Location: Moroto District is located in Eastern Uganda bordering the
Districts of Kenya further East, Kotido in the North, Lira, and Soroti to the West, and Kumi, Mbale, and Kapchorwa in the South.
Population: The District has a population of about 354,400 people.
Main Town: Moroto is the main town of Moroto district and has a
the population of about 7,500 people.
Area : 14,351.6 Km2
Land and vegetation: Most of the district area is open grassland, 0.17 percent
is wetland and 7.5 percent is forest.
The key tourist attractions of the district are given below
1. Pian-Upe, Bokora, and Matheniko Wildlife Reserves
The Reserves stretch into each other covering the north, north-west, and western areas of Moroto district; bordering Kapchorwa, Mbale, Kumi, Katakwi, Lira, and Kotido districts.
The areas of the Reserves are habitats for significant numbers of game species due to the various rivers and green river valleys. The animals include buffalos, hyenas, Dik-Dik, the Greater and Lesser Kudus. Others are Topis, Zebras, Orex, Jackson Herte Beasts, Oribi, and Ostriches. Occasionally, Kenyan Zebras also wander from Kenya through the Pian-Upe Reserve.
The Reserves are traditionally popular for game drives.
2. Mount Moroto
Mount Moroto is found close to Moroto town. The ranges are over 3,000 meters high and are of international significance to mountain climbers. The lower hills that lie adjacent to the mountain offer opportunity for hill hiking to the less experienced visitor.
Other attractions on Mount Moroto include the scenery of the hanging cliffs, unique montane vegetation, the Forest Reserve, primates, and large numbers of Oribi and various bird species.
3. Community/Cultural tourism
The culture and way of life of the Karamajong, including the design of their homesteads (Manyatas), are important attractions for visitors to the region. The scanty traditional wear is also an important attraction even to domestic tourists to the region.
Aspects of community tourism require to be conceptualized clearly to develop a product out of the Karamajong culture and way of life.
The product could include the Magothy site, the place where the Matheniko, Bokora, Pian, Jie, and Enyakwai separated.
4. Crafts and Souvenirs Industry
There are hardly any permanent wetlands for sustainable development of the crafts and souvenirs sector. However, Karamajong stools and sticks are commonly on sale in Moroto town. The hardwood from the region is popular for making crafts and souvenirs.
There were two crafts and souvenirs shops in Moroto town found during the survey, namely; Karamoja Women’s Crafts Shop and Bongoran Enterprises.
5. Hotel and Catering Industry
The district had 9 accommodation establishments, employing 75 people and a total capacity of 172 beds, at the time of the survey.
Mount Moroto Hotel was the most outstanding with a total capacity of 23 beds.