Uganda
The Pearl of Africa: gorilla and chimpanzee tracking in ancient rainforest, tree-climbing lions on the savanna, and the Nile forced through a narrow gorge at Murchison Falls.
Overview
Uganda pairs primates with plains game in a way few countries can. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in the south-west holds roughly half the world's mountain gorillas across several habituated family groups, while Kibale Forest National Park further north has one of the highest primate densities anywhere in Africa, chimpanzees included.
The savanna parks add a different kind of game viewing: Queen Elizabeth National Park is known for the tree-climbing lions of its Ishasha sector and a boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel between two lakes, and Murchison Falls National Park is built around the point where the Nile is squeezed through a gap in the rock only a few metres wide before dropping into the gorge below.
We arrange Uganda as its own trip or paired with Rwanda for gorillas on both sides of the border: flights, permits, lodges and a private guide for the whole route.
Highlights
- Mountain gorilla trekking, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
- Chimpanzee tracking, Kibale Forest
- Tree-climbing lions and the Kazinga Channel, Queen Elizabeth National Park
- Murchison Falls, where the Nile forces through a narrow gorge
Best time to visit
Trekking is possible year-round; the driest and easiest trail conditions are December through February and June through September. Gorilla and chimpanzee permits are limited and should be booked well in advance.
Getting there
Entebbe International Airport serves Kampala; onward travel to the parks is by road, around eight to nine hours to Bwindi, or a shorter scheduled or charter flight.
How we arrange it
We don't guide inside Uganda ourselves, and we don't publish a fixed Uganda itinerary the way we do for Kenya: no set trips exist yet for this country, so we build each one individually rather than invent a day-by-day plan that isn't real. What we do is put the trip together end to end, flights in and out, the right lodges and camps for your budget and interests, road or light-aircraft transfers between them, and a private guide on the ground who knows that particular park well.
Tell us what you want to see and how many days you have, and we'll draw up an itinerary and put you in touch with the people who can deliver it, with Nissa as your single point of contact throughout.
Outside Kenya we work through ground operators licensed in their own country, and they hold the permits and guiding accreditation required there. Nissa Safaris plans the trip, books it and stays your single point of contact throughout; the local operator runs the vehicles and guides on the ground.
Ready to plan Uganda?
Send us your travel dates and we'll put together a Uganda itinerary around them, flights, lodges and a guide on the ground.
Enquire on WhatsAppHeader photograph by Giles Laurent, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.