More research about the area of Sipi and Mount Elgon:
www.instinctsafaris.com/2013/04/visiting-ugandas-east-mount-elgon/
Visiting Uganda’s East: Mount Elgon
With the breathtaking western regions of Uganda, the east is often neglected by tour companies and most travelers who visit the Pearl of Africa. With the Sipi Falls, Mount Elgon, and Kidepo Valley National Park in the far north east of the country, eastern Uganda has its beautiful spots which are worth being visited! This is our first entry in the series, Mt. Elgon.
Mount Elgon is the fourth highest massif in eastern Africa after Mount Kenya, Kilimanjaro, and the western Ugandan Rwenzori mountains. The mountain is, like the Virungas in the south western region of Uganda, an extinct volcano. The crater, close to the Kenyan border in the east, measures twelve kilometers in diameter. Its location is about 100 kilometers north east of Lake Victoria and the park can be reached by public means or your safari vehicle with Instinct Safaris. In fact, the size of Mt. Elgon measures 50 kilometers width from west to east, and no less than 80 kilometers north to south.
Mount Elgon’s highest peak, Waragai, reaches up to 4,321 meters and can be hiked to on three days. For people who wish to either hike at a slower pace or spend more time on the mountain, we offer to extend our hikes. Only few people know that Mount Elgon was once Africa’s highest mountain and it was far exceeding Kilimanjaro’s current 5,895m. Thousands of years of erosion have reduced its height to the 4th highest peak in East Africa and 8th on the continent.
www.sipiriverlodge.com/communityprojects.htm
Community Projects
Coffee Tours
Sipi Falls is the home of Bugisu Washed Arabica Coffee - one of the finest coffee's in the world.
Our coffee tour gives you the chance to learn the process behind making this coffee. Talk to the farmers, see the plantations and then roast your own coffee to take home with you.
Here at Sipi River Lodge we grow our own coffee as well as buying it from local farmers. We roast the coffee and grind it in-house, before serving it to our guests.
The tour starts with a walk around the local area to see the coffee plantations and learn a little about the life of a coffee plant. If you're here during the harvesting season (September) then you can also help pick and wash the coffee.
After the walk and some lunch at the lodge our staff will show you how to de-shell the coffee beans before roasting them in the traditional way over a wood fire.
Once you've finished roasting the beans we'll grind it for you and brew you a fresh cup to enjoy with a slice of cake as you relax for the afternoon.
The Coffee tour will take about half a day, although evrything is flexible and we can tailor a tour to suit you needs.
The cost of the tour is $25 per person including a tour of the plantations, lunch at the lodge and a bag of your own roasted coffee to take home with you. If you are already staying at the lodge (and therefore having lunch already) the cost is $15pp. The proceeds of the tour go to the local coffee farmers, guides and the community.
Sipi Falls location marked on a map of Uganda:
