Uganda Travel Guide

Gorilla trekking Tour

I had wanted to hire a car and drive through Uganda, but after spending over a month trying to secure gorilla tracking permits to no avail, I was told that often the Ugandan Wildlife Authority are uncooperative with individual groups of tourists as they are paid of my tour companies, whether this is true I’m not sure but I tried contacting them by both email and phone for over a month and received no correct info and was just led around in circles with false email addresses etc...
If you are situated in Uganda it’s a different ball game and it seems it’s a simple process to obtain the permits from the UWA office in Kampala. Seeing as I didn’t want to risk arriving and there being no permits left I decided to give up and book through a tour agency. In the end I’m so glad we did, we booked the permits and a driver to take us from Kampala to Queen Elizabeth National Park for a safari, on to Lake Bunyonyi for a night, down to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to track gorillas and finally across the Rwandan border to Kigali.

All the booking and communication was done through Jackie from Katona, who was extremely helpful and answered all of my questions, gave great advice and put together multiple itineraries based on each new request, for us to look through.

When we arrived in Kampala we found the office easily and paid the balance and made some final arrangements which all went smoothly. (It’s worth noting that USD notes printed before the year 2000 and which are smaller denominations than $50 are not accepted anywhere in Uganda).

We met our driver the next morning and he was quiet but helpful throughout the trip. Overall the value for money was amazing and we got to see so much more and got a lot more packed into the time we had there. You are read about our experience in Queen Elizabeth National Park and our experience tracking gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest here, we never would have seen so much wildlife both on the safari and on the drive without our driver’s sharp eyes. We also had baggage missing from our flight when we landed and the company arranged for it to be driven down and meet us the day after the tour started, they took away all the worry and did this all completely free of charge

Uganda is not an obvious Safari destination. It's variety in scenery, people and wildlife makes it an truely recommended and unique travel, especially for someone who has already seen the big game Safari in Kenya or Tanzania. In Uganda you can see tree hanging lions in the morning and Mountain Gorillas in the afternoon, there is no other country in the world that has that. We went with drifters, a tour operator that uses very comfortable trucks (instead of jeeps) for groups up till 16 people. In my opinion, the trip was such a great experience because we camped almost every night and we had the most fantastic guide Anthony Washford to drive the truck, cook the food and plan all the excursions such as the astonishing Gorillas at Bwindi.

A big experience

Uganda is a very beautiful and safe contry. Wildlife is a very big experience. We saw elefanter. Giraf. Krokodiller. Leons and many other animals. Also many very beautiful births.

Beautiful Uganda

Uganda has a rich variety of landscapes. Its people are very friendly and helpful. It has hands down the best birding watching of any place I have visited. Murchison Fall National Park has to be the number one game drive location in the country - the abundance of wildlife and landscapes within the park are breath taking. I would recommend Murchison Falls National Park over Queen Elizabeth National Park as it had less wildlife (although more birds). The landscapes in the north of Queen Elizabeth National Park aren't as dramatic as in the southern Ishasha sector. If I were to return I would focus my time and game drives in the southern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park. In general Uganda would have to be the most beautiful country I have visited - I have never seen such a diversity of landscapes... savannah, mountains, tea plantations, rainforest, mixed arable, lakes, on and on, just amazing. I would recommend Uganda as a birding and safari location. We had very close encounters with many animals and often we were the only ones spending that time with the animal/herd.

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.

The jewel of East Africa, a MUST-SEE travel destination!

We spent the first 3 days of our trip in Kampala with side trips to Jinja, Entebbe and Ngamba Island. On day 4 we were picked up by a private tour guide. He would be with us for the remaining 5 days of our trip which included Gorilla trekking in Bwindi, Queen Elizabeth NP and other sights along the way. Our guide spoke decent English, was very affordable and his knowledge of the local flora & fauna, wildlife and history made him an invaluable part of our Ugandan experience. We asked him to show us the ‘real’ Uganda and he delivered! He took us to visit with local families, we watched a group of local men make alcohol from fermented bananas and stopped by a wedding in progress where we were greeted by friendly locals and invited to join the party.
The weather was perfect, cool in the mornings and evenings and warm throughout the day (never hot). The Ugandan country side is simply stunning….green patchwork covers the mountainous terrain and the people are some of the friendliest I have ever encountered. We also had incredible food throughout our journey including a delicious tilapia dinner on the shore of Lake Victoria (for the low price of $1.30).
The gorilla trekking was the highlight of our week but we also did a boat tour of the Kazinga channel which was wonderful!
I've travelled all over the world and I can honestly say that Uganda was my absolute favorite destination. The friendly people, incredible scenery, affordability and abundant wildlife make Uganda a “must-see”!!

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 .