Suggested Itinerary:
- 1 day in Kampala
- 1 day visit and stay in Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
- 1-2 day Safari in Murchison Falls Park or Queen Elizabeth if you have never done a Safari before
- Bwindi NP for Guerilla’s if you have the money to drop 😉
- Kibale Chimpanzee Trek is a must!!!
- 2-3 days Bunyonyi Lake – it is beyond gorgeous
- 1 day in Jinja white water rafting on the Nile is a must!
- Visit the Equator and take a photo for proof 🙂
After absolutely falling in love with Tanzania I didn’t want to leave Africa. I decided to visit a friend in Uganda. I had no idea what to expect because it was completely unplanned. We landed in Entebbe airport and stayed at a dinky little hotel that I wouldn’t recommend somewhere between Entebbe and Kampala. My advice would be to just stay in Kampala for the first night.
So how did I end up in Uganda? My Ugandan friend, Michael, had been working in a local pet shop near my home in Dubai. After finishing his contract he returned home, and I made a promise to him that I would visit him if I was ever near his area, and finally I was!
He was kind enough to show us around his village and really have us experience life as a local in the area. As we were strolling along the dirt roads and the tiny huts, small children would yell something in their language at us. I asked Michael what they were saying. Apparently they were screaming Chinese Chinese! Chinese workers were helping build roads in their area. Besides these Chinese people they had never seen other people besides their own. So they classified me as Chinese! I was so happy to be visiting at this point. How cool? A remote village in Uganda with so many happy friendly people whom never met an American before or apparently a white person before 🙂
Later that night over dinner I had come to learn that Michael had never been anywhere in his country besides Kampala and Entebbe. I decided to invite Michael on an unforgettable journey discovering his homeland.
We started our trip in Kampala. It is a wildly active city with tons of life and shops. It was kind of weird to be in a city after being in such a rural area with people who seemed so simple. But I guess every country has their big city people and their rural people. Kampala was ok but I was ready to set off into the unknown. We borrowed Michael’s moms car and off we went.
We headed up a straight road from Kampala to Murchison’s National Park. On the way we spotted a sign for Ziwas Rhino Sanctuary. We decided to check it out. It was amazing! They had much more than Rhino but the fact that Rhino’s were wild and free and literally everywhere was just absolutely thrilling! I just love Africa for this reason alone—> There are NO RULES. We stayed in a small hut at the Sanctuary for the night and got to sleep amongst wild Rhinos, warthogs, and deer.
After lunch we headed up to Murchison’s Falls National Park. Unfortunately they wouldn’t let us into the park because we didn’t have a 4X4. I was honestly expecting that and I was ok not entering the park because we had just come from a full week of Safari in Tanzania. Also I felt like Uganda is the type of place that you could probably find tons of wildlife all around you without entering the park. Therefore the park fees plus renting a 4X4 for the day just seemed too pricey for us at the time. We decide to head South from there.
I picked up a few brochures from Ziwa and saw there is a specific NP park to see wild Guerrillas and a separate one dedicated to viewing wild chimpanzees. The Guerrilla experience would cost somewhere around 500USD and I really wanted to wait for a trip to Rwanda to see Guerrillas. So I decided that Kibale NP for Chimpanzee trekking would be an amazing experience. It cost around 100 USD and it was out of this world! I had the opportunity to be up close and personal with the chimpanzees. They can be extremely dangerous animals and in America I would only be able to see them behind glass in zoos. BUT NO IN AFRICA!!! We did have a tour guide and at one point she screamed watch out he’s charging!!! A huge male chimpanzee charged right at young boy standing next to me and we both ended up falling out of the way. None of us were hurt and we got to live to say we were charged by a massive male chimpanzee. The chimpanzees obviously weren’t excited about our visit. Towards the end they climbed the trees and starting throwing poop at us. Yes! Chimpanzees throwing poop at me with a large smile on my face, and all I can think of is now I can check that off my bucket list.
After Kibale NP we headed even more south to an incredible place called Lake Bunyonyi. It is located in the southwest of Uganda bordering Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is made up of 29 islands and it is just breathtaking. The island we stayed on had no electricity and I have never seen so many stars at night in the sky. If you want a peaceful environment to just take in nature and enjoy the natural beauty of this world then you need to stay a night or two on one of these incredible islands.
After just stumbling upon some of the most amazing experiences of my life we decided to head back to Kampala. From Kampala I learned of two more must see destinations before booking my ticket back home.
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Visit the Equator! Yes you can actually stand on the equator in Uganda!
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Head to Jinja, a total hipster town in Uganda with cute little coffee shops, and the best part is you have the opportunity to go white water rafting on the Nile. The rafting is intense and a sheer blast!
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