beautiful view. The waters were flowing in three stages; there was a part were it was calm, there was a violent part and there was a part of the river that made the second fall. From this view, we could clearly see the bedrock upon which the second fall was falling. The environment was peaceful, clean and untroubled. We could not resist but get into the waters. There was something about this place I’ve never experienced before.

Beautiful moments at the top of the fall...

The swimmers club

Finally, we had to embark on our hike to the last fall. Our energy had dropped tremendously, we had had so much fun!! Saving the best for the last, it was the biggest fall last. The majestic falls in Kapchorwa, the highest of them all. Knowing this at the back of our minds we had to speed up because time wasn’t on our side. We all encouraged one another to keep up the pace. This was around 6pm.. We could feel the evening dawn us. With team work, we successfully reached the third fall!!

Family pictures at the highest fall

The highest fall at Sipi.

This day was so memorable because it was too fun filled with lots of adventure. I got a chance to connect with my family because we all are engaged with work and school. This was the best family reunion in its own kind of way. We hadn’t met in a long while so we got a chance to rekindle and reconnect on this tour.
We also got a chance to see other places in the country and we learned about the new cultures of the place. I had the best family reunion ever!!

Family reunion