by Simon Belcher How about Uganda?

Uganda is an overlooked, beautiful and diverse safari destination that ticks the wildlife boxes and adds a few special features all of its own.

On my last visit, we trekked gorillas and trekked chimps; we floated in a boat on the Nile River; we watched the most amazing and unusual birds, bought bananas from the back of a motorbike, and crossed the Nile on a rickety ferry. It was very different from Kenya and Tanzania, perhaps a little less well developed for tourism and therefore more of an exploration and adventure.

Our first stop was Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park to trek for the iconic Mountain Gorillas. Two treks to two different gorilla families on subsequent days were enough to enjoy the jungle and not just the gorillas but other birds and animals as well. Of course, the gorillas were the main attraction, and I never get tired of spending time with these gentle giants as they feed and socialize in their forest home. 

We traveled some 220 km north from Bwindi to Kibale National Park, passing through engaging and interesting rural countryside. It was along this road that we stopped the motorbike to buy bananas—more of a curiosity stop than a hunger one; the driver had at least six big bunches of bananas on his bike.

At Kibale, we trekked through a beautiful forest and encountered a family of chimpanzees, our closest relatives (we have 98.8% shared DNA; the other 0.2% is banana!). They were just as interesting as the gorillas, but in a completely different way, and we really enjoyed our time with them. The birds in Uganda are even more diverse and colorful than those found in the rest of East Africa, and after the chimps, we spent time watching a flock of Great Blue Turacos drinking at a spring by the track. 

Our final stop was Murchison Falls National Park, an hour’s flight further north and another completely different destination from our first two stops. Here we explored the great Nile River between Murchison Falls and Lake Albert by boat, watching crocodiles, hippos, elephants, and buffalo, amongst others, and then watching the artisanal fishermen cast their throw nets on Lake Albert. The Falls themselves are tremendously impressive; the huge Nile River is squeezed by the rocky defile into a mere 23 feet and then spat out 141 feet below like a giant pressure hose—a maelstrom of angry white water. Besides the wildlife, we also enjoyed a whole spectrum of stunning birds, of which the most exciting was the bizarre and very rare Shoe-billed Stork. On the second day, we crossed the Nile on the rickety ferry and explored the northern part of the park in our game drive vehicle. Lions, Pattas monkeys, buffalos, giraffes, elephants, Uganda Kobs, Nile Lechwes, and much more gave us a fantastic morning of game viewing. 

Many of our guests ask me at the end of a safari, ‘Where should we go next, Simon?’ I don’t always mention Uganda; I think it takes a more adventurous and hardy traveler to go there, but it has always delivered, and I’ve always really enjoyed this beautiful gem in East Africa.