Uganda Safari: Plan the Ultimate Safari after Mgahinga
Uganda is a wonderful safari destination in Africa. A safari in Uganda is not only interesting but filled with thrilling adventures. Uganda is home to more than half of the remaining mountain gorillas, over 1010 bird species, over 10 different primate species and the “big five”. Uganda is also home to the Source of the Nile Africa’s longest river and Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake. In the western part of the country, the Rwenzori Mountain block with its glacier peaks offers the best mountaineering experience in Africa while a trip to Ssese Islands is a real back to nature safari retreat!
Given an enormous variety of natural areas, Uganda is the best travel destination in Africa to partake gorilla trekking, chimpanzee tracking, bird watching, mountaineering and other holiday adventures. Uganda Safaris are filled with several amazing activities that will be included in your itinerary. These include mountain climbing and hiking, bird watching, game viewing, boating, fishing for Nile Perch or Tiger Fish, whitewater rafting, historical and cultural tours.
Safari Parks to Visit
Located astride the equator, Uganda has a network of 10 national parks and several other protected areas. These make Uganda a superb safari destination which offers wildlife enthusiasts a thrilling opportunity to experience Uganda’s biodiversity. Uganda’s wild game resides in not only the mesmerizing tracts of thorn-bush savanna a habitat for antelope, buffalo and elephant one as well as the equatorial lush expanses of tropical rain forests a habitat for the rare mountain gorillas and other primates. The shimmering lakes and rivers heave with aquatic life while the glacial peaks of one of the Africa’s tallest mountain range make Uganda a superb destination for adventure.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
The Impenetrable Forest Reserve was gazetted in 1942, upgraded to the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in 1992 and recognised as a World Heritage Site in 1994. In the local Lukiga language, Bwindi actually means ‘Impenetrable.’ A trek through this, one of Africa’s most ancient rainforests, in search of the endangered mountain gorilla, ranks among the world’s premier wildlife encounters.
Queen Elizabeth National Park
The 1978 square kilometres Queen Elizabeth National Park enjoys a stunning location on the rift valley floor between Lakes Edward and George where a mosaic of habitats supports 95 mammal species and a remarkable 612 species of birds. Forty years ago, Douglas Willocks described the diverse features that led to its creation in 1952. There still exists no better introduction or a more enticing invitation to visit the park. Scenically the area had everything. Thirty miles to the north, the blue Rwenzori exploded from the plain.
Rwenzori Mountains National Park
In AD150, the Alexandrine geographer Ptolemy wrote of a snow capped mountain range, deep in the heart of Africa that, he claimed, was the source of the Nile and which he called the Mountains of the Moon. Over the centuries this curious notion of tropical snow faded into mythology and, when John Speke found the Nile’s exit from Lake Victoria, a place in fiction for the Mountains of the Moon seemed assured. Though just miles north of the Equator, Rwenzori mountain is renowned of its glaciers and snow peaks whose meltwaters represent the highest springs of the Nile.
Kibale Forest National Park
The 795km2 Kibale National Park contains one of the loveliest and most varied tracts of tropical forest in Uganda. This is home to a host of forest wildlife, most famously 13 species of primate including chimpanzee. Forest cover predominates in the northern and central parts of the park on the elevated Fort Portal plateau. Kibale is highest at the park’s northern tip which stands 1590m above sea level.
Lake Mburo National Park
Lake Mburo National Park is a gem of a park, conveniently located close to the western highway that connects Kampala to the parks of western Uganda. Though the park is just 370km2 in size, its landscapes are varied and even a short drive is alive with interest and colour. Its varied vegetation which comprise of gallery forest, open savanna and acacia woodland, rock kopjes, seasonal and permanent swamps, and open water, support various wildlife species such as impala, Burchell’s zebra, and eland that are not found elsewhere in western Uganda.