Bunyaruguru Dispatch: Destinations; Naalya Motel is about connections and experiences

By Aggrey Nshekanabo

So, today, the 29th of March 2023, Dr. Ivan Bisaso drives into Naalya Motel. In the car park, he shouts; “I am here to see you” The gentleman is putting on a cap. It is covering half his face. He is putting on glasses. I could not quickly recognize him. He teases me and he smiles. And then I connect with the smile.

Ivan and I last met in 1998 after our high school exams. We were leaders at St. Joseph’s Secondary School Naggalama between 1996-98. At the height of COVID-19 in May 2020, we later linked up on a WhatsApp group with several of our schoolmates going back to 1992. So, we enjoyed a cup of coffee and the local sukaali ndiizi a.k.a apple bananas at Naalya Motel. We chatted and caught up on so much like we’ve been in constant contact.

So, why is this important for Naalya Motel? 90% of the clients of Naalya Motel are known to us or are connected in some way. And when these connections link up, our job at Naalya Motel are to create long lasting experiences. 

Certainly, Dr. Bisaso has had the best coffee in the world on his travels. Why does the coffee at Naalya Motel be so different then? It is accompanied with apple bananas or sometimes pancakes with which, we easily connect with our roots.

So, it is more than the coffee really. It is about the connections, the experiences and keeping in touch with our roots. Ivan said so many things about the Motel, its character. The feel at home factor, the African touch, the little décor here and there, what we want to experience everyday but seem not to get. The things we have at home.

And guess what, the next thing he said was; “I will come back with my wife. She loves flowers. She will fall in love with this place. I will also come with my children. This is a cool place. We can enjoy a family meal here;” And that is all we aim at. That what you experience here, you wish it to your friend, to your family member, to your loved one.

And as we make three years, we look back with a high sense of thankfulness. When we opened, the first group clients that June were my former course mates at Mbarara University of Science and Technology class of 2004. Next were old girls and boys of St. Joseph’s Naggalama, and then workmates at New Vision. This group of veterans has really sustained us. We just have to figure out a reason to meet up and we do.

Next were OBs of St. Kaggwa Bushenyi High School. We even celebrated the attainment of a PhD of our classmate of 1995, Dr. Agaba John Bosco. The boys, yes, we remain boys, the boys of St. Kaggwa Bushenyi High School have made this their home. 

The Motel was crafted around the things we love. So, yes, we are its first clients. We love adventure. And a team of crazy adventurers eventually found Naalya Motel the ideal place. And soon after, we became the de facto home of Crazy Summiteers 256. Over Six groups that have taken on Mt. Rwenzoris have started their journeys from here. 

This group eventually realized that adventure with a cause was much more meaningful, and we identified with the Amputees Uganda. The first walk from Kampala to Jinja, a treacherous 83km started from Naalya Motel. The 3rd Edition of the Jinja walk has just been knocked down and we hope that we will enable those without limbs walk again.

We host a book reading club; the Naalya Book Club. We love books to bits. And where there is a book, there is beer and if not beef, there is a breast (could be of chicken) what is important is the Tripple B; Books, Beer and B. We celebrate authors to have their first public readings. And we have hosted the President of the Pen Uganda in the short life of this club whose home is Naalya Motel. We have hosted authors with big ideas including Ms. Agnes Igoye, the Chief of Anti-human trafficking in Uganda, Mr. Joel Aita, a man with the greatest business mind, Ms. Christine Lalobo, one of the founders of Femrite, Mr. Benard Mujuni of the famous “Rabbit on the Pulpit” Anthology, AIGP Assan Kasingye and so many others. To crown it all, there is plenty to eat and drink and accommodation with beds that don’t “Nyikiri Nyikiri” after all; Life is for Eating.