Arua Tourism

MUNGU ni ambo [GOD is great]! After a concept note submitted to Ministry of Tourism by Fred Wathum (Arua City Senior Tourism Officer), West Nile's Regional City was chosen to host the national celebrations of World Tourism Day 2025 (Saturday 27th September) with the theme "Tourism and Sustainable Transformation". This event raises awareness about the transformative power of tourism in shaping economies by promoting investments, increasing visibility of cultures and showcasing natural (GOD-created) as well as man-made attractions in the environment. 

Arua City Tower (Monument) in 2025 just before rooftop addition and painting began
[Photo from Joel Aita]...

Named the 2nd Best Small City during the inaugural 2015 African Mayor's Awards held in Luanda (Angola) after Praia - the Capital of Cape Verde (Pacific Ocean archipelago west of Senegal), Arua is a peaceful and prudent Metro Hub of Opportunities that links East Africa to the rest of the Black Continent. Surrounded by three different republics, the ancient Hometown of Idi Amin (Uganda's 3rd President) is the Regional City of West Nile (Northwestern UG) since 2020. The sweet and excellent (First-Class) City of GOD got its name from a (well-guarded) medium-sized rock elevation where locals thought Belgian colonialists had constructed a "small prison" for holding criminals or tax defaulters (from as far as Rhino Camp) who would be moved to a bigger prison in Aru (DR Congo). Arua Hill has a superfly 360-degree panorama of Lugbaraland and became part of the British Protectorate of Uganda in 1914. Explore as well as enjoy the agriculture, architecture and art of West Nile; below are some Angu Neza [Sightseeing] points of interest (The uncountable sounds you will hear from there):

2ambe Health Club...

Arua's Best Kept Secret in Oluko...

Abairo Falls (Oluko) is about 15 minutes away by motorised means East of Arua City at the extreme end of Waterfalls Road (after caretaker John Acile's family homestead) with amazing views of a small rift valley (or Lugbara Ecotourism Wonderland). Sometimes, the sunsets are so transcendental with golden-yellow rays that the shadows on trees and rocks look serenely picturesque!

Abi (ZARDI) Farm after Ombaci (Agrotourism)...

Aci Engine (WENRECo)...

Adumi Hill with DR Congo views...

Arise Center (with Kima [Kakwa for: Fire] Campsite) not far from Oloporoporo (Upper Abairo) Falls which is owned by American Mike Elkins. The name Olo(koto)poroporo [Translated from Lugbara: Many lizards] is inspired by the presence of Peter's rock agama (red-headed) lizards that roam around Arua City; there are also bigger lizards the size of a man's arm...

Arua Airport, off Rhino Camp Road near Jiako. Foundation stone was set by Zaire President Mobutu Sese Seko (alongside Idi Amin Dada) during his two-day visit to UG in 1976. Flights from Entebbe are less than 2 hours long...

Arua Central Market 2021 (Blue roof, next to KKT Centre on Duka Road)...

Arua City Tower (Tallest Monument in East and Central Africa)...

Arua Golf Course (West Nile Club)...

Arua Hill (Superfly, 360-degree panorama of Lugbaraland) and the origin of the name used by the entire locality meaning "Small prison" or "In prison"...

Arua Hill Stadium and Business Park, a head-turner on Plot 1, Nebbi Highway, construction northwest of Arua Hill by Development Infrastructure (DI) started in 2019...

Arua Prison (Visiting days are Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9am to 4pm)...

Arua Public Library...

Awindiri Hill...

Barifa Forest, Playground plus Leisure Park behind UNHCR and DRC offices...

Birdwatching: Bald vultures, marabou storks, brown kites, pigeons, weaverbirds, kolikolia [African Pied Wagtail], gaagaa [black and white crows], crested cranes, small redbirds, owls, bats...

Catholic Centre (Cafeteria) opposite the Uganda Police BOMA Ground...

Christus Centre Ediofe...

Churches: St. Philip's (Golf Course), Christchurch Ediofe, Christ the King, Arua Pentecostal Church, SDA Church (Arua Hill), Agape...

Craftmaking: Mats, pots, baskets, arrows, adungu, attire, baby suncover...

Drivers Corner at the Hospital Road and Wadriff Road T-Junction...

Ediofe Cathedral (Roman Catholic Mission) built in 1917 and renovated several times...

Ediofe Pharmaceutical Warehouse for Arua Diocese...

Electoral Commission West Nile Centre on Plot 2, Municipal Bypass...

