Kisoro
Discover Kisoro
The township of Kisoro only has about 18,000 inhabitants living in the town proper, but there are more than a quarter of a million in its district, mostly eking out a living as subsistence farmers on low incomes. It's the last sizeable settlement in Western Uganda, hard up against the borders of both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. Many foreign visitors to Uganda find that this is one of the nicest areas to spend time in with beautiful mountain scenery and hospitable locals. However, the main attraction for many is the opportunity to get close with a troupe of habituated gorillas.
Taste of Kisoro...
In addition to the stand-out entries already listed here, there are probably about three dozen other low cost hotels scattered all over town of varying cleanliness and decrepitude. Many of them feature metal doors for that authentic late-night cell block clang. The Airtel, MTN, Orange, Uganda Telecom and Warid networks all have their own transmission towers in and around Kisoro, so you'll have no problems locating a strong GSM signal.
Essential Information
Getting There
Multiple OptionsFrom Kampala the road via Masaka to Mbarara is well surfaced (apart from verge damage) and reasonably wide so 100 km/h can be maintained. Light traffic once you leave the traffic mayhem and fumes of the capital, means you're likely to take just less than 5 hours for this part of the journey. However, just after leaving Mbarara the road surface disintegrates and is badly potholed reducing speeds to 10-25 km/h for about 20 km until just before Ntungamo where road works were completed in Feb 2014. Once you leave Kabale the road narrows considerably but the tarmac surface is brand new and billiard table smooth but very winding and scenic. From Bunagana, DRC, climb the rutted apology for a "road" that is alternately gloopy with mud or whipped into a duststorm until you see the barriers of the Ugandan border post. Here bodo-bodos will be waiting. There are also sometimes large buses, but their schedules are sporadic and whimsical....
Getting Around & Staying
Getting Around
If you're staying a while you might like to hire a vehicle to get around and see the lush countryside. The black-brown, volcanic soil is especially fertile and with nary a drought you could plant a broom-handle in the ground and it would sprout. There are lots of smaller, rounded hills and the rectilinear patchwork of varied hues of green made by the different vegetables growing in the gardens on their slopes makes for a very verdant and relaxing vista. There are few dogs to run between your wheels, so you might want to consider hiring a local's 125-200 cc motorcycle for USh20,000-30,000 per day. A 4x4 will cost you about four times as much, but they'll usually want you to take a driver. Market days are Monday and Thursday with people coming from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to buy goods that they can not obtain without difficulty in their own country.
Where to Stay
In addition to the stand-out entries already listed here, there are probably about three dozen other low cost hotels scattered all over town of varying cleanliness and decrepitude. Many of them feature metal doors for that authentic late-night cell block clang. The Airtel, MTN, Orange, Uganda Telecom and Warid networks all have their own transmission towers in and around Kisoro, so you'll have no problems locating a strong GSM signal.
Money & Budget
Market days are Monday and Thursday with people coming from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to buy goods that they can not obtain without difficulty in their own country. In addition to the stand-out entries already listed here, there are probably about three dozen other low cost hotels scattered all over town of varying cleanliness and decrepitude. Many of them feature metal doors for that authentic late-night cell block clang. The Airtel, MTN, Orange, Uganda Telecom and Warid networks all have their own transmission towers in and around Kisoro, so you'll have no problems locating a strong GSM signal.
Safety Information
Nearby Destinations
Glimpses of Kisoro
A woman smiles holding woven crafts.
Gorilla
Two working boys
Eating, thinking
Gorilla
a sign that is on the side of a building
A woman smiles holding woven crafts.
Gorilla
Two working boys
Eating, thinking
Gorilla
a sign that is on the side of a building
A woman smiles holding woven crafts.