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Kapchorwa, found in Eastern Uganda at the base of Mt. Elgon, is not endowed with that many nationally recognized natural or historical attractions. But the whole place called Kapchorwa district is a natural attraction in itself. It has splendour of steep slopes and natural escarpments, from forested mountains, which are tempting for a mountain climb, to numerous falls from rivers flowing out of mountains, to the sites that make you feel like you have the whole world under your feet, Kapchorwa has it all.

A journey to Kapchorwa is as tantalizing as it is worrying. Especially on your maiden visit to the hilly district, it is bound to keep you on tension as the vehicles swerves through either huge rocks or valleys on both sides of the road. Sometimes you feel like you are about to enter into a rock or you will easily fall off into the valley as the vehicle negotiates its way up the steep slopes. At the view point from where you can see tens of miles ahead on the left-hand side, you are able to see the savannah grassland stretching across Karamoja region with dots for people’s houses and gardens. It is a sight you need to experience at least twice in your lifetime as you enjoy a cool breeze from the environs and a unique serenity that only God could have engineered.

Much of the hillsides are decorated with a splash of vibrant colours as flowers in soft pinks, whites and a blaze of reds, oranges can be made out from the largely green foliage covering the slopes.

As you move along the road, families are engaged in different activities, farming in their garden, guarding their cereals which they have brought to the roadside to dry, or guiding their animal work machines that will certainly make you look harder.

Donkeys, oxen and camels, are used as a means of transport because they can manage the sloppy terrain of Kapchorwa. Almost every family in Kapchorwa owns a donkey, ox or a camel, which they use for transport or plowing. This alone is a tourist attraction, as camels, donkeys and oxen are a rare sight in most parts of Uganda.

Expansive crop gardens rolling in the contours on the slopes of either side of wherever you will be, add to the beauty and green glamour that many people have come to permanently associate with Kapchorwa.

However these people have one the most demeaning cultural practices of female circumcision (female genital mutilation), for which the district is mostly known in Uganda and elsewhere. The mention of Kapchorwa sends many Ugandans thinking of the Sabiny and their culture of circumcising girls, a practice that has drawn many human rights NGOs to the area in order to fight it.

What to do in Kapchorwa: