Some time ago a friend of mine, Thomas, travelled through Sri Lanka and happened to meet an experienced tour guide from Denmark during one of Sri Lanka’s scenic train rides. Meeting Thomas after his return to Germany, he held a torch for beautiful Sri Lanka, a country I still need to visit, and he was also crazy about his encounter with the Danish tour guide and the travel hints he gave. “Which place do you most recommend to visit?”, Thomas asked the tour guide. The answer? A place which is exotic even for well-travelled people like us: Uganda. Enjoying one of our regular reunions, we dreamed about going to Uganda together.
Going through the daily routine, the dream of discovering the country Sir Winston Churchill once called “the pearl of Africa” quickly faded away. Only one of us could not completely forget about Uganda: Thomas. Many weeks later he raised the topic again and now things became serious: We got in touch with Hamidah, a contact in Uganda the Danish tour guide gave Thomas, and asked her to send a trip proposal. With her, we discussed the trip itinerary – and, believe it or not, we did this via Facebook’s messenger app. Going for safari, seeing chimpanzees and gorillas, being in the heart of Africa – we could not let this dream go and booked flights via Brussels and Kigali to Entebbe International Airport. Thomas, myself and another great friend from our time at university, Tim, were going to Uganda.
Mid of February 2019 – with an AMREF membership, a registration on the crisis list of Germany’s Federal Foreign Office, a freshly started malaria prophylaxis, and half a pharmacy next to plenty of clothes in the suitcase, we were ready for take-off. We were scheduled to arrive at Entebbe Airport close to midnight and we were really freaking curious what to expect. Thomas had to transfer the trip’s price, approximately twenty-four times the GDP per capita of an average Ugandan citizen, in advance to the flight and we knew that there would be no way to retrieve the money. So we were just hoping that there would be someone at Entebbe International Airport to pick us up. And we were not disappointed: Hamidah, who could not guide the trip herself as she was pregnant, picked us up together with our guide to-be, Arshley – a young, humorous guy in his mid-20s and yet already an award-winning birder. Next to the warm welcome, we were pleasantly surprised by our car for the trip: a Toyota Land Cruiser looking sharp and ready for adventure.
After a short night in the center of Kampala and a quick look at one of the biggest lakes of the planet, Lake Victoria, we headed out towards Murchison Falls National Park which is located in the north-west of the country. A worthwhile stop on the way: Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. Unfortunately, wild rhinos are extinct in Uganda. However, at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, they are trying to establish a new rhino population in a protected environment, in the long run aiming to return rhinos to the wild. Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary offers ranger-led safaris – by foot! If somehow possible for you, try to be there in the morning or late afternoon / evening. Our safari in the early afternoon was fantastic, but the rhinos were all quite lazy, avoiding the waste of energy during the hottest part of the day. A great safari and a first lunch later, we continued the drive to Murchison Falls National Park. Not long after entering the National Park itself we were shocked by the construction sites preparing the exploitation of oil. The region’s wildlife heritage is massively endangered by economic interests. While tourism surely can cause problems, too, it at least can help to protect the wildlife which otherwise might be lost for mankind. A bit more into the National Park, we had to help out a bus full of Dutch pupils (seriously, what kind of school offers trips to Uganda?). They had two (!) flat tyres and their car jack was broken. Very soon it turned out that ours was not working either. While our attempts to somehow lift the bus continued to fail, another car approached. Luckily, their car jack did work. When we were finally able to continue our trip, we noticed quite an issue: We were significantly behind our schedule and risked to miss the last ferry across river Nile. Thanks to the tremendous driving skills of Arshely, we made it to the ferry in the very last minute. Shortly after, we arrived at our first great wildlife accommodation, the Paara Safari Lodge, and we knew one thing for sure: the adventure had started.
