Uganda

capital city and gateway to Uganda

A typical African capital with a compact, high-rise center surrounded by sprawling suburbs, busy Kampala is Uganda’s commercial, political and logistical hub, but also one of the quietest and friendliest cities in East Africa.

Uganda’s only international airport is located by Lake Victoria in Entebbe, 35 km away. This small village serves as the main entry and exit point of the country and many visitors will spend a night here or in Kampala before and after their safari in Uganda.

trekking gorilla and jungle wildlife

Don’t be put off by its intimidating name, naturalist guides and trackers will take you to Bwindi and the reward is worth it: this majestic forest is the place to go in Uganda for your gorilla trekking experience. Spend an hour with a family of gorillas, watch these gentle giants in their primitive rainforest habitat before sneaking out and returning to their comfortable jungle hut. A gorilla walk that is wet, wet, muddy and hard, but the experience is absolutely extraordinary.

wildlife watching, river cruises and bird watching

With the Nile River carefully crossing Uganda’s largest park, you’d expect a variety of animals in Murchison Falls and be right. It is where to go in Uganda for the most reserve classic species such as elephant, buffalo, lion, hippo and a bird count of almost 500 types, Murchison Falls also has chimpanzees and colobo monkeys in its forests.

The piece of resistance, however, cross by boat the spectacular waterfalls in which the thundering Nile is squeezed through a 7-meter slit in the Rift Valley escarpment.

bird watching, wildlife, chimpanzees and river cruises

Easily combining with the Bwindi Forest, Queen Elizabeth National Park is Uganda’s most popular and accessible savannah reserve and is home to elephants, buffaloes, leopards, numerous species of antelopes and the famous tree-climbing lions of the plains of Uganda Ishasha.

Take a boat and cross the Kazinga Canal to see hippos and crocodiles, don’t forget your binoculars, with a staggering 600 species of birds, Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of the top bird watching destinations in the world.

primates, birds and butterflies

Quickly becoming a must-see destination in Uganda, Kibale Forest offers visitors an accessible and enlightening view of life in a rainforest. Large mammals are not so easy to see, but the clouds of dazzling butterflies and beautiful forest birds more than make up for it, and Kibale is famous for its primates. Take guided chimpanzee walks in the majestic forest and see how many of the other 12 primate species you can observe.

As one of Uganda’s wildlife gems, Kibale is a priority for visitors who want to walk gorillas and chimpanzees during the dry seasons, which are usually from November to February and in June to September (rainy seasons are March to May and sept. December to November). While searching for chimpanzees and inhabited gorillas, you can also discover other primates such as the red colobus, the black-and-white colobus, the potto, the blue monkeys, the olive baboons and the rare l’Hoest monkeys.

There are plenty of other wild animals, thanks to the adjoining wildlife corridor with Queen Elizabeth National Park. Here you will find elephants, pigs and antelopes, as well as predators such as lions, serval, leopards and African golden cats. The 351 species of registered trees create a diverse, lush and beautiful backdrop.

Birdwatchers will revel in the 325 registered bird species including yellow tinker, African grey parrot and endemic terrestrial thrush. The park community runs the famous walk in the Bigodi swamp, where an impressive 325 species of birds have been counted.