R & R on Bushara Island * (see footnote)

We had a most enjoyable long weekend on Bushara island, on Lake Bunyoni, with Jenny’s family and visitors from England – this was even though everyone (except Malcolm so far) came down with ‘tummy problems’, which had been picked up in Kisoro.


Bushara Island is about 50 miles from Kisoro on Lake Bunyoni. It is in a very picturesque and peaceful setting, being one of several islands on this large freshwater lake.




There is no tapped water or electricity on the island and it is managed as an ‘eco-tourist’ site with accommodation being in cottages or tents. It does boast a restaurant which, considering the remoteness of the island and ‘Africa’ offers a wide range of well cooked food – it was difficult not to put back on all the weight we’ve lost in the past 4 months (though the ‘tummy problems’ will have helped!).




‘Bunyoni’ means ‘place of small birds’ and one of the features was the number and variety of birds that live on the island, and try and share food with us.

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It is one of the few freshwater lakes where it is safe to swim, as it is free from ‘Bilharzia’, a rather nasty parasite that lives in most water in East Africa. Not to miss the opportunity Irene did swim the mile to a neighbouring island which in the past was a leper colony when this disease was still a problem.




The sign this week comes from one of the ‘composting’ toilets on Bushara Island. (basically a deep hole in the ground and no flush). The bit that caught our eye is the final sentence, which we assume is deliberate.



We returned to Kisoro to pack up our things for our 2 week trip to England starting on Thursday for David’s, our eldest son’s, wedding


* ‘R & R’ stands for ‘Runs and Regurgitation’ rather than ‘Rest and Relaxation’.


You know you live in Africa when…

... an ambulance rushes to the carpentry workshop, not to tend to a casualty but to collect a pile of wood

… a poinsettia plant is taller than you are