Early in the morning of the next day, we left our lodge for a first game drive. Elephants, giraffes and buffalos – Uganda’s wildlife experience did not disappoint. Unfortunately, we spotted neither lions nor leopards. While the day progressed, temperatures increased and the animals became less active. We drove back to our lodge, enjoyed lunch and afterwards headed to a boat safari on the Nile. In the beginning, I was quite struggling with the day rhythm and its early mornings, as I was very tired from the journey up until Murchison Falls National Park. Hence, the boat safari was a pleasant variation from being more or less forced to a plane or car seat. Quite a few Nile crocodiles and uncountable masses of hippos joined the list of wild animals we discovered. As this was our only day in Murchison Falls National Park, we decided not to hike to the top of the waterfall, but to go for an evening game drive instead. Desiring more body activity, I was not really happy with the decision at first, but soon after happened to be quite excited by our hunt for lions and leopards. Being in a convoy with a few other cars, we kept eyes and ears open – unsuccessfully. All we found were the remains of a leopard’s prey. Being done with wildlife for the day, we returned to the lodge, enjoyed dinner and spend some time outside on the lodge’s terrace. We heard a rustling noise in the thicket next to us and were baffled when we saw the animal causing the rustling: a hippo! While hippos only eat grasses, they can be extremely aggressive and, even worse, extremely fast. Together with buffalos, they rank as Africa’s deadliest animals. We watched the hippo exploring our lodge from a halfway safe place (hippos cannot climb stairs – that is at least what we were told), as it blocked the way to the lobby as well as to our room. Soon after, the hippo disappeared into the darkness of the night.
The next day was characterized by a long drive to Kibale National Park where we arrived in the late afternoon. We were staying at the wonderful Kibale Forest Camp which did not only have a forest in its name – it literally is located inside the forest, being a home not only to us humans but also to plenty of animals, especially monkeys. In the next morning, it was time to rise early in order to get to the meeting point for the chimpanzee habituation in time. Unfortunately, there are not many spots in the world where you can see wild apes, so as for many other tourists, visiting our relatives was our number one reason why we came to Uganda. When it comes to seeing apes, you can choose between tracking and habituation. Tracking is cheaper and comes with the advantage of visiting apes that are more used to human presence, but the time you got to spend with the apes is relatively short and the tracking groups tend to be relatively big. Habituation is more expensive and you go looking for apes which are usually not so much used to the presence of humans, but you will have much more time with the apes und the groups are smaller.
Thanks to the profound local knowledge of our rangers and their ability to track chimps based on the remains of food and excrement, we found what we were looking for after a comparably short hike through the forest. The chimps were sitting high up in the trees, taking naps or feeding. Far above our heads, they did not care too much about our presence. It was fabulous to see how our relatives interact with each other and how strong and agile they are. Chimps do not travel on trees, so later on, when they started to roam their territory, they were coming to the ground, being even closer to us than before. Their strength and agility was to our disadvantage, though. Chimps move quite fast and they do not seem to mind about the thicket too much. Running behind them, all we got to see were their backs. Tim, initially following the chimps right behind me, complained that I was behaving like a forest elephant, running through bushes, lashing their branches right onto him. Back at the lodge, this time the remarkable Primate Safari Lodge, we enjoyed a well-deserved Nile Special at the campfire, sharing thoughts and stories with travelers from the States, whom we already met on our river safari in Murchison Falls National Park.
On the next morning, we explored the nearby Bigondi swamp, where we saw many different monkeys, birds and other animals. Afterwards, we headed off towards Queen Elisabeth National Park, crossing the Equator, entering earth’s southern hemisphere. Especially the first part of the drive was quite scenic and the overall tour was not too long, something I was very happy about. As great as our Land Cruiser was for the purpose of safari, it surely was not comfortable during long distance drives, especially when taking some of Uganda’s roads into the equation. Arriving in the Queen Elisabeth National Park we quickly noticed the differences compared to Murchison Falls National Park: the area was much drier and very flat. Within the first kilometers inside the park, our guide Arshley surprised us with his almost unbelievable ability to spot all kinds of animals from a driving car: he saw a lion inside a tree. Only in this area of Africa, lions climb into trees. Ironically, Arshley was the most disappointed in Murchison Falls National Park, as he could not spot any lions or leopards there. He was not very optimistic for animal sightings like this in Queen Elisabeth, and yet, we even saw one more lion shortly after our arrival in the park, again in a tree. Later, we arrived at the Mweya Safari Lodge, which was absolutely stunning in terms of location and view.
