By Aggrey Nshekanabo
The road to Martha’s Farmhouse is winding and with no signage right from the main road at Kisowera off Mukono-Kalagi road. When you finally arrive at the house, then you know it was a worthy drive. About three years ago, someone pointed me to Martha’s Farmhouse in Genda village in Mukono when I was looking for a family gateway. Unfortunately, I didn’t take it up.
However, the idea of a hospitality farmhouse kept tagging at my heart. And when my writings were finally pinpointed to destinations, Martha’s Farmhouse spirit rose again. And off we went to Martha’s house in Nama, Mukono district.
Martha’s Farmhouse has no road sign whatsoever anywhere in Mukono and only on the wall of the farmhouse. According to Norah, the curator of Martha’s Farmhouse, this is intentional.
“We want the clients who come to us are protected from intrusion and to enjoy their total privacy. Besides, this is not a walk-in facility. All our clients are pre-booked. And this is a digital era. We are on Google Maps. So, it is still possible to find us without the traditional means of road signs. More so, these road signs are expected to be paid for to the local council and this cost is passed onto the client. And security of these signage from scrap dealers is not assured,” Norah explains.
And so, this was the case with me in finding Martha’s Farmhouse. I was in contact with Norah and followed the Google Maps but also the community was very helpful in leading us to Martha’s house. The community is a great beneficiary of Martha’s Farmhouse from its Community Social Responsibility of which, 10% of its income to the community for social change.
And so, we finally arrived at Martha’s house following Google Maps and asking and calling and it was worth every effort considering that it is 10km from Kisowera stage on community roads that are well maintained. Your last landmark is the rusty Buliika Health Centre II and Ssejinja Junior Academy signposts from which, you turn left through a humble village and then a grand tiled house welcomes you at the end.
Now, Martha’s Farmhouse is named after the late Martha, a mother of three who was born in this village and worked so hard single-handedly to raise them. The three are grateful for their mother’s toil and in remembrance of her hard work, chose to name this gem after her.
Martha’s Farmhouse sits on half an acre in enclosure that has a swimming pool, a well-manicured garden for relaxation at the front yard. On the left of the house, is a fireplace where if the evening turn chilly and yet guests still want to be outdoor, they can be warmed up. There is a big sitting area that can take up to 12 diners.
The swimming pool area has sitting pockets for one to chill out while the front-yard, which faces the sunsetting has a tea plantation ahead to complete the magical beauty.
The backyard has a games space for various outdoor games and the packing area and an outside kitchen.
The external kitchen gives the village feel since food is cooked on energy saving firewood powered stoves and a modernized dishrack, where kitchen utensils are kept to drip. The inner kitchen in the main house is exuberant and exudes modern living lined with modern kitchen utensils complete with gas cookers and other kitchen knickknacks.
The lounge is extremely neat and extravagantly expansive to give it the serenity that guests would be looking for.
There is a huge satellite TV set for those who want to keep in touch with the rest of the world in news and sport. The walls are lined with books and modern movies that when you retreat to this place, you do not completely feel out of place. The main house has three bedrooms. The main room has a king size bed and two bathrooms including one with a transparent roof. The other two bedrooms, while not self-contained, there is a shared bathroom that is easily accessed by the occupants of the two rooms. According to Norah, this too was intentional to give the facility a home feel. The verandah is extended to the front to allow sitting of over 30 people.
According to Jim Lumala, who was our guide during the tour and is a nephew of this household said that this porch was also intentional to give guests another outdoor feel. “In fact, many guests love to have their meals at the verandah especially dinner as they see the sun go westwards over the tea-plantation. This adds beauty to the facility but also breakfasts are also great here since it gives the guests a great morning feel and allows us to have a good breakfast spread;” Lumala says.
Finally, we had a tour of the farm. The farm grows majorly coffee, vanilla and matooke. And now that school holidays are here, I strongly advise that families take their children to Martha’s Farmhouse to give them a farm feel. They will be able to feed rabbits, look after coffee and harvest some, see how vanilla is manually pollinated; a rare plant occurrence since we have majorly known pollination to take place through wind or by insects and also, they get to look after goats.
Martha’s farmhouse is that much needed place for family retreats, team building expeditions and just the right place to go and chill as a group. Groups are allowed to pitch tents but also because of the growing numbers, there are four-self-contained units that will be ready before the year ends. These will be for the noisemakers or those who love to go with their boom boom music and separate from the main house which is mainly about tranquility and quietness and serenity.
Aggrey is a travel writer and team leader at; https://www.facebook.com/MotelNaalya
Email: aggrey@kyamburasafaris.com; Tel: +256775414596
The post Bunyaruguru Dispatch: Destinations; Martha’s Farmhouse is the perfect village gateway close to the city appeared first on Watchdog Uganda.
Category: News, Tourism, Travel, Hospitality, Martha’s Farmhouse, mukono
