Welcome to Uganda – The Pearl of Africa!

Uganda is a land of contrasts. In half a day you can drive from mist-shrouded volcanic mountains to hot hazy savannah, dappled with wildlife. Serene undulating hills of tea plantations, lush but ordered, give way to tangled jungle and rainforest with the musical accompaniment of chaotic, cacophonous birdlife.

Uganda is alive with these contrasts: The tiniest sunbirds, iridescent in the morning light; the massive lumbering yet silent elephant, disappearing like a vapor behind the trees; the chimpanzees crashing about the forest canopy; the lugubrious gorilla chewing thoughtfully in the bamboo thicket.

There’s the Nile, twisting its way north like a shimmering ribbon, through arid semi-desert scattered about with rocky kopjes. Snow-capped peaks, tropical, sandy, freshwater beaches, and smiling faces everywhere. It’s all here, a feast for all the senses.

Uganda – The Pearl of Africa!

Situated on the East African plateau approximately 1100m above the sea level, Uganda is a home to almost half of the world’s Mountain gorilla population. It is a tough challenge to describe Uganda in a few short paragraphs. Despite the small size of the country, the diversity of landscape, topography, people, wildlife, birdlife and plant life is mind-boggling. If we had to distil the essence of Uganda down to one word, we might say ’Fecund’. This was used by Winston Churchill all those years ago…but fecund is hardly a word we hear much anymore.

Ecologically, Uganda is where the East African savannah meets the West African jungle. Where else but in this uniquely lush destination can one observe lions prowling the open plains in the morning and track chimpanzees through the rainforest undergrowth the same afternoon, then the next day navigate tropical channels teeming with hippos and crocodiles before setting off into the misty mountains to visit the majestic mountain gorillas? Uganda is the only safari destination whose range of forest primates is as impressive as its selection of plain antelopes. Besides the wide biodiversity, Uganda is also blessed with a vast bird population of more than 1,000 species.

Lush? Luxuriant? Abundant? Diverse? They all work. This beautiful country we call home is right at the heart of Africa; at the crossroads of East and West, North and South. We have rich, misty primordial forests. Hot, vast grasslands with impossibly big skies. Glacier-peaked mountain ranges and palm-fringed tropical islands with sandy beaches. Tumultuous, roiling rivers, placid sparkling lakes and endless miles of papyrus wetlands.

Aristotle said “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” and nowhere is this more true than this lovely gem of a country.

Uganda has many ‘parts’, many easily identifiable landmarks: the Equator, the River Nile, Lake Victoria, the Rwenzori Mountains, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, the eastern most edge of the Central African Rainforest, the Western Rift Valley, the peak of Mount Elgon (the largest volcanic base in the world). National Parks, Game Reserves, Forest Reserves. It has incredible birdlife (even the most die-hard non-birder can’t fail to be impressed) and a tremendous array of wildlife. Our unique position on the continent means we have both savannah species typical of East Africa (lion, cheetah, elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, warthog et cetra), and forest species more typical of Central Africa (forest elephant, red river hog, chimpanzee, mountain gorilla, forest buffalo).

Wrap all this up with the rich cultural history and heritage of more than 50 tribes – both Nilotic and Bantu – who live here and warmly welcome visitors, the ‘whole’ is great indeed. Regardless of what we say, regardless of the words we choose, our clients’ reactions are often the same: “I never knew it was so beautiful” The message is clear. The only way to get a real feel for what Uganda is like, you need to come and see it yourself. So come and let us show you our Africa, our Uganda.

Here are some of the key safari routes that will entice your Uganda Expedition!