Papaya Lake Lodge is one of the newer additions to the Ugandan safari scene, nestled in the lush, evergreen landscapes of Uganda’s Crater Lakes region near Kibale National Park. The exclusive and peaceful lodge offers sweeping views of Lyantonde and Kifuruka Lakes within Uganda’s Great Crater Lakes region.
Owned and operated by husband and wife Sebastian and Magdalena, who moved to the area from Europe in search of a new life, it is evident that Papaya Lake Lodge is established with great passion, appreciation of local culture, and attention to detail, creating an oasis that makes life worth living.
Ideally located close to the Kibale National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park, venture out from the lodge to enjoy drives and sights of Uganda’s diverse ecosystems and flora and fauna species. The highlights are sightings of chimpanzee, red colobus monkeys and bushbuck species.
Location and Accessibility
Papaya Lake Lodge has a wonderful location, overlooking the crater lakes of Lyantonde and Kifuruka. This is an elevated position, and guests enjoy views not only of the sparkling waters but also across to the magnificent Rwenzori mountains. Papaya Lake is accessible via light-aircraft flight or road transfer from Entebbe International Airport.
Lodge Atmosphere and Design
Guests enter Papaya through the main house, a pretty building with huge windows looking out towards the lake. Here there’s a crackling fire- a real essential in this part of the world as it can rain torrentially at any time.
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The main lodge at Papaya Lake is an impressive timber, stone, and thatch structure overlooking both crater lakes. Inside, there is an airy and spacious restaurant and bar, incorporating a few lounge areas. This creates a relaxed atmosphere - corner sofas mingle with campaign chairs, both set around chic wooden tables.
Sophisticated light fittings hang from the ceiling, while the walls are adorned with some interesting black-and-white framed photographs of the local flora and fauna. There are many intriguing artifacts too, while a few well-positioned plants pay subtle homage to the natural surroundings.
This area flows out onto a delightful sun terrace, the perfect place for winding down and admiring the spectacular views! And the property’s swimming pool boasts 360-degrees uninterrupted vistas of the lakes, the mountains, and the plantations all around.
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Accommodation
Overlooking the waters of Lyantonde Lake and hidden by trees, nine exclusive cottages offer tranquil and luxurious spaces with warm wooden floors and bespoke decor.
The guest accommodation at Papaya Lake consists of eight cottages and one villa. All are positioned on the slopes of the crater, and each provides breathtaking views of Lake Lyantonde from a private veranda. Spaced well apart from each other for privacy, they also benefit from green screens of trees.
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Fairly steep brick pathways lead down from the main lodge to the rooms, meaning this would probably not be our first choice for travellers with serious mobility issues.
The nine cabins are all spaced out along the lake shore-eight with a double and a single bed, and one 3-roomed family cottage. These are simple, but pretty, with sweeping white drapes, lots of natural wood and a simple ensuite shower room.
Eight cottages have a king and a single bed, en-suite bathrooms and an inviting verandah. The cottages contain one king-size bed and one single bed, in addition to bedside tables and lighting, mosquito netting, a separate seating area, and en-suite facilities comprising flush toilet, washbasins, and shower.
Outside, there’s a verandah overlooking the lake, which your reviewer thought would be a great spot for curling up with a book and a cold drink after a day in the forest. As with the main lodge, a few artifacts are in residence - and the timber, stone, and thatch construction of the cottages is a perfect blend with the natural setting.
The same design approach has been used for the property’s villa, which has three bedrooms, a lounge featuring a cozy fireplace, a big bathroom, and a spacious terrace. Papaya styled the rooms with calm colors, subtle accessories, original interior design, and simple but comfortable furniture.
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Each evening, beds were turned down, nets unfurled, curtains drawn, and hot water bottles provided.
The interiors are beautifully furnished, with a soft neutral palette that contrasts effectively with the rich colors outside. However, it’s the lush, green vegetation that makes it easy to relax after an adventurous day in Kibale Forest.
Please note that in common with many lodges in Uganda there is electricity for charging and wifi only available at the main lodge, and water is heated by donkey boilers so you will need to give some short notice before your shower.
Dining Experience
The lodge’s chefs pride themselves on their ability to satisfy even the most demanding gourmand. Their cooking is a fusion of cuisines from all parts of the world, prepared using fresh ingredients. Papaya Lake Lodge’s cuisine is a mixture of elements from around the World, European and African art of cooking.