Emmanuel Cathedral Mvara (Anglican Mission), old Emmanuel Church near Oluko Road was built in 1936 while new cathedral was consecrated in the new millenium...

Events: Duluka (with eucalyptus xylophones or banana-stem percussion music), West Nile Corporate Comedy, Anyoya Festival, Koro Dance, Yamari, Aje [Marriage], Adi [Lugbara legend]...

Gaagaa Market (Hawker)...

Guesthouses: New Dawn, Dolphin, etc...

Health care: Arua Regional Referral Hospital, Kuluva Hospital with a 5 MW Hydro-power Dam, Pioneer, MBN Clinical Lab, health centres and pharmacies...

Hiking (or trekking) and biking trails...

Le Tsuba Hotel Arua: The tap of luxury...

Hospitality: Desert Breeze (Tallest Building in Arua by floors), Le Tsuba (first with an elevator in Arua), Eripak Beach Resort, Dreamland, Heritage Courts plus Park, White Castle Ewuata, Borderlands Co-Op Mvara, Royal Crane Resort, 6A (in Manibe), Del Ambience, Prince Palace Resort Kuluva, Harriton (undeniably exquisite venue)...

Jubilee House in Mvara for Church of Uganda...

KKT Centre (or Plaza) on Duka Road...

Lobida Market

Lopalopa Fish Market brings together three countries (South Sudan supplies fish, Uganda sells while DR Congo buys), East of Lobida Car-yard which is found near the Northern end of Idi Amin Road. Lopalopa loosely translated from Lugbara is: Rich rich...

Lugbara Kari (Chiefdom) Palace in Giligili on Ovisoni Bypass

Lugbara Kari Cultural Centre

Madi-Lugbara Cultural Foundation (MALUCUFO) Museum

Mass graves: Ombaci Massacre of 86 people by Ugandan soldiers (Wednesday 24th June 1981), Muni...

Mosques: Safi, Irshad, Riyadh, Hijra, Muhibeen, Tawfik, Sambya, Noor...

Muni Power Substation...

Mvara Dri (Trading centre along Oluko Road)...

National Water and Sewerage Corporation (Arua Headquarters)...

Okuza [The Gathering] where multitudes come together within a week at a Gospel festival...

Ombaci Earth Satellite Station (set up in 1976 during Idi Amin's regime as the Tallest in East Africa), near UBC West Nile...

Onzivu Street Corridor (whose sanitation and cleanliness improved unlike its origins)...

Place names (Complementary): Congo Zone, Zambia, Sudan, Kenya, Garamba, Mutukula, Tanganyika, Mendoza, Dubai Village, Makutano Junction...

Radios: 100.9 FM Voice Of Life (VOL) Arua [the pioneer FM broadcaster in West Nile (though exclusively Gospel-oriented) alongside Paidha FM in Nebbi], 94.1 Nile FM, 88.7 Arua One FM, Radio Pacis with two stations, 96.3 FM Access (Arua City), UBC West Nile, Capital FM Kampala, Spirit FM Koboko, BBC World Service, 98.3 Christ the King FM, Bunyoro Broadcasting Service (BBS), Radio Maria Nebbi, Voice Of Madi plus others from DR Congo...

Ragem Beach meanders and canopy

Rivers: Enyau, Osu, Asa, Acha, Oli, Jordan, Ala...

Roads: Weatherhead Park Lane, Arua Avenue, Nebbi Highway, Enyau Road, Market Street, Transport Road, Idi Amin Road, Go Down Road, Rhino Camp Road (or Highway), Koboko Highway...

Schools: St. Joseph's College Ombaci, Muni Girls SS, Mvara SS, Springs, Arua Public, Ushindi, Ediofe Girls SS, Muni University, Bugema University, UCU Ringili, Nile University Ombaci, Muni National Teachers College, Arua Core PTC (Mvara), MUBS...

Seasons: Rain starts in March until November; December to February is dry with little to no rain... Mangoes ripen in May and December, butterfly migration in August, grasshoppers in April and November, whiteants in June...

Social Centre (Ediofe Road)

Supermarkets: Doudou, Dream Shoppers, Esomart (on Central Road), Orasea, Jin Hong Yun (Chinese), West Nile, Xin Fu Lai (Chinese)...

Transportation: Nilestar Bus Services joined Nile Coach, KKT, Gaagaa, YY Coaches, Baby Coach, etc in ferrying passengers for at least 7 hours on the Kampala route

TV stations: Bornfree Technologies Network (BTN), Westnile TV, Host TV...

Vatican City Ediofe...

