Crazy Weather of Lake Bunyonyi

So, summer’s just about to pop its sunny little head round the corner. You’d think that’s all sunshine and hammocks, right? Well, not quite.

Around Lake Bunyonyi the weather has been strange for almost a year, to put it mildly. First, there was too little rain and the farmers were worried. The locals were pointing fingers at one hotel owner, claiming he had smashed up the nest of a super rare bird, the Hamerkop.

This poor thing spent yonks gathering bits from all over to build its home, only to have it flattened. But here’s where it gets wild: the hamerkop’s nest was said to be stuffed with bones from every animal under the sun. Traditional healers from around Bunyonyi even sent their patients to pinch bits from it for remedies. Talk about avian magic. So, when the bird had its full nest up, the man’s business raked in customers. Now? Not so much.

Is this tale backed by science? Absolutely not. But round here, belief’s a powerful thing.

Then the rains came roaring in, with storms like a soap opera gone rogue. At Edirisa on Lake Bunyonyi the branches went all rebellious on our rooftops, the fence collapsed dramatically (honestly, it had one job), and our wooden kitchen nearly floated off like some confused raft. We even had to build a new foundation just to keep water from playing peekaboo inside.

Some cottages got absolutely scrubbed. Local paint? Gone. All of it. We’ve still got a mountain of work smearing new coats on like we’re redecorating Buckingham Palace with mud.

And the wind? Don’t get us started. It didn’t just bother us – it went full chaos mode across Lake Bunyonyi. Two poor souls, a lad and his uncle, never made it back after canoeing. With no phones and no one clocking their absence, it took a full week before anyone found them. First one was spotted washed up near the old leper colony island – only recognised by his clothes. Locals tied him to the bank, unsure if they were jumping the gun. But when they returned and found the second … well, it broke everyone’s hearts.

Meanwhile, up in the capital, Kampala: torrents of rain, floods up to your knees, folks losing homes, shops, even lives. Chaos in the countryside, misery in the city. What a time to be alive.