Beyond the gorillas in Uganda

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Gorillas are Uganda’s big wildlife draw and are found in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Mgahinga National Parks. The greatest population of Uganda’s gorillas are in Bwindi, around eight hours by road, or a short light aircraft flight, from the capital Kampala via Entebbe. The lush rainforest vegetation means tracking can be slightly harder than in neighbouring Rwanda, but the reward of an hour’s face to face with one of our closest living relatives is well worth the effort.

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

As well as gorillas, there’s plenty more to see and do in Uganda. Away from the rainforest, Uganda’s fertile lands are made up of terraced hillsides, numerous lakes, waterfalls, mighty rivers, volcanoes and snow-capped mountains. With greater choice for general wildlife viewing, it’s a more complete safari destination than it is given credit for.

Another of Uganda’s gems is Kibale Forest National Park, one of Africa’s best primate hot spots with 13 species recorded, including nearly 1,500 resident chimpanzees. Trek with habituated chimps in Kibale and at the lovely Semliki Safari Lodge where you can also spot pygmy hippo, forest elephant and myriad butterflies and birds including the shoebill.

Chimpanzee Kibale Forest National Park

The Great Rift Lakes Albert, Edward, George, Mburo, and Victoria, with their forest-fringed shores and rolling green hills, are all worth a visit. The prehistoric-looking shoebill wades the shores of Lake Albert, while Mburo is home to rare endemic ungulates. Exploring by boat, horse, mountain bike, or on foot adds another aspect to the safari here.

Shoebill wading in Lake Albert, Uganda

Lying in the rugged, semi-arid valleys of Karamoja province on the far northern border with the Sudan, Kidepo Valley is Uganda’s most remote national park. It has a spectacular savannah landscape of plains dotted with granite kopjes bordered by ranges of rugged hills. There is a large, diverse population of plains wildlife, much of which is uncommon elsewhere in Uganda, and it is a great place for bird-watching, with over 475 species recorded. Apoka Safari Lodge is the perfect base in which to explore this diverse area.

Plains wildlife at Kidepo Valley

Murchison Falls, Uganda’s largest national park, lies astride the Nile as it plunges through a narrow gorge and then downstream into Lake Albert. Its remoteness means it’s often overlooked on an itinerary, which is a great shame since there are few reserves in Africa that have such diversity of habitat. All this makes for fantastic wildlife viewing, which includes the extraordinary shoebill, elephant, buffalo, lion, Nubian giraffe, Uganda kob, hippo, crocodile and plentiful birdlife.

A pod of hippo happily wallowing in the river

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