Why Visit Uganda in Africa?
Uganda is located in the East African region of Africa and turns out to be one of the best destinations for safaris in Africa. There are so many reasons to book Uganda safaris and tours. Known for its huge population of primates, Uganda also boasts with counts of wildlife species that reside in its ten national parks and several conservation areas. Murchison Falls National Park is the oldest and largest conservation area in the country whereas Queen Elizabeth National Park is the most popular and visited national park. Kibale Forest National Park has the largest concentration of primates in East Africa and is a prime destination for chimpanzee trekking in Uganda. Other great destinations for Uganda safari tours include Kidepo Valley National Park, Lake Mburo National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park & Rwenzori Mountains National Park among the rest.
Gorilla trekking remains the major face of Uganda’s tourism industry. Unlike other countries, Uganda has mountain gorillas in two of its ten national parks and these include Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is independent of the other mountain gorilla trekking places. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is located in the Virunga Conservation Area, an area that shelters a huge population of mountain gorillas beneath its eight Virunga Volcano Mountains. Bwindi still accounts for over half the total population of mountain gorillas in the world and not only remains a top safari destination in Africa but the whole world at large.
Besides mountain gorilla trekking, Uganda is a great place for wildlife viewing. Kidepo Valley National Park was ranked one of the best parks to see game animals in the world. Murchison Falls NP accounts for a huge number of mammalian species and primates as well with the actual falls being the center of attraction in the park. This is the only park in Uganda where you can spot all the big five game animals with the rhinos located just a few kilometers to it. Other great game viewing destinations include Queen Elizabeth National Park & Lake Mburo National Park. Another great activity you can carry out in Uganda is mountain climbing and hiking. You can hike Mount Elgon, Rwenzori Mountains, Mount Sabyiyo and Mount Gahinga.
Read More
Is Uganda safe for Tourists?
When it comes to Uganda safaris or any other kind of safaris in Africa and the world, safety is key. Travelers always want to know how safe they’ll be when they visit a particular destination and the same applies to Uganda. How safe is Uganda for safaris? Uganda is a very safe country to visit. It was named the most welcoming country in the world with great hospitality. Anyone can visit Uganda for as long as they want and trust me, you’ll blend in with the locals the very day you arrive. That’s how friendly and relaxed Ugandans are. The long peace in the country partly explains this. It’s very rare that you’ll hear of bad treatment towards tourists or foreigners. Some of them actually jet into the country and get to enjoy the nightlife the very day of their arrival without any fear.
However, when it comes to safety, we look at various perspective like safety of the entire country, safety in towns, crime rates in the country, health safety, wildlife safety and safety rules emphasized by the government. You should never look at safety only from one side. All the other sides matter that much too. Uganda as a country is very safe and has been for decades. The towns are safe too especially of you follow guidelines from travel advisories. Towns mainly have petty thieves who commonly snatch gadgets and jewelries of which most of the time the community within endeavors to help recover your stolen properties from thieves on the run. So as you trek the towns, you are advised to keep your gadgets and valuables behind and only move with pocket change if possible.
As for wildlife safety, you have to follow set guidelines at each attraction you visit. If you are in places with wildlife, avoid moving to areas that are out of bounds or moving at night without any protection. Animals are dangerous and you shouldn’t take any risks. As for health safety, you are advised to take necessary vaccination shots prior to your travel like the yellow fever vaccine and malaria prophylaxis among others. Also, when you roam around night spots, you have to take extra care as about 15% of hookers are HIV positive. These hookers are often attracted to foreigners with assumption that they are rich.
Read More
When is the best time to visit Uganda for a safari?
What is the best time to visit Uganda? As you plan your safaris to Uganda, you obviously want to travel during the best months for your activities. So what are these best months for travelling to Uganda? Well, answer is it depends. It depends on the activities that you want to carry out. It’s very hard to get a good birdwatching experience during the dry months of the year just like it’s hard to get a good game viewing experience during the wet month of the year. The whole point here is various activities and travel budget determine the best months you should single out for your safari. A budget traveler can have a very affordable trip when they travel during the low season (rainy season). The rates get higher during the driest months of the year with almost no chance of discounts or last minute offers.
In general, the best months for wildlife viewing and hiking in Uganda are June through to September and December to February. During these months, the parks are so dry and animals have to wander and look for water sources to hydrate. The roads are dry too, which makes it easy to drive through trails and get off the beaten paths. This isn’t the case with rainy months when animals stick to certain locations since they can easily access water from wherever they might be which obviously makes it extremely hard to spot them on game viewing drives. The best time for bird watching is during the wet months of the year. Birds are easily spotted in wet weather. Much as you’ll carry out your activity in wet weather, the sightings will actually be worthy it. The best time for bird watching in Uganda are mid-March to May and October to November. These months have higher chances of receiving rainfall with April turning out to have the most chances.
What you should know is travelling during the dry months does not rule out chances of rain falling. It only reduces it. This is the same with the wet months. Uganda’s climate is one of the best. Sometimes it rains for a few hours but the sun eventually comes out, dries the soil and the day looks like it didn’t receive any rainfall. It’s very uncertain that it will rain for the whole day without any sunshine. Only a few months like April experience this for very few days of the month.
Read More
What travel vaccinations do i need?
