The view of Mt Kadam from a homestead in Sukdik village.PHOTOS/ TONY MUSHOBOROZI
Do you remember the day you climbed a hill and when you finally reached the top you completely forgot the pain of scaling the heights to the hilltop because of the sheer beauty of the view that met your eyes?
It was like a curtain had been pulled away and a magical land appeared before your eyes.
Whether it was a lake in the valley below or the rolling hills across the plains or a thick forest behind you, the view just transported you to a place deep in your spirit where it was not debatable that God existed and that He loved you. You felt so glad to be alive that a little tremor went through your entire body independent of your faculties.
On some level, that is how Nakapiripirit makes you feel. The road from Moroto town that leads to this far-flung hamlet cuts through the savanna grasslands of Karamoja like Cupid’s arrow through a heart.
Simply enchanting. The newly tarmacked road is so straight you can barely see a bend in the road for miles. It is so lonely you barely see anything else other than the savanna shrubbery and grasses on both sides of the road.
You’d expect to see the semi-arid conditions that you were taught about Karamoja in school but you’d be disappointed. Nakapiripirit is as green as Ssese Islands.
If you ever decide that you needed a long drive whether alone or with your buddy, to just see the country or clear your head, there would be no better road to take than this. If you are a lone wolf and you needed to ride solo into the sunset for some reason, or you needed to test out your new GS1200, this is the road that would do it for you.
It is smooth and straight, clear of any traffic and has no speed bumps. In the two hours it took us to travel from Moroto to Nakapiripirit, we saw about three cars on the road.
That’s it.
Nothing else on the road, just us. Several times we stopped and stood smack in the middle of the road and took pictures. That is how isolated this outpost is. When you turn towards Nakapiripirit from Moroto, a black line appears at the end of the horizon. As you inch closer to the town, the line gets bigger and bigger until it becomes a beautiful mountain range. Its name, Kadam Mountains. You couldn't stop yourself from saying “wow” even if you tried. The views from the road are simply something out of wonderland. The air is so clean, pictures taken in Nakapiripirit look like they were taken in the Maldives. The air quality is that good.
The grass becomes greener as you inch closer to Kadam mountain because the soils here are more fertile. It appears that the mountains afford this part of Karamoja more rains than the rest of the region. But the real beauty of Nakapiripirit lies in the fact it lies at the foot of Kadam Mountains. From the center of town, the mountain range is so tall, it touches the sky.
Left: Every plant seems to be in the middle of bloom in October in Nakapiripirit. Above: A man walks on a footpath on the outskirts of Nakapiripirit Town.
From any vantage point, the mountain makes a fantastical backdrop to the tiny town, often appearing like the protector of the town. Forget that the town is made up of about five buildings including the government facilities. It is stunning. You just have to see it to believe it.
The lower ranges of Kadam are full of beautiful virgin forests and gently slanting of grass lands that would be a haven for a goat herder. Gazing at it just gives you nostalgia for all things country. You envy the little boys that likely frequent the place for berries or wild mushrooms.
The higher parts of Kadam are volcanic rock. They almost look man-made because of how straight and linear they are.
I am no mountain climber. I don’t expend my adrenaline that way. I’d rather ride superbikes but I have a feeling mountain climbers would love Mount Kadam.
The cliffs are high and steep while the plateaus on top are perfectly flat.
But you have only seen a small part of Nakapiripirit’s beauty if haven’t visited Sukdik village along the banks of Diyok River, in the leafiest part of this hamlet. First of all, from the Sukdik homes, it feels as if you could touch the firmament of heaven if you stood on the top of Kadam and really stretched your arms out. The villages under this mountain seem to have their own special climate, vegetation and soil fertility.
Sukdik is an agricultural village so you see crops everywhere, bananas, cassava, sorghum, vegetables, etc. This is the bread basket of Karamoja.
You reach Sukdik and you wish you lived here. No dust, no concrete, no smoke, just clean air and greenery. The plants in this village are all green and seem to all be in the middle of a bloom. Nakapiripirit just seems so unadulterated.
If you were living in precolonial times and you were fed up with the land of your forefathers and you wanted to migrate to far lands to start a clan of your own far away from the barren lands of your ancestors and you traveled through Karamoja with intentions of going as far away as possible, you'd stop in your track upon reaching Sukdik village at the foot of Kadam Mountains in Nakapiripirit.
You’d settle here and be happy every after. The land is fertile. Diyok river is clean. And Mount Kadam is glorious. It’s the perfect place to start a civilisation.
But this is not precolonial times. It is 2024 and yet Sukdik and Nakapiripirit in general looks as unadulterated as probably did 200 years ago. It leaves you speechless. Go see it for yourself.
