Uganda Travel Guide

The charm of Africa still virgin

My 6 days in Uganda followed by Kaje Safaris. In a short time, but full of strong emotions, I had a beautiful image of Uganda, thanks above all to the experience and professionalism of Kajie through my guide (now friend) Colly. From mountain gorillas, to the safari in Queen Elizabeth Park, up to the pursuit of chimpanzees and, finally, a river excursion which completed the observation of the big five. I was lucky enough, thanks to the experience of the guide, to see 4 big ones in a single day. Lions, hippos, African elephants (the largest in the world) and the very rare leopard. In addition to the fauna and the fabulous landscapes, I cannot help but say that the friendliness of the people and their gratitude touched my heart and I am already thinking of returning to Uganda as soon as possible.
To conclude, I would like to recommend Kajie Safaris for their professionalism, seriousness and preparation. They make sure you don't lack anything and satisfy every request. I couldn't have chosen better.

Dream come true

It has been a dream for us for so long to see the Gorillas. The trip was amazing, accommodation was beautiful from Bwindi Lodge, staff were so helpful and beautiful, our Buttler David couldn’t do enough for us. The food marvellous. Our guide very informative and helpful.The view what can I say amazing. Weather perfect. Then the gorillas

The most beautiful holiday country I have ever visited

All that I've seen, far exceeded my expectations. Especially the wild and the birds that I've seen I found fantastic. The sunrise and the sunset were beautiful. We had a fantastic guide Marc Obwalatum. He brought us each day along bumpy, smooth and non asphalted roads to our lodge. Most lodges I found good, the lodge at the Sippy waterfalls what less. Our guide has told much about Uganda, such as habits, tradition, the population and so on. Thought it was clever that he knew the names of all birds and there were many. I got through his explanation a very different and positive image of Uganda. Sure to recommend Uganda to others

Best Safari experience I have had

I was in a safari in the Amazonas and India before but in Uganda I had the chance to see much more wonderful species of fauna , the organization and accommodation was superior and cheaper .

Huge potential in Uganda if tourism experience can be improved and conservation is better emphasized

I have mixed emotions about my experience in Uganda. On one hand, I had a number of great wildlife encounters with lions, leopards, gorillas and many other species in three of the country's national parks over a period of nine days. However on the other, I kept thinking about the huge potential that exists and the many challenges that remain with safari tourism in this country.

Wildlife conservation can be greatly improved in Uganda, and I think it is something that the country's government doesn't especially value. The communities around the parks have a very challenging existence with wildlife, and the use of snares and indiscriminate killings of animals is common. I read this in the newspapers and heard about it from the tour operators. In Queen Elizabeth National Park, I was so surprised how low the animal density was (with the exception of some species such as Ugandan Kob). In Lake Mburo National Park, I was concerned to see local ranchers chasing zebras into the bush so that their cattle could feed on the low grass outside of our lodge. Ranching and subsistence farming has really encroached into traditional spaces for wildlife. Parks are not fenced and perhaps this is something that contributes to territorial issues with residents and wildlife.

Tourism infrastructure could benefit from a number of small improvements. Park fees are not posted transparently online, and there is an archaic process of receipt-keeping for entering the parks. Visitor Centers could do more to help improve education and awareness of conservation and local species. Amenities such as toilets and other conveniences were not well maintained. The exception to this was in Bwindi National Park, home to many of the country's mountain gorillas. This is a main tourist draw and its focus on hospitality and learning should be considered a model for the other parks.

Early September is the beginning of the rainy season, and on many occasions I had the parks open to myself. There were very few tourists, and this was a nice improvement from other experiences I've had.

Uganda is a particular safari destination: if you're looking for the big five this isn't the best place to go. On the other hand Uganda offered me a diversity of experiences, nature and wildlife that few other countries in the world can offer in my opinion.
You can have a typical safari trip in either Murchinson Falls NP or Queen Elizabeth NP, but I much more preferred the trekking on the wild Rwenzori mountains (my favourite place in Uganda), where in one day you can go from rainforest, to bamboo forest, to alpine vegetation. Kibale offers more rainforest with monkeys, chimps, butterflies, insects and plenty of birds. Bwindi is a world premiere destination to track the gorillas, a truly amazing experience that I HIGHLY reccomend to anybody. I went also to Mgahinga NP to track the golden monkeys: another underrated experience. The track at the foot of the Virunga mountains is beautiful and the monkeys are very cute and funny to watch.
In Jinja the adrenaline activities like rafting the Nile rapids was exhilarating, but there are many more to do.
And after all this, when I needed to chill out from these emotions, I headed to the shores of Lake Bunyonyi to dip into its waters and have an easy paddle with a canoe doing some islands hopping.
For these reasons I highly recommend Uganda as a destination for nature lovers.

Uganda is really wild.

Ssesee Island Safari

Though I was only briefly in the country of Uganda, I had to privilege to visit the Ssesee Islands while I was there. We had to take a short ferry ride to get over there, but once we arrived, the landscape was lush and fertile. We spent some time with local guides wading through the forest and wetlands in search of Sitatunga, so that we could get some rare footage of them. It was a beautiful island, and had some lovely lodges that we stayed in during our time. It was really fascinating to be able to see the hard to find Sitatunga in their natural habitat, as there are few who get to do that. It was worth a short side trip to see the islands over there, and I would highly recommend looking into that next time you are in Uganda.

Uganda, The ultimate "off the beaten track" destiantion in Africa!

Uganda is often linked with gorillas and chimpanzees. The apes are the countries main attraction and adds something extra compared to other more traditional safari destinations. However, Uganda has so much more to offer with some great game parks, unique boat safari's in 3 different national parks, huge forest areas, waterfalls, matoke (bananas) everywhere, mountains with snow, stunning lakes, volcanoes and the friendliest people in the world! On top of that you can venture off the beaten track by going to unspoiled game parks like Kidepo Valley NP. What about visiting unspoiled tribes in the east of the country (karamajong) or hike the Rwenzori Mountains. For real travelers Uganda is a MUST!

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.