Wildlife: Grey monkeys, green snakes, two-headed snakes, purple snakes, dark green leaf-like moths, ope [guineafowls], river crabs, foxes, manya [monitor lizards]...

OTHER NEIGHBOURHOOD ATTRACTIONS

Adjumani: Zoka Forest Reserve, Ara Fishing Lodge, Boat cruise, Ogujebe Eco Lodge, Birdwatching...

Ayivu: Greenlight Stadium Onduparaka...

Koboko: Salia Musala (Tri-republic destination), Mt. Liru (Origin of Kakwa), Awudi Caves, Dabaracha Falls, River Kochi...

Madi Okollo: Ajai Game Reserve (whose white rhinos were given to Indian exiles in South Africa as compensation for Idi Amin's 1972 expulsion; the remainder were poached, but antelopes, primates and other wildlife abound), River Ora Bridge, Rhino Camp, Madi stone music...

Miriadua Falls (about 30 minutes north of Arua City by car)...

Maracha: Miriadua Falls (on River Oluffe), rivers Imve and Ayi plus Aliro, Alikua Pyramid (Belgian burial ground for two colonialists), Nyadri Town, Mabira Market, Kololo Trading Centre, Lake Rokoze (Nyoro), Rwe Crater Lake in Oluffe, Komendaku (Red monkeys, snakes, porcupines and rock badgers plus mountain vegetation), Tara Hills, St. Joseph's Cathedral Ovujo, Bango Cultural Centre Oleba, Maracha District Local Government, 1991 Ojapi Air Raid woodland peony tree site on Andozea Hill in Ajira Subcounty, Mass graves (Lokiragodo, Atoro in Oluvu), firefly nightshows...

Moyo: Mt. Oce (Highest Point in West Nile), Nyeri, Ilo, Metu Hills and Caves, Fort Dufile, Laropi Ferry Crossing, Era Forest, Moki Springs, Arapi Limestone Factory...

Nebbi: Biku Hill (Smallest Church on Earth), Paidha Hill, Nebbi Rocks, Agwara Dance, Nyaravur mangoes...

Albert Nile near Opi Island
[Photo from NilePost]...

Obongi: Opi Island, Boat cruise (Sailing), Comboni Missionaries Farm (Agrotourism), Sportfishing, Waka Forest, Obongi Ferry...

Pakwach: Albert Nile Bridge (Gateway to West Nile), Wang Lei located hundreds of metres from the URA Checkpoint (Acholi call it Wang-Wat-Latong meaning: Where an axe was buried at the Luo Separation point of Alur and Acholi ancestor-brothers named Gipiri and Labongo [or Nyipir and Nyabongo] respectively after Gipiri used Labongo's first-son-given spear to chase away an elephant ravaging Labongo's pigeon pea garden while the owner was out hunting and then later killed Labongo's child for swallowing one of his 2nd-son-given royal beads as revenge for being forced out for some months to bring back without fail the exact spear which the elephant had escaped with and found deep in a forest), Owiny(i) Total Solar Eclipse Monument (Sunday 3rd November 2013), Fort Emin Pasha in Wadelai...

Terego: Mt. Wati, Olewa Falls, Onayi, Tooth Can Lost...

Vurra: URA Customs, (Sultan) Isara Memorial Cultural and Community Library (IMCCL), Ezuku Forest Reserve (Source of River Enyau), Ovisoni, Agoi Falls, Laura Hill, Meridien Tobacco Company, Logiri Forest, Bondo Hills...

Yumbe: Lodonga Basilica (1st in Sub-Saharan Africa though 4th Oldest on the continent with annual pilgrimage on 8th December), Yumbe Hospital, Bayan Hotel, Agbinika Falls, Dubu Falls...

Zombo: Nyagak Hydropower Project, River Ora, Mount Zeu, Alur Kingdom Palace, Tomb of Ubimo Jalusiga (also regarded as the 1st Agofe of Lugbara Kari) and Chief Ajai, etc.

Welcome to Arua, the Regional City of West Nile since 2020! For every single tourist that visits a destination, one permanent job is created. West Nile is rich, but unknown to the world... Expose its tourist attraction sites... Profile the region... Madi, Lugbara (who separated from Madi [migrating from Nigeria] in Rejaf near Juba [South Sudan] after a woman left the group with others to search for her wrapped desert dates called lugba at lunch) and Aringa (considered a Low Lugbara dialect) are mutually intelligible languages and actually share many words, numbers and surnames...

The stones will praise GOD with loud voices (Luke 19:40). Bha da sende tawuni-a tipasi.