Upload Arua Tourism.txt
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Arua Tourism.txt
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Angu Neza [Sightseeing]
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GOD is great, first and foremost! Secondly, JESUS is the Way. Arua is a sweet and excellent (First Class) Business Hub at the Heart of West Nile (Northwestern Uganda). It connects East Africa to the rest of the Black Continent through the KAN (Koboko-Arua-Nebbi) Corridor. Transferred from Belgian colonialists to the British in 1914 because of rivers flowing towards the Albert Nile, the locality got its name from a medium-sized rock elevation west of Barifa Forest and directly south of Arua Avenue (Inzikuru Road). A "small prison" nearby was the stopover detention point for culprits eg tax defaulters that Belgians arrested en route to the bigger prison in Aru (DR Congo); Aru-a translated from Lugbara is "in prison". Below is my Arua!
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Arua is the centre of Lugbaraland; a magnet and melting pot for all Lugbara in the diaspora since
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I was born in Jinja and grew up in Kampala, but had a very ignorant disdain (or settled discriminative attitude) against Arua with absolutely no desire to visit throughout the 90s though most relatives did. However, since the world did not end in Y2K as prophesied by Computer Bug Doom's Day theorists (who were 100 percent dead-wrong), I decided to make the first pilgrimage I can remember (using Nile Coach) to the land where my ancestors are resting (Mother told me she brought me to Arua when I was a handheld baby, but my oldest memory in this life is in Jinja). Every year after Y2K, I returned to Arua at least once around Christmas until moving permanently in December 2013; I wanted to demystify all the lies I heard (like Arua only has grassroofed mudsoil-and-stick-huts plus murram roads). I was actually stunned to see reddish-orange tile roofs in Arua like you see on Entebbe Road (Things I had never seen in photos of Arua). The stereotypical view in the South is that West Nilers only eat mairungi, sell fruits like oranges and seeds eg groundnuts in baskets, work as watchmen, cut plantation sugarcanes plus are poor yet there are many doctors, lawyers, engineers, businesspeople and other professionals. Vivian Namakka in Arua said it best on TikTok: Come to Arua with a clean slate! My mantra in the new millenium was: Turn rejects into projects! I make short videos promoting Arua. Furthermore, I used to think beautiful women only originate from India, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Teso, but met some stunners in Lugbaraland too including a 2nd cousin I thought was another 2nd cousin's Congolese friend, yet sister. Beauties come out during crusades, promos, concerts and other events unless you see them in markets, churches or social media. You wonder where they stay and if their origins are really from near Arua. My first crush in West Nile was Cynthia Letasi (now Mrs. Mungufeni) who changed my worldview between 2001 to 6 like a Kumari (She spoke Lugbara so fluently without shame and inspired me to re-study my own mother tongue by literally draining amalala ga kibuga [Luganda for: city haughtiness] out of me. Afterwards, every woman I glanced at who looked like her or had some kind of Cynthia aura became my favourite eg Tonto Dikeh (who I saw on the new Top TV in Kampala), Betty Mpologoma (who started her career in 1999), Sheebah Karungi who shot up in the Ugandan music industry around 2009, Pretty Banks, Queenie (singer in Miracle Centre Cathedral Rubaga's Proclaim Choir) plus even Scarlet Johansson who featured in a 2003 movie that portrays exactly how Xnthi made me feel in the same year it came out.
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To get to Arua physically, either you fly in via Arua Airport (with a terminal foundation laid by Zaire President Mobutu Sese Seko in 1976 alongside Idi Amin) for less than 2 hours from Entebbe Airport or use the roads: It takes at least 7 hours to travel from Kampala City to Arua. In the early 2000s, the road from Karuma to Arua was murram and I would find trouble breathing in dust while we cruised through the game park, but ease up close to Pakwach. Gaagaa introduced a revolution whereby instead of leaving at 5:30 am before sunrise, people could travel at 7 or 8 am. Other companies like Nile Coach had to adjust too.
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Trivia: Dorcus Inzikuru, the first Ugandan woman to win a gold medal in steeplechase athletics (during Helsinki 2005) is from Vurra. Zuena (Bebe Cool's wife) lived in Arua for some time. Mukesh Shukla (one of Uganda's Richest Indian Billionaires and founder of Shumuk) was born in Arua (1962). Multi-cultural musician Alak SG speaks Lugbara. Famous people who have visited Arua include Daniel Arap Moi (President of Kenya) at Adriko's Factory, Aki and Popo (short Nigerian actors) went to Ediofe, Forest Whitaker (American filmstar who won the 2006 Oscar Award for Best Actor for portraying Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland), Sudhir Ruparelia (Richest Man in East Africa) who owns property in Arua too, Owobusobozi Bisaka (who is revered by some Ugandans in place of JESUS), etc.
