Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa whose diverse landscape encompasses the snow-capped Rwenzori Mountains (Mountains of the moon) and immense Lake Victoria. Its abundant wildlife includes chimpanzees as well as rare birds. Remote Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a renowned mountain gorilla sanctuary. Murchison Falls National Park in the northwest is known for its 43m-tall waterfall and wildlife such as hippos.
Uganda takes its name from the Buganda kingdom, which encompasses a large portion of the south of the country, including the capital city Kampala. The people of Uganda were hunter-gatherers until 1,700 to 2,300 years ago, when Bantu-speaking populations migrated to the southern parts of the country. Tourism is among the top sectors which fetches Uganda a lot of foreign exchange depending on the following top tourist attractions:
Mountain Gorillas – Uganda ranks mountain Gorillas the chief tourist attraction basing on the number of visit. Its on record that Uganda receives the largest number of tourists coming purposely to trek Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Gorilla trekking is done all year round but dry season is the best period from December to February and June to July. In dry season, the number of Gorilla trekkers overwhelms than in wet season from September to November and March to May.
Chimpanzees – In Uganda, you will find chimpanzees at Ngamba Islands (Ngamba Islands Chimpanzee Sanctuary), Uganda Wildlife Education centre (UWEC), Kibale National Park, Budongo Forest (Murchison Falls National Park), Toro- Semuliki Game reserve, Kyambura Gorge (Queen Elizabeth National Park) and Kalinzu Forest reserve (Queen Elizabeth National Park). Chimpanzees at Ngamba Island and UWEC are in captivity and you can enjoy up-close chimpanzee view because the chimps are in gazetted area. On the other hand, chimps in Kibale Forest, Kyamura Gorge, Kalinzu Forest and Toro- Semuliki are on free range.
Chimpanzees are great apes found across central and West Africa. Along with bonobos, they are our closest living relatives, sharing 98.7 percent of DNA. Humans and chimps are also thought to share a common ancestor who lived some seven to 13 million years ago.
Uganda National Parks – Uganda is rich with ten Savannah, Mountainous and Forested National Parks (all parks are amazing). Savannah parks include Lake Mburo National Park, Murchison Falls National Park, Semuliki National Park, Kidepo Valley National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park- the major tourist activity here is Game drive/ Game viewing. Mountainous parks include Mountain Rwenzori (Mountains of the moon) in western Uganda and Mountain Elgon National Park situated in Eastern Uganda – the major tourist activity here is mountaineering. Forested National parks include Kibale National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable National park and Mgahinga National Park- the major activity here is primate trekking.
River Nile – Uganda hosts the longest River in Africa and the world at large. Visiting the Nile for white water rafting, Kayaking, swimming, boat trip, spot fishing among others is amazing. River Nile water spills out of Lake Victoria on its journey to the Mediterranean flowing fast from the get-go. It’s estimated no more than 5% of water here will end up in Egypt.
Lake Victoria – Its the largest lake in East Africa and the largest Fresh water Lake in the world. The lake was named after Queen Victoria by the explorer John Hanning Speke, in his reports—the first Briton to document it. Speke accomplished this in 1858, while on an expedition with Richard Francis Burton to locate the source of the Nile River. You can visit different beaches on Lake Victoria for sun bathing, spot fishing, swimming, boat cruise, birding and canoe ride among others.
In conclusion, Uganda is a basket of tourist attractions but in this article, i have sort out the major five activities which you can’t missing on your Uganda safari.