Ssese Islands

Overview

The Ssese Islands are 84 islands scattered across the north-western corner of Lake Victoria, of which only a handful are set up for visitors. Buggala, the largest, has the ferry port at Lutoboka and most of the accommodation; Banda and Bulago are smaller and quieter. The appeal is not a list of sights - there are none - but the absence of one. The islands are heavily forested, the shorelines are sandy in a way that most of Lake Victoria is not, and life runs on fishing, palm oil and the ferry timetable. Vervet and colobus monkeys are common, the birdlife is good, and the sunsets over the water are the reason most people extend their stay. It is a place to read, walk, swim carefully and do very little, which is exactly what it is for after two weeks of early starts on safari.