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One day while travelling by bus with two Bantu youngmen beside me around the early 2010s, they kept belittling West Nilers; I did not say anything in defence of my people, but commented on other topics during the daytime-journey. I believe their contemptuousness was based on hearsay and prejudice mixed with ignorance. When we crossed Pakwach Bridge, I shamelessly told the first-time travellers to Arua that am from this side, but they refused to believe because I spoke their language well. I did not argue with them about West Nile's low status in the other parts of UG (Knew the reputation well), but after gliding past the Arua Hill Roundabout, the pair confessed that Idi Amin was the only president who left his hometown in a good state: At least, it looked urban, not rural and some roads were tarmacked. Amin actually used to drive his rally cars around here in the 70s before I was born. I had kept quiet about how Arua looks on the ground all along so that they could judge for themselves like I was pleasantly surprised at the turn of the new millenium. I even witnessed some roads going through several pothole-patching makeovers before everything was removed and new longer-lasting layers tarmacked. Nevertheless, some roads were never finished due to corruption eg Mango Road.
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While in KLA before Twenty13, I used to review tourism maps of Uganda (eg in Eye Magazine and so on) and find West Nile blank; not even Ajai was mentioned nor Pakwach Bridge, Salia Musala, various waterfalls, etc. So, I made it my business to do research. I hope Arua is mentioned somewhere annually as a cultural (church, water or urban) tourism destination in the Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo.
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Words either damage (bring down) or mend up: Arua is the Sweetest Place on Earth!
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Architecture (Tallest Buildings in Arua
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Brands: Springs, Omia Agribusiness Group, Terah Fish, Sunshine Mineral Water, WENRECo, Mungufeni Foundation, etc...
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Cathedrals: Emmanuel (Mvara), Ediofe (Vatican City of Arua)...
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Churches: St. Philip's (Golf Course), Christchurch Ediofe, St. Chrysostom Adalafu, Christ the King, Arua Pentecostal Church, SDA Church (Arua Hill), Agape...
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Ecotourism: Oluko Falls (Abairo and Oluporoporo) in the East with plunge pools for swimming offers a different gamepark-like experience from the urban view near the city. Other places are: Ragem Beach meanders, Ogurugu Beach in Dadamu, hiking plus biking trails, nature walks, Barifa Forest with Playground and Leisure Park with mini-zoo...
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Angu Neza [Sightseeing]
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GOD is great, first and foremost! Secondly, JESUS is the Way. Arua is a sweet and excellent (First Class) Business Hub at the Heart of West Nile (Northwestern Uganda). It connects East Africa to the rest of the Black Continent through the KAN (Koboko-Arua-Nebbi) Corridor. Transferred from Belgian colonialists to the British in 1914 because of rivers flowing towards the Albert Nile, the locality got its name from a medium-sized rock elevation west of Barifa Forest and directly south of Arua Avenue (Inzikuru Road). A "small prison" nearby was the stopover detention point for culprits eg tax defaulters that Belgians arrested en route to the bigger prison in Aru (DR Congo); Aru-a translated from Lugbara is "in prison". Below is my Arua!
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Arua is the centre of Lugbaraland; a magnet and melting pot for all Lugbara in the diaspora since their mother tongue is the predominant local language in the subregion. Other groups include Madi, Luo (mainly Alur), Kakwa, Bantu (eg Baganda), Asians, Congolese, Sudanese and Whites. Foreigners allowed; strangers are welcome to visit Arua!
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I was born in Jinja and grew up in Kampala, but had a very ignorant disdain (or settled discriminative attitude) against Arua with absolutely no desire to visit throughout the 90s though most relatives did. However, since the world did not end in Y2K as prophesied by Computer Bug Doom's Day theorists (who were 100 percent dead-wrong), I decided to make the first pilgrimage I can remember (using Nile Coach) to the land where my ancestors are resting (Mother told me she brought me to Arua when I was a handheld baby, but my oldest memory in this life is in Jinja). Every year after Y2K, I returned to Arua at least once around Christmas until moving permanently in December 2013; I wanted to demystify all the lies I heard (like Arua only has grassroofed mudsoil-and-stick-huts plus murram roads). I was actually stunned to see reddish-orange tile roofs in Arua like you see on Entebbe Road (Things I had never seen in photos of Arua). The stereotypical view in the South is that West Nilers only eat mairungi, sell fruits like oranges and seeds eg groundnuts in baskets, work as watchmen, cut plantation sugarcanes plus are poor yet there are many doctors, lawyers, engineers, businesspeople and other professionals. Vivian Namakka in Arua said it best on TikTok: Come to Arua with a clean slate! My mantra in the new millenium was: Turn rejects into projects! I make short videos promoting Arua. Furthermore, I used to think beautiful women only originate from India, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Teso, but met some stunners in Lugbaraland too including a 2nd cousin I thought was another 2nd cousin's Congolese friend, yet sister. Beauties come out during crusades, promos, concerts and other events unless you see them in markets, churches or social media. You wonder where they stay and if their origins are really from near Arua. My first crush in West Nile was Cynthia Letasi (now Mrs. Mungufeni) who changed my worldview between 2001 to 6 like a Kumari (She spoke Lugbara so fluently without shame and inspired me to re-study my own mother tongue by literally draining amalala ga kibuga [Luganda for: city haughtiness] out of me. Afterwards, every woman I glanced at who looked like her or had some kind of Cynthia aura became my favourite eg Tonto Dikeh (who I saw on the new Top TV in Kampala), Betty Mpologoma (who started her career in 1999), Sheebah Karungi who shot up in the Ugandan music industry around 2009, Pretty Banks, Queenie (singer in Miracle Centre Cathedral Rubaga's Proclaim Choir) plus even Scarlet Johansson who featured in a 2003 movie that portrays exactly how Xnthi made me feel in the same year it came out.
