By Allan Bamuha Atwooki
Have you been to the Land of Empaako yet?? “Amooti, Apuuli, Akiiki etc”. Relax!!
Fort Portal is a soul-soothing destination with a blend of sparkling nature, beauty, culture, leisure, adventure, and hospitality.
Irresistibly endowed by nature, Fort Portal is one of the best tourist destinations in Uganda.
Overlooking the snow-capped “Mountains of the Moon”, adorable climate, culturally diverse and hospitable people; visitors are spoilt with choices of adventure, traditions, and culture; or just relax at the facilities surrounded by wonderful sights and sounds.
Serenity is a phenomenon that makes up tourism and is completely spread by nature across all corners of Fort Portal and the people of Tooro who are naturally humble and down-to-earth, beautiful and peaceful, creating a whole exciting welcoming tourism environment capped by the endless and numerous tourist activities and sites.
Fort Portal City is situated at the base of the Rwenzori Mountains in the greater Tooro kingdom, Western Region of Uganda. Known for being vibrant and welcoming, the city is the gateway to Uganda’s adventures.
It lies on the northern foothills of Rwenzori Mountain ranges, 50km north of Kasese District close to Queen Elizabeth National Park and 26km from Kibale National Park.
The city is the center of Tooro Kingdom where the King’s palace, Karuziika, is located.
The city was built in the 1960s and was named after the British Consul General of Zanzibar, Sir Gerald Portal, who came to Uganda in 1890s to formalize British protectorateship over Uganda.
There have been tremendous developments in the city’s social and economic aspects.
Visit Fort Portal and experience the natural roaring Nyakasura waterfalls, the exquisitely welcoming tea plantations, dazzling crater lakes, Amabere ga Nyinamwiru, Kibale National Park, the beautiful jaw-dropping slope ranges of Mountain Rwenzori, the intangible cultural heritage of Empaako, Kogeere mini-museum, the Tooro natural Botanical Gardens endowed with Africa’s last surviving tree species and the fortress.
Fort Portal City is destined to become a unique Africa’s leading metropolitan area with a blossoming hotel and hospitality industry holding hundreds of thousands of tourists at any single time from across the world, boosting lots of other local businesses including the transport and agriculture/food sectors.
The city is expected to become a fully-fledged tourism city by 2040 according to the government’s national development plan.
Fort Portal’s unrivaled potential in tourism provides employment opportunities for the young workforce hence increasing per capita income of the local households.
Let us unite to build a more environmentally friendly Tourism City strengthened by the century-old botanical gardens in the surroundings.
Welcome to Fort Portal Tourism City.
Allan Bamuha Atwooki is The Deputy Resident City Commissioner of Fort Portal City, North Division.