Travel Guide Soroti

Soroti is considered to be a transit town and is hardly ever visited by tourists. The city, home to some 70,000 people, grew up at the foot of a granite neck, Soroti Rock, in the early 20th century. It was strategic - an important part of the freight traffic between the Belgian Congo and Mombasa on the Indian Ocean shoreline passed through here (Soroti was the point where the Uganda Railway trains from/to Kenya and the boats broke load), the town was a vibrant place (with traders of Indo-Pakistani origin) from the late 1920s to the 1960s. However, Soroti went through a period of economic decline in the 1970s and 1980s when the railway line was abandoned and the "Indians" were expelled from the town by Idi Amin Dada in 1972. Today, the capital of the eponymous district has regained its colour and is more than worth a short trip between Lira, Karamoja and the south of the country. Apart from Soroti Rock, which offers good views of the town and surrounding area (climbing is subject to permission), the town has a handful of old buildings and a market, which was rebuilt after the fire that destroyed it in 1999. Located on the paved Lira-Mbale road and at the beginning of the paved road to Moroto (170 km), Soroti has gas stations, banks, grocery stores, modest hotels and small restaurants, such as Cafe Canunu in the heart of town.