Kampala

Kampala is the capital of Uganda and its largest city by a factor of ten, with a population of about 1.2 million. Kampala's name comes from a Kiganda expression kasozi k'empala, meaning the hill of antelopes (impala).

A typical African capital, with a compact, high-rise centre surrounded by sprawling suburbs, Kampala is characterised by the urban bustle you find in so many other capitals in Africa. Kampala is also one of East Africa's most laid-back and friendly cities.

Although it's a capital city Kampala retains a small town charm. People passing each other in the street often know each other and stop for a chat. Local clientele mix in the bars and restaurants and shopkeepers greet regular customers warmly.

The city centre is a jungle of supermarkets and shopping malls, while the outlying areas are increasingly run-down and overcrowded the further out you travel. The Nakasero fresh food market just off the city's main drag is one of the most colourful places in East Africa with piles of bananas, pineapples, tomatoes, mangoes and every fruit and vegetable you can think of - and some you can't - ugly jackfruit or matoke (cooking banana).

Even the most down-at-heel streets feel vibrant and charged with energy and ambition, however, and this is a huge improvement on its state a decade ago in the protracted aftermath of the civil war.

Kampala is the heart of Uganda's intellectual and cultural scene and, notably, its nightlife scene. It's safe by comparison with Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg, and its surfeit of restaurants, nightclubs, bars and theatres make it very popular with overlanders and backpackers. It's less popular for fly-in tourists with hectic schedules, but there are a few groovy day-trips available, such as Nile rafting trips, the Entebbe Botanical Gardens and the chimpanzees of Ngamba Island.

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