Uganda Travel Guide

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

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.

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!!!

The park is a very appealing place. The wildlife is not quite as ubiquitous as in some of the Kenyan parks I've visited, but of course I was only in Murchison for a couple of days. The Nile River was certainly a highlight and unique -- a rare chance to view wildlife interacting with this iconic river.

I liked the things we saw in Uganda, but Tanzania was better.

Stunningly divers, incredibly beautifull, accessible to travel and very friendly people!

Unfortunately we (a friend and I) did not get to do a safari sensu strictu (with the land cruisers, zebra's, giraffes, etc) but of what I heard there are plenty possibilities available. What we did was a more adventure / hiking / chilling vacation, in which we rafted the white Nile, visited the beautiful Sipi falls, chilled on the shore of Lake Bunyonyi and climbed the Mganhinga voulcano (or is is Magahinga?!).
Uganda is easy to travel, not only due to the high concentration of attractions over a relatively small country, but also by the friendliness of the people. Infra structure is all a bit less polished than Kenia / Tanzania, which means you might have to organize a bit more by yourself and all may go a bit less smooth. From my point of view that's part of the safari experience (aka Bush Vibe).

I liked the things we saw in Uganda, but Tanzania was better.

The parks are very nice (I especially liked Kidepo Valley) and you´ll never see a crowd!

The parks were more affordable than other countries. The country is small so it is easy to travel from Kampala, the capital, to the parks. The wildlife is diverse and the birding is fantastic. Best of all the Ugandan people are friendly and accomodating.

As it's a small park the number of different animals is limited but that makes one focus on more than just the big five.