From the Rwen­zori snow-capped high­lands to Riv­er Nile, enor­mous fresh water lakes like Vic­to­ria, Edward and Albert, lush vast forests and savan­na plains, a friend­ly nation with a diverse pop­u­la­tion and rich cul­tures that wel­comes all kinds of indi­vid­u­als with open arms. The “Pearl of Africa,” is with­out a doubt nat­u­ral­ly endowed. Sev­er­al tourist des­ti­na­tions are wide­ly spread across the coun­try includ­ing over 10 nation­al parks.

Pris­tine des­ti­na­tions like Queen Eliz­a­beth, Lake Mburo, Kide­po Val­ley, and Murchi­son Falls Nation­al Parks, among oth­ers, pro­vide unique African safaris where one is able to spot big five safari ani­mals which include lions, ele­phants, rhi­nos, leop­ards and buffalos.

Despite being a land­locked nation in the inte­ri­or of East Africa, Ugan­da has man­aged to com­pete with its neigh­bors in the tourism sec­tor though ini­tial­ly the indus­try is still grow­ing. More effort has recent­ly been made with the launch of the “Explore Ugan­da” cam­paign, which aims to encour­age even cit­i­zens to trav­el and enjoy Uganda’s beau­ty with a strong empha­sis on pro­mot­ing cul­ture, wildlife and nat­ur­al landscapes.

Major­i­ty of nation­al parks, includ­ing Queen Eliz­a­beth and Murchi­son Falls, were not used for game dri­ves in the ear­ly 1970s because they were regard­ed as dan­ger­ous zones. Addi­tion­al­ly, there were no des­ig­nat­ed trails for chim­panzee and goril­la treks and infra­struc­ture was real­ly bad.

It was unsafe to enter war zones in the North, where peo­ple had expe­ri­enced war and poach­ing was rampant.

Uganda’s inter­est­ing his­to­ry can be explored through vis­it­ing var­i­ous his­tor­i­cal fea­tures such as the Nile’s source in Jin­ja and the Kasubi tombs, where you get to learn about the coun­try’s largest cul­ture of Bugan­da. Vis­its to the dif­fer­ent Palaces in the coun­try can be made like the Tooro, Buso­ga Bugan­da palaces where you get to learn and appre­ci­ate their differences.

When it comes to Ugan­dan cul­ture, there is a lot of diver­si­ty, with dif­fer­ent eth­nic groups. You’re like­ly to meet Bagan­da in the cen­tral region, Baso­ga, Bag­isu and Ite­sots in the east and Ankole in the west which is also known as the Land of Milk.

Just like pearls, the coun­try has a gem of resources to explore and adventure.

Activ­i­ties one can enjoy while on a safari in Uganda.

Gorilla Trekking in Uganda

Car­ried out in Ugan­da’s south-west­ern based park. Bwin­di Impen­e­tra­ble Nation­al Park. Moun­tain­ous and thick­ly cov­ered in mist and lush veg­e­ta­tion, the park is ide­al for moun­tain goril­las’ sur­vival. It is one of the only two parks in Ugan­da where the crit­i­cal­ly endan­gered moun­tain goril­las can be found.

One can also trek these endan­gered species at Mgahin­ga Goril­la Nation­al Park for a more steep and chal­leng­ing expe­ri­ence. Goril­la trekking per­mits in Ugan­da cost $700 for foreigners.

Chimpanzee trekking

Fam­i­lies of habit­u­at­ed chim­panzees may be found in Kibale Nation­al Park; while they are hos­tile in nature, they give tourists the oppor­tu­ni­ty to see how com­pa­ra­ble to peo­ple they are in terms of genet­ics, social dynam­ics, emo­tions and char­ac­ter. You get to spend the day with habit­u­at­ed chim­panzee troops while on the trek.

Game drives in Uganda

This is most­ly done in nation­al parks with low ele­va­tions and expan­sive savan­nah plains like Lake Mburo, Queen Eliz­a­beth, Kide­po and Murchi­son Falls Nation­al parks. These parks pro­vide a relaxed wilder­ness expe­ri­ence dur­ing game dri­ves, which are always slow-paced to allow clear obser­va­tion of Big 5 ani­mals, small mam­mals and birds.

Boat cruises

You may take relax­ing boat rides either on Vic­to­ria Nile or Kazin­ga chan­nel while vis­it­ing Murchi­son falls NP and Queen Eliz­a­beth Nation­al parks respec­tive­ly. While on a cruise, vis­i­tors can observe var­i­ous crea­tures the park has to offer, includ­ing cape buf­fa­los, huge African ele­phants, water­bucks, and oth­er species of antelopes.

Visiting National Parks

Queen Eliz­a­beth, Lake Mburo, Murchi­son Falls, Kide­po Val­ley, Kibale, Mount Elgon, Rwen­zori Moun­tains, Semu­li­ki, Mgahin­ga and Bwin­di Impen­e­tra­ble Nation­al Parks are Ugan­da’s 10 nation­al parks that are rich with fau­na and flora.

The big 5 safari ani­mals which include lions, leop­ards, buf­fa­los, African ele­phants and rhi­nos that are only found col­lec­tive­ly in north­ern Ugan­da, may be seen in these parks, which show­case the best wildlife in East Africa. After going extinct in Ugan­da in 1970s, rhi­nos were brought back in 2005 at Ziwa rhi­no sanc­tu­ary, which is close to Murchi­son Falls Nation­al Park. On the way to Murchi­son Falls Nation­al Park, one can go rhi­no trekking.

Hiking mountains

Although some hikes are done in south-west­ern region, which includes the Vol­ca­noes Moun­tain ranges that sprawl across Rwan­da, D.R. Con­go and Ugan­da, the most well-known and dar­ing hikes are done on Mount. Rwen­zori and Mount. Elgon. Some of these hikes are chal­leng­ing, par­tic­u­lar­ly the one up Mount Rwenzori’s peak, which takes 7 – 9 days to com­plete. Most hik­ers reach the sum­mit, how­ev­er oth­ers opt to stop at par­tic­u­lar heights.

Cultural Safaris in Uganda

Cul­tur­al tours entail trav­el­ing and expe­ri­enc­ing var­i­ous cul­tures and spend­ing time in their com­mu­ni­ties as you learn about how their dai­ly rou­tines are. The Bakon­zo, who were the orig­i­nal inhab­i­tants of Mount. Rwen­zori and still main­tain their pre­his­toric way of life, the Bag­isu / Bamasa­ba found on the slopes of Mount Elgon, and Karamo­jong peo­ple of north-east­ern region near Kide­po nation­al park are just a few of the var­ied cul­tures in Ugan­da that are fas­ci­nat­ing to learn about.

When to visit Uganda?

Major­i­ty of tourists who have vis­it­ed Ugan­da say that it has the most incred­i­ble weath­er. Since it is locat­ed in the trop­i­cal region and crossed by the equa­tor, it expe­ri­ences great weath­er with only two sea­sons, the dry and rainy sea­son hence mak­ing it pos­si­ble to car­ry out dif­fer­ent activ­i­ties all year round.

“A long journey to Uganda Safaris begins with a single step…”

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