Uganda, often referred to as the Pearl of Africa, is a country that captivates with its stunning landscapes and vibrant cultures. With 10 national parks, 12 wildlife reserves, a multi-cultural mix, and breathtaking scenery, it presents a challenge to decide which destinations are the best to visit.
Uganda’s top destinations have become popular with private and small group travelers because its tourist numbers are still small and tolerable compared to its famous giant safari neighbors (Kenya and Tanzania). There’s a big chance that an ordinary traveler’s toes will not get stepped on, their lazy evenings will not be disrupted, or even they might be the only one on a game drive in the entire national park. The destination is a giant private reserve that makes private safari an affordable indulgence for an everyday traveler.
Uganda has all the savannah plains, the rainforest jungles, the snow-capped mountains, and the indigenous African cultures to brag about. Having all this travel trove in one giant private reserve, I think, makes Ugandan people the most modest, welcoming, entertaining, and so much caring hosts.
Let’s explore some of the top tourist attractions that make Uganda an unforgettable destination:
1. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park would have taken the number one spot on the top 10 Uganda destinations because it protects the world’s most precious jungle jewels, the mountain gorillas. The 32,092 ha (320 sq km) UNESCO World Heritage-listed Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is one of Africa’s prehistoric habitats that scientists date back to have survived the last Ice Age as most of the continent’s other forests disappeared. The tropical forest is one of the largest areas in East Africa, which still has Afromontane lowland forest extending to well within the montane forest belt.
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Located in a mountainous area in southwest Uganda (near the border with Rwanda in the south), Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is most famous for its giant primate inhabitants, the mountain gorillas.
Home to almost half of the world’s mountain gorilla population, the property represents a conservation frontline as an isolated forest of outstanding biological richness surrounded by an agricultural landscape supporting one of the highest rural population densities in tropical Africa.
Mountain Gorilla in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Spending a once-in-a-lifetime moment up close with these critically endangered forest giants is an unforgettable experience any traveler should include on their travel bucket list.
Hiking Trails in Bwindi Forest, even if you can’t afford gorilla tracking, Bwindi is a rewarding place to visit just for a chance to explore the lush virgin rainforest. Several 3 to 7-hour hikes run by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) penetrate the Impenetrable Forest between Buhoma and Nkuringo sections of the forest.
2. Queen Elizabeth National Park
Covering 1978 sq km, scenic Queen Elizabeth National Park is the most popular of all Uganda destinations with animals and tourists. Few reserves in the world have such high biodiversity, landscapes, savannah plains, bushland, wetlands, and lush forests like this park. Uganda’s most famous safari destinations protect the highest number of animals.
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Queen Elizabeth National Park Landscape
Some of the best to see on safari include hippos cooling off their massive bodies in the Kazinga channel, elephant parades, lion prides, leopards, hyenas, Uganda kobs, and the chimpanzee troop in the Kyambura Gorge forest.
The park is easy to reach and enjoys a stunning location on the rift valley floor between Lakes Edward and George. Varied habitats epitomize the rift valley vegetative mosaic that tempted our hominid ancestors to migrate from forest to grasslands and are home to 95 mammal and 612 bird species.
Scenically, Queen Elizabeth National Park has everything: thirty miles to the north of the park, the blue Rwenzori Mountains explode from the plains-a composite, jagged mass of mountains, sixty miles long and forty wide.
Ishasha sector’s most famous residents, the Tree-climbing Lions, lounge in fig-tree after meals. These docile felines can be easily spotted draped over the branches of large fig trees and acacia trees. Their motive for tree climbing remains unclear to researchers. Still, whether it is to enjoy the shade, watch for approaching meals, or avoid irritating bugs, Ishasha lions look incredibly comfortable on their high perches.
The Kazinga Channel
The Kazinga Channel shores provide year-round water for large numbers of birds, reptiles, and large mammals. A boat safari (or launch trip) to view this wildlife spectacle is Queen Elizabeth National Park’s most famous and enduring activity.
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Boat safaris make a 2-hour round trip between the Mweya jetty and Lake Edward, providing marvelous opportunities to view up-close crocodiles, elephants, hippo, buffalo, and a wide variety of waterbirds.
Kyambura Gorge
At the foot of the rift’s Kichwamba escarpment, the Kyambura River flows through the deep, cliff-lined Kyambura Gorge towards the Kazinga Channel. The Fig Tree Camp at the gorge’s edge provides a giddy view down into the 100m-deep chasm.
The canyon contains a beautiful riverine forest in which travelers can track one habituated chimpanzee troot with gorge’s forest. Chimpanzee trekking excursions head out twice daily at 8:00am and at 14:00.
