Butiaba Escarpment | Uganda Adventure Tours
Butiaba Escarpment is a fishing and landing site located in the Western part of Uganda on the shores of Lake Victoria. The Butiaba escarpment lies in the Western rift valley on the Eastern shores of Lake Albert in the Masindi district and a part of the Murchison falls national park. Butiaba was a great transportation hub whereby goods were used to cross borders from both South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) around 1931.
Later in the 1970s, the construction of the East African Railways Corporation led to the decline of Butiaba and the harbour became dormant. As of recent, due to the discovery of oil in the Bunyoro region, Lake Albert has played a very big role in transportation, labour, and petrol to and from the Butiaba harbour.
Butiaba escarpment, therefore, plays a major role in attracting tourists to the region and these attractions include the following;
Visit to Lake Albert in Butiaba Escarpment
Also known as Mwitanzige and Mobutu Sese Seko, it is located both in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is considered Africa’s seventh lake. A visit to this great lake allows the tourist to participate in different activities like boat cruises on the lake, fishing as well as water sports.
Hot springs
Because the Butiaba escarpment is surrounded by many hot springs, tourists can visit any of these where most are seen boiling at 100 degrees Celsius for the experiment, you can boil bananas, eggs, and Irish potatoes which will be ready in a few minutes.
Most people living around the escarpment also believe that the hot spring is a source of their healing and they usually come with different diseases and sit in the water which is believed to cure most of the diseases.
Uganda Adventure Sites
Cultural Encounter in Butiaba Escarpment
Get to visit the local community living near the Butiaba escarpment as they take you through the history of this particular region, especially those living near the hot springs as they tell the tourists stories about the hot spring and how it has helped in curing diseases like scabies and measles. You also get to dig deep into the history of the people here and how they go by their daily activities as well as their survival skills over the years in this particular region.
Kibiro Salt Garden
At Kibiro salt-producing village, you get to see a unique example of a local industry that has sustained people’s lives over the years. Salt production is a hereditary occupation and this is carried out on a sandy beach along Lake Albert where a portion of food does not grow.
Populations in this area have depended on mining for their livelihood and in most cases, they exchange fish and fish to the farming communities on the side of the rift valley.
How to get to Butiaba Escarpment
By Road and Air
Butiaba escarpment is located in North Western part of Uganda in the Masindi district approximately 255kilometers from Uganda’s capital city Kampala on a 4-5hours drive and can be accessed by the use of road transport as well as booking chartered or scheduled flights to the Murchison falls where you can be picked by a driver guide from the nearby Pakuba airstrip.
