As one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, Uganda is a real treat for travellers. This East African country is home to both the continent's highest mountain range and its largest lake, as well as the source of the world’s longest river. Uganda's landscape of thick rainforest, crater lakes and game-rich savannah is superb, and there is a wealth of amazing animals – tracking gorillas in Bwindi is one of the world's great wildlife experiences. Add in opportunities to explore richly historic Kampala, raft the Nile and relax on Lake Victoria – and you have an unforgettable trip in prospect.
Busy, bustling Kampala, the capital of Uganda, is a good first stop on any tour of the country. Kampala was once the centre of the Buganda Kingdom, and you can explore the remnants of this ruling clan at the Mengo Palace, the one-time home of the King of Buganda. Another great place to visit is the Kasubi Tombs, a thatched dome that houses the mausoleums of four former kings, and inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. For a taste of daily Kampalan life and culture, head to the lively markets in Owino and Nakasero, then on to the Uganda National Mosque, Baha’i Temple and St Mary’s Cathedral in Rubaga, which are spread across Kampala’s hills.
Protea Hotel Kampala, situated in the upmarket suburb of Kololo, is one of the best places to stay in the capital. Well located for the mausoleums, it is also within walking distance of the fascinating Uganda Museum. The latter offers a deep dive into the country’s cultural heritage, with its displays on ceremonial accessories, such as masks and beadwork, and brilliant collection of traditional musical instruments, which you can actually play. The nearby Protea Hotel Kampala Skyz, on top of Naguru Hill, enjoys superb views down over Kampala and easy access to the Ndere Cultural Centre, one of the best places in the capital to see traditional tribal dancing. The Sheraton Kampala Hotel, meanwhile, lies just ten minutes' walk from the heart of the city and offers fantastic sweeping views of the Kampala skyline from its rooms and suites.
The lush tropical town of Entebbe lies on the shores of Lake Victoria, around 45km south of Kampala. A refreshing day trip from the capital, Entebbe is also often used as a handy overnight pitstop, as the town is just a few kilometres from the international airport. There’s plenty here to warrant a longer stay, though. Take a boat trip out to the Equator sign, which juts out of an island an hour’s ride offshore. Visit the thickly forested Botanical Gardens, said to have been used as a location for the original Tarzan movies and home to bearded colobus monkeys and a startling array of birdlife – keep an eye out for African grey parrots and the extravagant-looking great blue turaco.
Sundowners on the waterfront are the perfect end to the day, with the vast expanse of Lake Victoria stretching for 68,000 square kilometres in front of you. The Protea Hotel Entebbe, set right on the lakeshore and just one kilometre from the airport, is one of the best places to stay, whether you’re in Entebbe for a few days or are just overnighting en route.
Just about everywhere you go in Uganda, you'll encounter matoke, green bananas that are mashed up and either eaten on their own or in a spicy stew, sometimes cooked with beans or chicken.
Tracking mountain gorillas is one of the world's great wildlife-watching activities. These powerful but peaceful creatures range across the tangled slopes of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, in the far south-west corner of the country, around 370km south of Kibale. You can spend an unforgettable hour with a habituated group, watching them munch on huge bundles of vegetation in a forest clearing. It's an unmissable experience and one of the best things to do in the whole of the continent. For something even more adventurous, accompany park rangers and researchers on a full-day track, first locating the gorillas' overnight nests before following a trail of broken branches and tell-tale silver hairs to the primates themselves. Bwindi is thick with foliage, its hills are rugged and the hiking can be hard-going, but you’ll be richly rewarded: a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with a mighty silverback is a real possibility.
The colonial-era town of Jinja, around 75km east of Kampala, offers some of the most fun things to do in Uganda – this is East Africa’s adventure-sports capital, thanks to its location at the source of the Nile. There’s a wide range of watersports on offer, but few people pass up the unique opportunity to try white-water rafting at the headwaters of this world-famous river. You can choose a family float or a grade-V adventure, a group trip or an extreme descent on a two-person raft. The rush of churning water that runs for 20km downriver from Lake Victoria is considered one of the best single-day white-water trips in the world, rivalling the Lower Zambezi for rafting action.
Uganda's snow-capped Rwenzori Mountains are the highest range in Africa and the best trekking destination in the country. For the ultimate experience, tackle the Kilembe Trail, an eight-day trek through a lunar landscape of craggy peaks and glacier lakes.
Tracking gorillas in Bwindi is the star wildlife activity in Uganda, but one superb alternative thing to do is visiting Kibale National Park – located just over 315km west of Kampala, the park has the highest concentration of primates in all of Africa. You can spot colobus monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys and patas monkeys swinging through the park’s dense equatorial forest, but the main attraction is the chimpanzees – this is one of the best places on the continent to see them.
The chimps in Kibale are habituated to humans, which means you can follow them through the forest from close quarters, watching the females feasting on figs and the youngsters playing with each other in the upper canopy. The sound of a male sending out a message to his potential rivals by drumming loudly on the buttress roots of giant fig trees is something you won’t forget in a very long time, and certainly one of the most unique things to do in Uganda.
Although the official language of Uganda is English, there are more than 33 local languages spoken in Uganda. You might want to learn a few phrases of Luganda, one of the most widely spoken languages: 'mwattu' is 'please' and 'weebale' is 'thank you', for starters.
Published: December 13, 2022
Article Tags: Uganda
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