3. Murchison Falls National Park
MY SAFARI ADVENTURE | MURCHISON FALLS NATIONAL PARK | UGANDA TRAVEL VLOG #4
Voted second on our top 10 Uganda destinations is Murchison Falls National Park, which sits on the shores of Lake Albert in northwestern Uganda. It’s known for the rumbling Murchison Falls, the most powerful falls where the Victoria Nile River squeezes through a 7-meter narrow gap to splash out powerful water at 300 cubic meters per second.
Adjacent to Murchison is Uhuru Falls, taking the excess of Murchison Falls water to create a spectacle that has become a Uganda tourism magnet.
Together with the adjacent Bugungu Wildlife Reserve and Karuma Wildlife Reserve, the park forms the Murchison Falls Conservation Area (MFCA), the largest of all Uganda destinations at 3,893 square kilometres (1,503 sq mi).
Murchison Falls
Murchison Falls National Park is endowed with big game, including elephants and hippos, and you could catch sight of the chimpanzee in the Kanyiyo Padidi mahogany forest. The Lake Albert Delta is home to rare shoebill storks. There is game fishing in the cascades of Karuma Falls.
The most dramatic view of the waterfall is at the top of the falls, where the sight and sounds of the Nile crashing through the 6-meter wide chasm makes an unforgettable assault on your neural senses.
The Falls site may be reached either by vehicle or a hot half-hour climb on foot after leaving the Paraa launch in Fajao Gorge. The latter route passes Baker’s point, a peninsula that faces Murchison Falls and a secondary cataract named Uhuru Falls.
Wildlife in Murchison Falls
The Paraa boat safari cruise is undoubtedly the park’s most enduring and famous safari attraction. The safari boat trips that launch off at Paraa jetty cruise up the Nile to the bottom of the Murchison Falls. On the Nile banks, you can spot the Nile crocodiles, elephant herds, lions, lazy hippos, buffalo, Rothschild’s giraffe, oribi, hartebeest, and monitor lizards.
Birding is spectacular along the Victoria Nile River to the delta. Hundreds of Red-throated bee-eaters nest in a river cliff near Paraa, while you’ll find many waterbirds along the channel.
4. Lake Bunyonyi
Lake Bunyoni is literally a dream. Imagine a tranquil and beautiful lake, surrounded by green hills, dotted with islands and filled with beautiful birds. Lake Bunyoni means ‘place of little birds’ so it’s great for bird watching, as well as boat trips on the lake, local interactions and hiking.
Lake Bunyonyi
5. Jinja
Jinja was one of the places I really fell in love with on my very first trip to Africa (along with Livingstone, Zambia and Bagamoyo, Tanzania), and the first place I went back to when I returned to Africa.
For thrill-seekers, the rapids of the Nile at Jinja offer an unmatched white-knuckle rafting experience.
Other Attractions
Besides the major national parks, Uganda offers a variety of other attractions:
- Rwenzori Mountains: Straddling the border with Congo, are the Rwenzori Mountains, known as the ‘Mountains of the Moon’ and home to Uganda’s tallest mountain, Mount Stanley.
- Kidepo Valley National Park: Lies on the border of Uganda and Sudan.
- Ssese Islands: If you are looking for a super-relaxing getaway in Uganda, head to the beautiful Ssese Islands on the northwestern part of Lake Victoria in Uganda.
- Mount Elgon: Lying on the Ugandan/Kenyan border, Mount Elgon is known as one of the best hikes in Africa.
- Kampala: The Ugandan capital, Kampala, is known as being one of the biggest party cities in Africa.
- Crater Lakes: Uganda’s crater lakes are simply beautiful. Lake Nkuruba is known as the ‘most beautiful’ of the lakes.
In the late 1960s, Uganda was visited by 100,000 international tourists each year. Tourism was the country's fourth largest earner of foreign exchange. The tourist industry ended in the early 1970s because of political instability. However, the loss of charismatic wildlife in previously popular safari parks such as Murchison Falls National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park prevented these parks from competing with similar tourist attractions in neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania.
Below is a table showing the number of tourists that have visited Uganda's national parks between 2006-2010.
| National Park | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bwindi Impenetrable | 7,452 | 8,498 | 9,846 | 10,481 | 12,479 |
| Queen Elizabeth | 32,354 | 39,768 | 42,669 | 34,639 | 48,574 |
| Murchison Falls | 18,535 | 21,648 | 24,226 | 24,234 | 31,482 |
Uganda’s top 10 destinations great for safari include two rainforest jungles popular for primates viewing, three shoreline destinations on two massive lakes, and five savannah game parks-an impressive collection no other Africa safari destination, that size, can dream of having.
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