KALONGO

Sport and culture will be on the agenda if you head for Kalongo, a town of 20,000 inhabitants located 70 km from Kitgum (access via Kitgum Matidi and Wol). In terms of sport, rock climbing and hiking are the main activities in this remote country where mountains, rocky outcrops and nipples spring up. Kalongo was thus founded at the foot of Mount Oret, an imposing peak that peaks at 1,600 m and dominates the plain that stretches five hundred metres below. Experienced climbers will be able to tackle this granite wall. For the time being, two climbing routes have been opened and only a handful of climbers have climbed it ... If you would like more detailed information about the above mentioned spots , please do not hesitate to consult The Crag (www.thecrag.com). Visitors who are not interested in carabiners will be able to enjoy a walk on the Parabongo heights north of the city, or in the local champagne. If you approach the Green Oasis Guesthouse team, you should be able to find a guide. On the cultural side, a hospital (once is not customary) is in the spotlight. The Dr. Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital is, indeed, an unmissable institution in Kalongo. Builders of St. Joseph's Cathedral of Gulu and converts of Daudi Okelo and Jildo Irwa, the Comboni missionaries are also at the origin of what was, at first, a simple dispensary, before becoming a real hospital, following the arrival of Fr. Giuseppe Ambrosoli in 1956. Giuseppe Ambrosoli (surgeon, radiologist, maieutician...), opened a school for midwives and treated lepers, who had been confined to leper colonies within the hospital. In February 1987, in order to prevent the LRA rebels from taking over the hospital, the Ugandan army evacuated it and burned medicines and medical equipment. Dr. Ambrosoli, who died a few weeks later and is about to be beatified, was the demiurge of the Kalongo hospital, which in 2020 received some 38,000 patients from the region. Unless you are nosophobic, a little visit is in order! It is possible to sleep in Kalongo, in the very modest Lim Welo Guesthouse (count 15,000 Ush at night) or in the Green Oasis Guest House (www.greenoasisagago.com), which is quieter (3 km from the centre), pleasant (at the foot of the northern slope of Mount Oret), but also more expensive (from 15 to 30 US$). It is also possible to withdraw money and refuel.