Uganda Travel Guide

You won't be disappointed. You will see so many different animals and so many beautiful scenic. You will miss Uganda when you return home.

Uganda is a very green and fertile country, with wonderful scenery and friendly people (most of them speaking kind-of English). A minor downside is that the big wildlife is spread over several NP's (we didn't visit them all, so we didn't see girafs f.e.). I would recommend tracking Mountain Gorilla's in Mgahinga NP, a few days rest at the magical Lake Bunyonyi (we stayed at Byoona Amagara Island Retreat), tracking chimps at Kyambura Gorge (QE NP) and going for a whitewater rafting on the Victoria Nile (we went with Adrift).

In my opinion, the best travel guide to Uganda is 'Bradt Uganda'. We had so much use for this book: it's clever, informative and funny! It really added an extra dimension to our travelling in Eastern Africa!

The friendliest place I have ever been

The wildlife in Lake Mburo National Park is slightly limited, with no signs of the big five (although there were talks of bringing back the giraffes, as conditions were thought to be very good for them now). Howeever, this did not limit the experience of thew safari. We knew from the beginning what animals we could expect to see, and they were out and about continuously. We came very close to the animals, and the were curious yet healthily cautios when we were present. It did not feel like they were too used to people, and we rarely met another group while on our game drive.

The scenery was beautiful, and so inspiring! Our breakfast at the lakeside cafè was of decent quality at best, but it was amazing to see all the animals, birds and to enjoy the lake view while having our breakfast. Our accomodation was parted; two people stayed at the spectacular and luxurious Mihingo Lounge. The other two stayed more or less in the bush, in a one-room house with toilets outdoors. We ran into animals on our way to the bathroom! Fascinating, and slightly scary. Food at Mihingo Lounge was excellent, food at the lakeside restaurant was decent. We had a teenager from the park collecting us from the restaurant at nighttime on a boda boda. It was a thrill to ride through the park at nighttime.

The safari included a boatttrip, which was great for birding, and a walking safari. The latter was the safari highlight; a two hour walk on the green steps, surrounded by buffalos, topis, waterbucks and a bucnh of other animals I cannot rememeber right now. Our guide was fantastic. A friendly, intelligent young man with a heart for nature. And a great storyteller he was too!

As for Uganda, it was marvellous. I have not been there for the last time.

Uganda is amazingly fertile and beautiful. If it can remain at peace, it's people have a very bright future.

Uganda was a pleasant surprise. I was there for 2 weeks and it was amazing. It is definitely in the top 5 places I have been in the world with it's beautiful layout in Kampala (the view of the city from one of the many hills is incredible), to the wildlife of the Nile.

Nice nature, beautifull kind people

Nice nature parcs, good weather!, nice accommodations in the nature!, I did the trip with a Dutch organisation: Matoke Tours. It was really nice!

Excellent for mountain gorillas, and for a good not too touristy safari experience

I found Uganda to be a fantastic place. The highlight was, without doubt, the mountain gorillas which were truly breathtaking when seen in their natural environment. I found the way the treks were organized to be very good, making the whole experience accessible, but without it feeling too sanitised. I also enjoyed the other parts of my trip - while the game drives are not up to the quality in terms of number of animals that you might find in other reserves (so I am told - this is my only experience of safaris so far) what is great is that they are a lot quieter than other reserves in other countries. We saw a post-kill pride of lions ripping apart a warthog carcass and there were only a total of 6 or 7 vehicles around - something I believe is not likely to happen in places such as Tanzania which are more developed. The lodges were, without exception, fantastic - great food, nice atmosphere and friendly staff. The trip was expensive, but we did a lot - several boat trips, chimpanzee trekking and of course the gorilla trekking. It might not be somewhere you consider unless you are either a birder (Uganda is meant to be great for birds) or going to see the Gorillas, but for me it was a perfect place for mixing safari and trekking.

Uganda is a great destination to get off the beaten track from countries such as Kenya and Tanzania.

We enjoyed our time in Uganda and saw a great variety of wildlife in the three parks that we visited. The weather in late June / early July was great. The food and accommodations at the parks were first-rate. The roads are a little challenging and take time to cover the distance, but add to the authentic feel of being on safari in Africa.

Wildlife disappointing compared to Serengeti area

Having done a safari in the Serengeti immediately before Uganda it was always going to be difficult to live up to expectations. The quantity and variety of wildlife was poor in comparison. The people in my group who were starting with Uganda were quite thrilled with what they saw so I may be being overly harsh. Our guide explained that much of the wildlife was decimated during the Idi Amin era and is still recovering so perhaps in the future it will improve. The campsites we used varied quite widely from fairly developed areas in Jinja/Kampala to merely a flat area near the river at Lake Mburo. The gorillas and Bwindi forest in general were amazing and did make the trip to Uganda worthwhile in my opinion.

Life Experience

I visited Uganda 3years ago, as a student in order to work on a project about their living standars. Because of the project I met a lot of people and I have to admit that they are very friendly and hospitable. The weather in Uganda is normal, not dry but warm. The food is cheap and tasteful. They mainly offer goat sticks, soup with rice and vegetables and mattoke which is a traditional plate made by bananas. The accommodation was good as the staff was very willing to serve you, but it was a little bit slow. As far as the transportation is concered, they have "boda-bodas", which are motor bikes where you sit behind the driver. They also have buses and vans which are like taxis. The scenery is green and magnificent and there is a great variety of wildlife to explore by selecting this country as a safari destination. This safari had been arranged by the hotel where I stayed, situated in Mbarara district. We woke up in the morning and a bus booked by the hotel, took us to "Queen Elisabeth National Park". Approaching to the park we were astonished by the beautiful sunrise. Then we left it all to our communicable guide who was explaining all only in english, as the official languages are english and swahili. Small safari vans took us to indiscribably places in this huge park, driving among a lot of animals. The feeling that you get when you are so close to them cannot be discribed. It is unbelievable that you are in their natural living place. Elephants, lions, hippos, crocodiles, monkeys are just a few of what you can see. This is a life experience that you have never imagined!!!