Subscribe to RSSExploring Uganda
A&T recently returned from an unforgettable first trip to Uganda. Uganda is unlike some of the more seasoned safari destinations, it feels a little raw around the edges and this adds to the charm and the overall experience. As you drive around the country through numerous local communities, one thing that you’ll remember is the excitement and smiles of the children as they wave frantically as you pass. The local villages and people are extremely friendly and welcoming, in a way Uganda feels like a large village due to the warmth and sense of community that you feel when you’re there. And from a photography perspective, the local villages, people and particularly the children present some fantastic photographic opportunities (see our ‘Children of Africa’ featured photos).
Of course no safari to Uganda would be complete without visiting the home of the mountain gorillas in Bwindi. This was A&T’s first gorilla-trekking experience – does it live up to the hype and expectations? We trekked twice in Bwindi and we can imagine that individual experiences can be vastly different. For A&T, gorilla-trekking alone made the trip to Uganda more than worthwhile. We knew this during our second trek. We knew that even if we did not see any big game on our game drives during the rest of our stay in Uganda, we would go home happy with memories to last a lifetime. But is this because our experience was unique? Perhaps. But perhaps unique experiences on these gorilla treks are more common that we think. Read more about this our article, ‘Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi – Kiss of a Mountain Gorilla’.
The one failing in Uganda is the state of its roads. There are some stretches of extremely poorly kept roads which seem like an extended network of pot-holes and crevices, where you’re sometimes reduced to driving at no more than 10-20kmh. It’s believed that efforts are underway to repair some of these roads as there’s increasing recognition in the Ugandan government of the value of the tourism trade to GDP. In the meantime, chartered flights may be the solution to avoiding some of these roads (scheduled flights to key safari destinations in Uganda are still relatively rare).
So what’s game viewing like in Uganda? We’re probably not yet qualified to be any sort of authority on this, given we only managed to cover Queen Elizabeth National Park and Lake Mburo. But our initial experience was that big game was relatively more sparse compared to Tanzania and Kenya. But it may be a case of knowing where to go, as we had an incredible boat ride experience in the Kazinga channel that links Lake Edward to Lake George. The channel was simply teeming with birdlife, elephants, buffalo, crocodiles and hippos. The water is still which still makes it possible for excellent photography opportunities. And, on a boat, you manage to get a lot closer to the birdlife than you normally do in a 4×4. Truly this is an experience not to be missed for anyone, but perhaps even moreso if you’re a bird lover. We enjoyed it so much we repeated the boat trip the following day. We met a wonderful couple on this boat trip who also came back for seconds, one of whom was a wildlife biologist and their excitement at being immersed in this ‘National Geographic’ experience was infectious.
For would-be philanthropists in Uganda, there is simply no shortage of opportunities to make a profound difference. We were very privileged to meet several exceptional individuals on this trip who have already, in their own way, accomplished so much in Uganda. It was humbling to hear their stories and certainly A&T would like to explore further how we and our future clients could all contribute to some of these incredible projects. We will be writing more about this in due course.
Certainly a return to Uganda is already in the cards and we’ve heard fantastic things about some other parks in Uganda, particularly Murchison Falls and Kidepo National Park. As we gradually unwind our backlog of work, we will update our blog with more photos and details of various aspects of our trip. Stay tuned!
Photography:-
‘Children of Africa’ featured photos
Gorilla trekking article and photos
Featured Photos
A&T FLICKR PHOTOS
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