After multiple failed expeditions, empty hard drives, and countless nights of doubt, Touring Uganda from Above and Ground, Uganda’s first fully-fledged tourism reality TV series started filming.
For Isaiah Jobs Rwanyekiro, CEO and Founder of Breathtaking Uganda, it was not just the launch of a show. It is redemption.
It started in 2011 at Uganda Media Centre
The idea was born while Rwanyekiro was serving at the Uganda Media Centre.
“Fred Opolot believed Uganda deserved to tell its tourism story differently,” Rwanyekiro recalls. Opolot later introduced him to travel presenter Wills Isingooma. Together they pitched concepts. None got off the ground.
“It hurt more than I ever admitted. There were nights I lay awake wondering whether I was chasing something that would never become reality. But the dream refused to die.”
The expeditions that kept the dream alive
In 2013, Rwanyekiro and tourism veteran Abdul Muhiire led a 14-person team across western Uganda. From Lake Mburo to Lake Bunyonyi, gorilla tracking in Ruhija and Buhoma, through Ishasha, Queen Elizabeth, and Fort Portal, the team shot photos and footage that still moved him years later.
In 2015, he returned with Isingooma and Collins Mugume to film Fort Portal, Rubirizi and Queen Elizabeth. More beautiful footage. Still no series.Later, with copywriter Trudy Emojong and creative Issa Kainamura, they wrote more concepts. Still, nothing aired.
Then came February 2022: _The Big Boys Caravan_. A self-funded 21-day road trip with St. Muhereza Kyamutetera, Barham Kagunda, Mukiga Traveller, Tonny Drone Shots and others.
From Jinja’s Wildwaters Lodge to Pian Upe, Moroto, Kidepo, Kitgum, Gulu and Pakwach, they captured thousands of photos and hours of video. Rwanyekiro ran out of money before they could finish. The footage sat on hard drives.
“Those journeys never left me. During the disappointments during the seasons when everything else moved forward except this dream.”
In 2023, with Kunta Productions, they filmed 5 days of ‘The Crazy Road Trip’, intended as 4 episodes. Rwanyekiro says he has never watched the footage. “Because sometimes it hurts too much to look at what almost was.”
The comeback: “Breaking Open the Vault”
All that archived material has now become Breaking Open the Breathtaking Uganda Photo and Film Vault the foundation for the new series.This time, Rwanyekiro isn’t doing it alone. He has partnered with the Miss Uganda Foundation, PearlSky Ltd, Lemala Wildwaters Lodge, Adrift River Club, Kalagala Overland Camp, and Choate Boutique Hotel.
Filming starts in Kampala, flies to Kakira via Entebbe, then moves by road to Jinja and Kalagala. For three days, the crew will capture white-water rafting, bungee jumping, luxury hospitality, and the adventure spirit of the Pearl of Africa.
“This production is about much more than another television programme. It is about refusing to let years of setbacks define the end of a story. It is about telling Uganda’s story in a fresh, cinematic and unforgettable way.”
A prayer before the cameras roll
On the eve of filming, Rwanyekiro shared a prayer for protection, guidance, and impact: “May this production become the beginning of something far greater than any of us can currently imagine. May it reveal to Uganda and to the world — the extraordinary beauty You blessed this nation with.”
Touring Uganda from Above and Ground is produced by Breathtaking Uganda “Discovering the Hidden Pearls in the Pearl of Africa.” The road, he says, has been painfully long.
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