During holidays, I am a breakfast person, so I got up a little earlier than the two other guys in order to have enough time for a relaxed coffee and some food. There was an open area between the building with our room and the major lodge facilities, and when I wanted to return to the room, I was again having an unexpected wildlife encounter: A hippo enjoyed its breakfast right next to the lodge’s parking space. A hotel employee guided me around it and soon after we started our morning game drive. Still being euphoric from our lion sightings of the previous day, we were even more lucky: We got to see a whole lion pride – followed by majestic elephants and even more lions, again watching the area from within trees. After a lunch break, we left for a boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel, connecting Lake Edward and Lake George. As during our Nile cruise, we got to see uncountable amounts of buffalos and hippos, some of them even yawning. What a day!
Again, it was time for a long drive, and everyone was very much looking forward to where we were heading: Uganda’s most south-western part, where it borders Congo and Rwanda. After our arrival at the Lake Mutanda Resort, once again a lodge in a stunning location, we rented a canoe and enjoyed the incredibly beautiful views. To be honest, the enjoyment factor might have been even higher without the canoe, as our short ride on the water was more than chaotic. Blaming each other for the poor performance, mostly turning the canoe in circles, single rooms for the night would have been a good idea. Still, watching the majestic Virunga volcanoes brought us peace.
On the next morning, even earlier than ever before, we left into the direction of the volcanoes we saw from the distance on the day before. It was still night and the car could not climb the access road of the lodge with us in it. After a short but very steep walk in the darkness, we were inside the car on our way to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park forming, together with the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and the Virunga National Park in Congo, a paradise for many species, including mountain gorillas and the endemic golden monkeys. The latter were the reason for our visit and we were bound to habituate a group of them. At the entrance of the park, we met three young friends from France, whom we had met previously in our lodge on the evening before. They planned to hike to one of the volcanoes and left the lodge even before us. The beginning of the hike was fine. The trails were good and after a while we found what we were looking for, a group of golden monkeys. Unlike apes, monkeys are usually much smaller and travel on trees. Unfortunately, the monkey group was a bit shy, running away from us. Given their speed and the increasingly inaccessible, steep terrain, we were not able to follow them for long. The rangers, disappointed by it as well, offered us to look for a group which is more used to human presence instead. We agreed. They told us that this would be a bit of a hike, but we were fine with it. The day was young and we were still in good shape. We hiked through the stunning area and were surprised by beautiful bamboo forests. Yes, bamboo forests do not only exist in Asia. Later on, the rain forest proofed why it is called rain forest and the drama ran its course. The rain became increasingly strong and our so-called water-proof jackets could not handle it anymore. Additionally, Tim had increasing knee pain, even taking pain killers in order to continue the hike (it is not like there was an alternative anyway). The conditions got increasingly worse and one of us slipped every few minutes. I was extremely worried about someone having a major injury. At some point, the energy of our bodies was so drained that we asked the rangers to forget about the golden monkeys and return to the park’s entrance instead. They told us that the golden monkeys were anyway on our way back to the entrance, so we continued. Eventually, we arrived at the golden monkey group and indeed, they did not run away from us. Wet and chilled to the bones, Thomas was the only one with enough energy to get his camera out of his backpack. Back then, I insisted on the habituation instead of the tracking, but after this experience, I definitely recommend choosing the tracking experience instead (for golden monkeys). Quite a few kilometers later, we arrived back at the car where we stored (thank God!) spare outfits. Our clothes were so cold and wet that changing them was in fact painful.
Arshley had bad news for us, due to the rain, the road to our next lodge, the Rushaga Gorilla Camp, was inaccessible. For Arshley this meant: challenge accepted. Shortly after starting the journey, Tim fell asleep (I was not far from it either) and missed big parts of an adventurous drive through the mud. Usually having a bottomless pit not too far away from one side of the car, our guide proofed that he is a terrific driver. Quite often, the Land Cruiser lost grip, but Arshley did not lose his head. Other than that, the mountainous landscape was breathtakingly beautiful. We were glad when we arrived at the lodge not too late into the afternoon, as we were bound for the big day: visiting the famous mountain gorillas. An issue though was that our hiking equipment was still soaked, and we desperately tried to dry it at the campfire, while sharing once again interesting stories and thoughts with fellow travelers from all around the world. On that night, I also wondered what had happened to the French guys who were hit by the heavy rain during their mountain hike, too. Hopefully they arrived back at their lodge safe and sound.