Apart from sitting in the restaurant for their meals, guests can choose to have their meals outside to avoid COVID-19 contact. There are also children’s menu choices.
As our first morning involved a 5.45am breakfast, we took a light option: a jug of orange juice, plate of mixed fruit (melon, banana, watermelon, mango and pineapple) and thick homemade bread, jam and marmalade. The following day was more leisurely, and we chose from the a la carte menu featuring eggs any way and a variety of accompaniments, pancakes or two types of oatmeal.
Lunch was served on the wooden deck, and on arrival, started with Irish potato soup: potatoes are always referred to as Irish potatoes to distinguish them from sweet potato. We then helped ourselves to a dish of beef lasagne which would have served at least four, accompanied by a delicious salad with lots of avocado. We finished with bananas in caramel and a coffee.
Dinners were excellent and we began with bread with herb/garlic butter followed by vegetable fritters on both evenings with an accompanying sauce. Soup followed: the first night the Thai tom yam soup was served at the table from a fancy tureen on a stand, whereas on the second night, the curried carrot and orange soup was simply brought to the table in the bowl.
It was the same with the mains: we could help ourselves to tilapia fish fillets in a tomato sauce, salad and boiled potatoes (this was just as well as the dish had 11 potatoes) but on night two, chicken fillets with caramelised onions, rice, cauliflower, carrots and green beans were served on the plate.
Activities and Attractions
Most guests who come to Papaya spend time with the chimps in Kibale Forest, around 45 minutes away, either taking part in the chimp trekking or the chimpanzee habituation experience. Just a 20-minute drive from the starting point for chimpanzee tracking at Kanyancu in Kibale National Park, Papaya Lake Lodge is an excellent base for exploring the Kibale forest jungle and other nearby attractions.
After a 30 minute drive through the lush Fort Portal landscape to the trailhead, guests can join guided chimpanzee hikes from Kanyanchu Park Headquarters into the forest jungle, searching for the chicky chimp bands. Usually, the chimpanzee tracking walks last 2-3 hours and are restrictive to eight people.
After your exciting encounter with chimpanzee troops, sunbathe or take a dip in the well-elevated pool with the greatest view on the property.
Other activities include:
- Guided walks around the crater lakes surrounding the property
- Community visits
- Bird watching (Kibale National Park is home to 325 bird species)
- Walks in the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary
- Visiting the Amabere ga Nyina Mwiru Caves
Kibale is a fantastic destination particularly for fans of primates, as the lush rainforest within this park is home not only to chimpanzees but also to black-and-white colobus monkey, red colobus monkey, blue monkey, and L’Hoest’s monkey.
Queen Elizabeth N.P. offers safari on a grand scale. Another area offering superb walks is the Ikuri forest within Semuliki N.P., situated on the Semuliki valley floor. Trips to the famous ‘Mountains of the Moon’ - the Rwenzori mountains - are also available.
Amenities
- Laundry Services
- En-suite bathrooms
- Hot/Cold Water in bathrooms
- Swimming Pool
- Wi-Fi Available (at the main lodge)
- Restaurant & Bar
- Daily housekeeping
- Mosquito net
Things to Note
Staff were friendly but formal in both dress and manner, and they moved silently around the dark restaurant and spoke in hushed tones. The lodge has nine luxurious cottages, offering complete privacy which unfortunately comes with a price - the trek to and from our cottage (number 4) involved 10 wooden steps, 50 uneven steep stone steps and then a long stone tree lined path (our room was one of the nearer ones). Needless to say, every time I arrived at the communal area I was puffing and panting, hoping I’d not forgotten anything.
There was no charging of anything in the room, but there were plenty of sockets at the reception where the Wi-Fi was extremely intermittent during our stay. The bathroom had an excellent large walk-in shower, basin (which had no hot water) and loo.
Payment of the bill was not a simple process and took place in a dark corner of the bar, where the guy needed to use his phone torch to see what he was doing. We were incorrectly charged 20,000 shillings for each tot of gin instead of 12,000, and the number of tots, sprites and beers were all incorrect as we were never asked to sign.
Papaya Lake Lodge: Summary Table
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Location | Near Kibale National Park, Uganda's Crater Lakes region |
| Accommodation | 9 luxurious cottages (8 with king and single bed, 1 family villa) |
| Cuisine | Fusion of European and African styles |
| Activities | Chimpanzee trekking, bird watching, crater lake walks |
| Amenities | Swimming pool, restaurant, Wi-Fi (main lodge), en-suite bathrooms |
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