Masindi Town is in the Bunyoro Kingdom
which used to stretch from North of the Nile to Karagwe in Tanzania and
across Lake Albert into the Congo. Speke met the Bunyoro King in
Kijura, now a Masindi suburb, and also met Emin Pasha in the district.
The current residence of the Kabalega is in Hoima, and the Royal Tombs
of Cwa II Kabalega and Sir Tito Winyi IV are at Mparo, 2 km outside of
Hoima on the Hoima to Masindi road.
A view of Masindi Town
The
Missionary/Hunter, Pete Pearson hunted elephant with the late Kabalega,
until he was killed himself by an elephant on the escarpment over
looking Butiaba, the port village on the shores of Lake Albert. Today
visitors to Butiaba can view the wreck of the Robert Corringdon Steam
Ship, which was used to carry cargo and passengers from the Congo to
Uganda. Palm lined sand covered roads, sandy beaches strewn with
fishing nets and dug out canoes give a picturesque view, which has
changed very little in the last century. The old airstrip still flies a
windsock, reminiscent of the days of Hemmingway's legendary trip to the
district, where he was involved in two plane crashes in the space of a
week. The first at Murchison Falls and the second at Butiaba airstrip.
Hemmingway stayed at the Masindi Hotel on his return to Kampala.
A
carved wooden frieze above the reception desk at the hotel depicts some
of the early history of the Bunyoro Kingdom as described above.
A carved wooden frieze of the historic Bunyoro Kingdom. A feature at reception desk