Going for gorilla habituation is a little like watching dodgy deals in criminal movies. We again left early in the morning, driving to a meeting point from where we followed another car. Neither Thomas, Tim nor myself could really tell where we were heading to, but we noticed that Arshley got a little nervous, thinking that we were on our way to Congo. Eventually, we arrived at the point where our hike to the gorillas was supposed to start. The three of us, a lady from Australia and a whole group of rangers, carriers and helpers were ready to look for the gorillas. After the exhausting previous day, we were a bit shocked when they told us that we might not return before the late evening, depending on how fast we can find the gorillas. I packed as much water as I could carry and looked into the then grey sky, praying that is does not rain again.
On our way into Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Tim unfortunately had to cope with knee pain again. Going deeper and deeper into the forest, the hike became more and more beautiful. Of all rain forests we saw during the trip, Bwindi was the most stunning one. On our way, we even saw a very rare forest elephant. We also chatted to our fellow group member, the lady from Australia, who told us that she was on her first holiday since far more than a decade. She raised a disabled child and could never leave home for long. We met many interesting people in Uganda and she might have been the most impressive one. Based on what she told us, life has been incredibly tough for her and yet she did not break. In fact, the opposite was the case: she was full of energy and happiness. We also talked to the habituation crew, one of them asking me about my job in Europe. Explaining a corporate job to someone who protects gorillas and is out in the nature for most of his life? Impossible. But I wondered whom of us had the more fulfilling life.
Soon, our team discovered traces of the Bikingi gorilla group we had been looking for. Team members made the impenetrable forest penetrable with their machetes and the first gorilla we saw was a huge, impressive silverback. In the beginning we only saw very few gorillas which were also a bit shy and ran away. But after a good while of following them through quite heavy terrain, they accepted our presence and we got to see the whole clan. What followed will forever be an unforgettable experience until our dying days. We saw so many gorillas, kids as well as adults, eating, sleeping and playing, partly right in front of us. When you get to meet those gentle giants, you realize that mankind has to do anything to protect the last ones of them from extinction. Unfortunately, the Great Rift Valley is full of precious resources and also farmers are looking for more land. Tourism to Uganda and its neighbouring countries is not only a lifetime experience for yourself, but also an important and great contribution to wildlife protection. Seeing especially small gorillas look at you exactly the way human babies do lets you wonder why it took until the late 19th century to discover that gorillas and other apes are our closest relatives on this planet.
Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, is not far from Bwindi and does have good flight connections to Europe and other places. We, however, had a flight back from Entebbe, so we headed back to Uganda’s capital, Kampala. The drive was long and looking back it would have made sense to visit Kampala first and then fly out from Kigali. At least we got to see once again the Equator itself, crossing it one more time, taking very touristy pictures. Still, we made it to Kampala, where we enjoyed a fantastic Indian dinner. Uganda used to be a British colony and the Brits brought in many Indians, leaving a rich and delicious culinary heritage. Other than that, Uganda was founded as a completely artificial country. Traveling through it, you will encounter many different languages, with English as the lowest common denominator. When we have political debates about refugees in Europe, we too often forget to talk about what we did to other countries in Africa and the Middle East.
On the next day, Arshley gave us a little city tour through Kampala, including some souvenir shopping, before we drove to our final destination: the kilometer-wise close but time-wise far (traffic jams!) Jinja. In our final accommodation, the Source of the Smile, we had a warm welcome by the owner, a guy from Iceland. Unfortunately, it was also the time to say goodbye to Arshley, who was heading back to Kampala, taking a few days off before his next trip. In Jinja, we visited one of the two sources of the Nile, enjoyed more Indian food, drank more alcohol than one should when one is on malaria prophylaxis, and enjoyed the hours before we departed to Entebbe International Airport for our flight back to Brussels.
Hamidah, Arshley, writing those sentences brought back a lot of amazing memories. Thanks again for the fantastic trip. As Sir Winston Churchill once said, Uganda is indeed a pearl. Ever since my return, I dream of visiting the Virunga mountains again. A dream which will not leave my head until, one day, I make it a reality.
Are you interested in visiting Uganda? I can connect you to the organizers of my trip, Hamidah and Arshley – drop me a message. And also make sure to visit Arshley’s Instagram gallery.
@sebel_tours 
[…] in 2019 I travelled to Uganda with two friends – read my retrospect here. It was a magnificent trip to a country which many most probably do not know very well. As my […]
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