Every traveler needs certain vaccinations to visit Uganda and guarantee their safety from certain tropical diseases. So what vaccinations are these? And do you need to take all of them? Of all the common vaccinations, the yellow fever vaccine is the most popular and is highly emphasized before issuance of travel visas. You will need a yellow fever vaccination certificate for your Tourist Visa to be approved. This certificate confirms your vaccination against yellow fever. You have to upload the certificate allow with other visa requirements and wait for approval. There are a lot other recommended travel vaccinations for Uganda but yellow fever is the most important. We often advise tourists to take this shot and ignore the rest as it’s not good to take so many shots yet you are in the country for only a few days or months.
The other shot you need to take is malaria preventive shots (Malaria Prophylaxis). This will prevent you from getting malaria. Being a tropical country, the prevalence of malaria is quite high in Uganda and if you get exposed for long, you will indeed fall sick. Most tourists are not used to malaria and it treats them bad. Others actually end up cancelling certain activities from their respective itineraries or worse their entire trip as they take medication. Natives are immune to the disease and can take medication while carrying our activities normally. This is not the case with tourists. You can to take a shot to rule out all chances of contracting malaria.
Influenza is kind of a big deal in Africa. Flu shots are also highly recommended especially when travelling during the dry season. Ugandan roads are so dusty and in most cases, if the safari vehicles do not have functioning Air Conditioning units, clients are prompted to keep the car windows open which often leads them to contracting influenza. Influenza can be severe at times and keep you weak for quite a number of days even when taking medication. This can affect your ability to carry out activities especially physically challenging safari activities like hikes. There are so many shots you mentioned in various travel advisories but the ones above are the most important of all. Do not take up too many shots. Only take the relevant ones.
Read More
What are Uganda's popular attractions?
Uganda has so many travel attractions but not all of them are popular. Uganda has abundance in 10 national parks and these include Murchison Falls National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kibale Forest National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Lake Mburo National Park, Kidepo Valley National Park, Mount Elgon National Park, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Semuliki Valley National Park and Rwenzori Mountains National Park. These parks are located in various regions of the country with Kidepo turning out to be the most isolated of them all. Queen Elizabeth National Park is the most popular park in Uganda whereas Murchison Falls National Park is the largest and oldest conservation area in Uganda.
Of all these parks, Murchison Falls National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Kibale Forest National Park and Lake Mburo National Park are the most popular of them all. Kidepo Valley National Park is popular but less visited because of its location. The easiest way to visit Kidepo is by flight. If you decide to drive there, you need about 2 days to make it to the park with average fatigue. Of all the parks in Uganda, Queen Elizabeth National Park is the most visited by tourists. It’s a park you should definitely include in your package at all costs. This is the only Uganda safari park that has tree climbing lions.
Other great attractions include Lake Bunyonyi, Lake Mutanda, the Rwenzori Mountains, Sipi Falls, Mount Gahinga, Mount Gahinga and Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary among the rest. When planning your itinerary, you’ll realize that most of the destinations we recommend are in western Uganda. This is primarily because the region has many parks and attractions, which definitely makes it easy to connect between parks with less driving time. The Eastern destinations usually have their own circuit and if you decide to go that way, it becomes hard to connect with the western destinations unless you have a lot of days on your package and you are willing to travel on road for long hours. If you are only looking to visit the popular safari attractions in Uganda, consider visiting Murchison Falls, Kibale Forest, Queen Elizabeth, Bwindi Impenetrable & Lake Mburo National Parks with a day or two at the marvelous Lake Bunyonyi in Kabale.
Read More
How do i avoid Malaria in Uganda?
Malaria is not only very rampant in Uganda but Africa as a whole. Africa has a topical climate, with so many forests and swamps which are breeding places for mosquitoes. Unlike the natives who are immune to the disease, it can be a nightmare for tourists. We have seen worse scenarios where tourists have to cancel their holidays because of sickness. Do not take any chances when it comes to malaria. Try to take all the necessary preventive measures seriously. The national parks you visit are mostly bushy with most of them having forests and swamps, which actually puts you at a higher risk of getting malaria if you do not follow any health precautions recommended by travel advisories. You have to take malaria shots by all means prior to your Uganda safari tours to stay safe from malaria and rule out any chances of missing out on activities because of sickness.
The best way to prevent malaria is by taking malaria shots/malaria prophylaxis. This is very effective and will reduce chances of getting sick of malaria especially when you get exposed to mosquito bites. In case you miss out on taking the shots from your country, consider informing us in advance so that we organize the shots for you immediately after arrival. Other great preventive measures include frequent use of insect repellents and sleeping under a mosquito net. As per standard operating standards, all lodges in national parks and any attractions visited by tourists have mosquito nets. Some of them actually go ahead and offer insect repellents to tourists. However, you should endeavor to move with your own just in case your lodge/hotel fails to offer you one.
What happens when a tourist falls sick of malaria? You have to inform us immediately if feeling unwell so that we coordinate with the tour guide and you run the necessary tests. If positive for malaria, we shall purchase anti-malaria medication for you and advise on the necessary drinks you can take to maintain your strength so that you can carry out with activities normally. It’s only on rare occasions where clients get admitted to hospital beds for a number of days. This mainly results from ignoring the disease for a number of days.
Read More
