The Bee Hive Bar & Bistro at Bigodi only opened last year and is already a hit amongst travellers, tourists and locals.
The Bee Hive is conveniently located directly opposite the Bigodi Wetlands Sanctuary, along the newly surfaced Fort Portal to Kamwenge Road. You can’t fail to miss the big brown and honey-coloured striped building!
It’s always good to bump into tourism colleagues on the road! Tour operator Timothy Kintu was eating lunch with safari clients on a recent visit to The Bee Hive. Pictured with us is New Vision journalist Arthur Mwenkanya Katabalwa
Looking for a restaurant near Fort Portal? Or somewhere to hang out between chimp tracking in Kibale Forest and Bigodi Wetlands Sanctuary Walk?
Just five minutes’ drive from Kanyanchu (the meeting point for tracking chimps in Kibale National Park), The Bee Hive is a great stopover for coffee, tea or cold drinks after tracking the chimpanzees. The reasonably priced restaurant menu includes local favourites like pumpkin soup, goat stew and rolex (omelette in a chapati in case you haven’t tried one yet) as well as international dishes, beers and decent wines. On a previous visit, I really enjoyed tucking into the spaghetti bolognese (goat of course!)
The Bee Hive serve delicious rolex. The chapati are well-cooked. Click on the image to read my blog “The humble rolex – celebrating Uganda’s uniqueness”
If you’re a sports fan, The Bee Hive has a pool table with regular pool competitions. You can also watch sports and international news on their 50″ screen and satellite TV. (The Bee Hive is the only venue in the area with a back-up generator back-up – so you won’t miss any of the TV action).
My family LOVED The Bee Hive! We stopped here for cold drinks after doing the Bigodi Swamp Walk
View from the upper floor of The Bee Hive. Bigodi Swamp is pictured to the left of the Fort Portal Kamwenge road
Time for a cold beer at The Bee Hive – one of the few places in the area to have a back-up generator to ensure drinks are cold and ice-cream is even colder!
As the name hints, The Bee Hive also sells honey that is harvested from beehives positioned on the boundary of Kibale National Park to deter elephants crossing to peoples’ land. I love these kinds of projects, as regular blog readers will remember from my days as a volunteer in elephant and community conservation. (Honey is such a great present to buy for folks back home).
The Bee Hive is suitable for groups and small private meetings (10 – 30 people). There is plenty of off-road parking too
Morning coffee is served on the upper floor of The Bee Hive. Profits from the sale of Gorilla Conservation Coffee support farmers in Bwindi. This in turn helps protect the gorillas and their fragile habitat. You can even buy bags of freshly ground coffee to take home
A great place to hang out with friends after a spot of birdwatching. The Bee Hive is right opposite the KAFRED community walk at Bigodi
Whether it’s for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacks, I recommend The Bee Hive for good wholesome food, cold drinks (make mine a beer), coffees (Gorilla Conservation Coffee, of course!) ice-cream and a fab view of the countryside. Outside tourist lodges, The Bee Hive is the only restaurant and bar in the area that caters for both local and international tastes.
TIP: If you’re traveling in a group, or want to hold a private meeting call Peter the Manager on +256 787 357 717 or 0781 515 957 to reserve your tables.
How to find The Bee Hive
The Bee Hive is midway between Fort Portal and Kamwenge, about 4 km south of Kanyanchu Tourist Centre. To be honest, you can’t miss it! It’s 38 km from Fort Portal and 3.5 km from Sunbird Hill.
For latest updates from the Bee Hive, like the Facebook page.
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