LAKE NABUGABO
Lake Nabugabo, 20km cast of Masaka, is quite distinct from Lake Victoria but there's a good reason why it's in this chapter. After all, it was only isolated from its larger neighbour 4,000 years ago when a narrow bar of sand drifted across a large, shallow bay of Lake Victoria to impound Lake Nabugabo as a separate satellite. Silt accumulation has subsequently reduced its original extent fourfold, so that today it covers about 25km2, fringed on all but the western shore by the extensive Lwamunda Swamp. Despite its relatively recent formation, Nabugabo has a substantially different mineral composition from the main lake: its calcium content, for instance, is insufficient for molluscs to form shells (hence the absence of the freshwater snails that transmit bilharzia). Five of the lake's nine cichlid fish species are endemics that have evolved since it became separated from Lake Victoria, one of a handful of comparably recent incidents of speciation known from anywhere in the world. Though more popular with Kampala weekenders than with foreign visitors, Nabugabo is an excellent place to rest up for a day or two, and its bilharzia-free beaches are serviced by three affordable and — on weekdays — tranquil resorts. The forest patches that line the lakeshore, interspersed with grassy clearings and cultivated smallholdings, are rustling with small animals such as tree squirrels, vervet monkeys and monitor lizards, and can easily be explored along several roads and footpaths. Birdlife is prolific, too — look out for broad-billed roller, Ross's turaco, black-and-white casqued hornbill, African fish eagle and a variety of sunbirds and weavers.