Lake Nkugute found in Rubirizi district, Western Region, Uganda is shaped like an African map.
In fact, Most people refer to it as Lake Africa. However it is one scary water body on that it ‘eats’ children. At least, the locals think so.
Lake Nkugute is a crater lake and it’s estimated terrain elevation above seal level is 4645 feet.
It’s believed to have been formed after volcanic activity left a crater in the ground, which slowly filled with rainwater over thousands of years.
The Nkugute crater lake whose name apparently means swallow, has been a blessing and curse to the nearby locals who have been coming up with some strange tales about the water body.
The Lake which swallows Children
According to villagers, the Lake usually swallow at least two children every year.
They affirm that a male and female child must slip and drown in Nkugute periodically.
Even worse, nobody knows or predicts when or how exactly will the Nkugute swallow up the children.
The accidents just occur out of the blue.
But Nkugute need not worry when its two children will appear.
As it happens the water body is normally beehive of activities.
Many locals go there to wash clothes, utensils and sometimes even bath at Nkugute.
But while parents or relatives attend their washing from the lake’s shores they would at times forget to pay attention to their children who enjoy swimming in the waters.
Then, all of a sudden screams will be heard coming from the Lake.
The fated children that the Lake has chosen to take, would be seen helplessly screaming while being pulled down into the abyss.
But worse still, anybody attempting to rescue the drowning child would sometimes also be ‘swallowed,’ to escort the victims whenever the lake takes them.
It is due to such stories that the African shaped Lake became known ‘Nkugute,’ in reference to its tendency to eat up children.
The boundaries of Lake Nkugute seen from a hill that borders the lake look similar to the map of Africa.
Villagers say that it is the deepest lake on the continent, but with the absense of exact scientific measurement, it remains hearsay.
Kasese Chainsaw Massacre
In the past, the lake used to be surrounded by a very thick forest, but such vegetation it was destroyed during the construction of the Mbarara-Kasese highway.