Nkugute Crater Lake Uganda

Nkugute Crater Lake Uganda

Nkugute Crater Lake Uganda: located in Rubirizi District in Uganda and it is a place of mystery, with a history that goes back to tales shared around campfires by the locals in the villages that surround it. The boundaries of Lake Nkugute seen from a hill that borders the lake look similar to the map of Africa. In the past, the lake used to be surrounded by a very thick forest, but it was destroyed during the construction of the Mbarara-Kasese highway and presently, the lake is surrounded by banana plantations, tilled land as well as pine and mahogany trees. Behind the beauty are strange and supernatural stories and according to locals, it’s the deepest crater lake in Africa with some shadowy reaches that have eluded western scientists but there is no proof to this claim.

How it was formed

Nkugute is a crater lake which was formed as a result of volcanic activity in the Bunyaruguru volcanic field and the eruption in this field is more than 12,000 years and this is evidenced by the existence of the hot springs within its vicinity such as Kitagata hot spring. 

Mysterious tales about the lake

In Runyaruguru, the lake’s name literally translates to “swallow” for it’s said that every year, one boy and one girl used to disappear beneath its waters, and if anyone notices and tries to help, they’re “swallowed” too. It’s also said that anyone walking past the lake alone after dark would be accosted by the Bachwezi people. The Bachwezi are a near-mythical culture, sometimes said to have been extra-terrestrial, who ruled the region for over 10,000 years and were worshiped as demi-gods. Every year, the lake would swallow a male and female child and no one would predict when this was going to happen. People who came to wash from the lake’s shore would at times forget to pay attention to their children who enjoyed swimming from the lake and before they knew it, one of the children would be seen helplessly screaming while being “swallowed” by the lake and those who attempted to rescue the drowning child would sometimes also be “swallowed”, deriving to its name Nkugute in reference to that behaviour.”

Previous residents
Before these changes occurred, the lake was home to the Bachwezi and a lot of mysterious things happened to justify this. For example, after 10pm, anyone who walked past the lake would be stopped by very tall, dark skinned and strange people who would beat him/her up and later abandon that person in any of the forests in the area. However, they would only attack those who would be walking alone because it was not possible to see them or be attacked when walking in a group. The lake had a caretaker called Omuzumira Komurusozi, who was responsible for performing rituals to appease the gods of the lake but whenever these rituals delayed, the lake would turn violent. Reports of people drowning under unclear circumstances would be popular; it is then that people would seek the intervention of the caretaker to perform the rituals which involved slaughtering a goat and a sheep whose heads were dumped in the lake. However, following the prominence of religion in the area, people abandoned engaging in the rituals and Nkugute is now a major source of water for domestic use in Rubirizi. A dam was constructed at the boundary of the lake, which looks like the horn of Africa, to supply water around the district.