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To get to Arua physically, either you fly in via Arua Airport (with a terminal foundation laid by Zaire President Mobutu Sese Seko in 1976 alongside Idi Amin) for less than 2 hours from Entebbe Airport or use the roads: It takes at least 7 hours to travel from Kampala City to Arua. In the early 2000s, the road from Karuma to Arua was murram and I would find trouble breathing in dust while we cruised through the game park, but ease up close to Pakwach. Gaagaa introduced a revolution whereby instead of leaving at 5:30 am before sunrise, people could travel at 7 or 8 am. Other companies like Nile Coach had to adjust too.
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Trivia: Dorcus Inzikuru, the first Ugandan woman to win a gold medal in steeplechase athletics (during Helsinki 2005) is from Vurra. Zuena (Bebe Cool's wife) lived in Arua for some time. Mukesh Shukla (one of Uganda's Richest Indian Billionaires and founder of Shumuk) was born in Arua (1962). Multi-cultural (Arua, UK, Rwanda) musician Alak SG speaks Lugbara plus half a dozen other languages. Famous people who have visited Arua include Daniel Arap Moi (President of Kenya) at Adriko's Factory, Aki and Popo (short Nigerian actors) went to Ediofe, Forest Whitaker (American filmstar who won the 2006 Oscar Award for Best Actor for portraying Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland), Sudhir Ruparelia (Richest Man in East Africa) who owns property in Arua too, Owobusobozi Bisaka (who is revered by some Ugandans in place of JESUS), etc.
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One day while travelling by bus with two Bantu youngmen beside me around the early 2010s, they kept belittling West Nilers; I did not say anything in defence of my people, but commented on other topics during the daytime-journey. I believe their contemptuousness was based on hearsay and prejudice mixed with ignorance. When we crossed Pakwach Bridge, I shamelessly told the first-time travellers to Arua that am from this side, but they refused to believe because I spoke their language well. I did not argue with them about West Nile's low status in the other parts of UG (Knew the reputation well), but after gliding past the Arua Hill Roundabout, the pair confessed that Idi Amin was the only president who left his hometown in a good state: At least, it looked urban, not rural and some roads were tarmacked. Amin actually used to drive his rally cars around here in the 70s before I was born. I had kept quiet about how Arua looks on the ground all along so that they could judge for themselves like I was pleasantly surprised at the turn of the new millenium. I even witnessed some roads going through several pothole-patching makeovers before everything was removed and new longer-lasting layers tarmacked. Nevertheless, some roads were never finished due to corruption eg Mango Road.
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While in KLA before Twenty13, I used to review tourism maps of Uganda (eg in Eye Magazine and so on) and find West Nile blank; not even Ajai was mentioned nor Pakwach Bridge, Salia Musala, various waterfalls, etc. So, I made it my business to do research. I hope Arua is mentioned somewhere annually as a cultural (church, water or urban) tourism destination in the Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo.
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Words either damage (bring down) or mend up: Arua is the Sweetest Place on Earth! Some people look for a lovely place, others make a place lovely.
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Architecture (Tallest Buildings in Arua/ Bha Da Sende Tawuni-a Tipasi/ The Stones Will Praise GOD): Desert Breeze (10-storey Extension), Noble Unit Building (9 floors on Adumi Road), Arua Hospital Doctors Quarters (8 house-stomaches or floors), Shopping Centre blocks (7 floors), Aza Plaza (6 storeys), Sinai Plaza, Le Tsuba (Tap of Luxury), Orasea Complex (5 floors), ML Building, John Boboli Koboko Building, Nyadri Block, Star Plaza (4 floors), Tropical Suites Hotel, Concord Business Centre, KKT Plaza on Duka Road (3 floors), RICE West Nile on Awudele Crescent, ASIL Complex, Rippons Motel Building, Rose Villa Hotel, Golf View Inn, Wazalendo Complex, Electoral Commission West Nile Regional Centre, etc...
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Brands: Springs, Omia Agribusiness Group, Terah Fish, Sunshine Mineral Water, Tolo Sweets, WENRECo, Malayika Bread, Barolls, Mungufeni Foundation, etc...
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Cathedrals: Emmanuel (Mvara), Ediofe (Vatican City of Arua)...
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Churches: St. Philip's (Golf Course), Christchurch Ediofe, St. Chrysostom Adalafu, Christ the King, Arua Pentecostal Church, SDA Church (Arua Hill), Agape...
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Ecotourism: Oluko Falls (Abairo and Oluporoporo) in the East with plunge pools for swimming offers a different gamepark-like experience from the urban view near the city. Other places are: Ragem Beach meanders, Ogurugu Beach in Dadamu, hiking plus biking trails, nature walks, Barifa Forest with Playground and Leisure Park with mini-zoo...
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