Uganda

Laid out at the end of the nineteenth century on the lakeshore of what was then the colonial capital, the botanical gardens are a peaceful introduction to Uganda's plants and birds. Shady paths wind between giant trees, palms, a patch of genuine rainforest and the lake edge, and the bird list is long: great blue turacos, hornbills, kingfishers and fish eagles are all regular. Black-and-white colobus monkeys and vervets often turn up in the trees. It's an easy first or last afternoon, since the airport is only a few minutes away.

TipCome in the early morning or late afternoon, when the birds are most active and the heat is gentler.

Next door to the botanical gardens, the centre widely known as the Entebbe zoo began as a holding place for orphaned and confiscated animals and is now run as a conservation and education centre. Its lakeside enclosures, arranged by habitat from wetland to savannah and forest, hold animals that were rescued from the illegal wildlife trade or can't be released, including lions, chimpanzees, rhinos, shoebills and many smaller species. It's particularly worthwhile for anyone who won't have time to see a shoebill in the wild, and for families with young children.

TipThe centre offers behind-the-scenes encounters and keeper sessions for an extra fee; check the official site for what is running.

A forested island in Lake Victoria, about an hour by speedboat from Entebbe, is home to a group of orphaned chimpanzees, most of them rescued from traffickers as infants and unable to return to the wild. The sanctuary is run by a conservation trust, and visitors watch from a raised platform as the chimps emerge from the forest for their supplementary feeds. Overnight stays in the island's tented camp allow longer programmes, including caregiver experiences and forest walks with the younger chimps.

TipDay trips are timed around the feeding sessions, so book in advance through the sanctuary and ask about boat departure times.

On a hill in western Kampala stands the burial place of four kabakas, the kings of Buganda, the largest of Uganda's traditional kingdoms. The main building, Muzibu Azaala Mpanga, is a vast domed hut of wood, reeds, wattle and daub under an enormous thatched roof, a masterpiece of Ganda building tradition. It burnt down in 2010, which saw the site placed on UNESCO's list of World Heritage in Danger; after a painstaking reconstruction using traditional materials and techniques, it was removed from that list in 2023. Guides explain the royal rituals, the role of the widows and descendants who still look after the tombs, and the symbolism of the bark-cloth and spears inside.

TipRemove your shoes before entering the main tomb, dress modestly, and ask before photographing inside.

Crowning Namirembe Hill, one of the hills Kampala grew across, the Anglican cathedral is the oldest in Uganda. The present red-brick building, with its domes and arched windows, dates from the early twentieth century, replacing earlier churches of thatch and timber, one of which was destroyed by lightning. The graves of early missionaries and of Bishop James Hannington, killed in 1885, lie in the grounds, and the terrace gives one of the best views over the city's tangle of hills, red roofs and traffic.

TipSunday services, with hymns in Luganda and English, are open to visitors; arrive early and dress respectfully.

Officially St Balikuddembe Market, Owino is Kampala's largest and most chaotic market, a maze of narrow alleys near the old taxi parks where thousands of traders sell everything from second-hand clothes and shoes to fabric, pots, spices, dried fish and mountains of fresh fruit. It's noisy, crowded and occasionally overwhelming, but it gives a real sense of how the city works, and bargain hunters love the stacks of secondhand clothing. Bright kitenge cloth bought here can be sewn into a shirt or dress by a tailor in a day or two.

TipGo with a local guide if you can, carry only what you need, and keep phones and cash out of sight.

Still called the Gaddafi Mosque by most Kampalans after the Libyan leader who funded its completion, the national mosque sits on Old Kampala Hill, where the colonial administrator Frederick Lugard built his fort in 1890. Finished in 2006, it is one of the largest mosques in East Africa, with a vast prayer hall decorated with Moroccan-style tiles, carpets and stained glass. The highlight is the climb up the tall minaret, nearly three hundred steps, for a panorama over all of Kampala's hills.

TipGuided visits are offered outside prayer times; women are lent a headscarf and wrap at the entrance, and everyone removes their shoes.

About two hours east of Kampala, Jinja sits where the White Nile leaves Lake Victoria. In 1862 the British explorer John Hanning Speke reached the spot and declared it the source of the Nile, and a monument on the west bank marks his visit. Short boat trips run to the point where the river begins to flow, past birds, fishermen and a small island. Jinja itself is a laid-back town of faded art deco shopfronts and has become East Africa's adventure capital, with white-water rafting, kayaking, tubing, river boarding, bungee jumping, quad biking and mountain biking along the river.

TipBook rafting with well-established operators that use safety kayakers, and ask how recent dams have changed the rapids before you choose a trip.

On the north-western slopes of Mount Elgon, near the Kenyan border, the Sipi River drops over a series of three main waterfalls in a landscape of steep cliffs, banana groves and coffee farms. The tallest fall plunges around 100 metres into a gorge, and local guides lead half-day hikes linking all three, with chances to swim at the base of the lower falls in the dry season. It's a cool, scenic escape after Kampala, a great place to learn how the region's excellent arabica coffee is grown, roasted and brewed, and a base for abseiling and rock climbing.

TipUse guides from the local guide associations in the village; paths can be slippery and steep after rain.

Uganda's rhinos were wiped out by poaching by the early 1980s. At Ziwa, a large fenced ranch on the road between Kampala and Murchison Falls, a small founding group of southern white rhinos brought in from Kenya and the USA has been breeding steadily since 2005, with the aim of eventually returning rhinos to the national parks. Rangers lead walks to see the animals on foot, usually getting surprisingly close, and the sanctuary also offers birding walks and shoebill trips into the nearby swamp.

TipMake it a stop on the drive north rather than a detour; the walks take two to three hours.

Uganda's largest national park is split by the Victoria Nile, which, after a long calm stretch, forces its way through a cleft in the rocks only about seven metres wide and plunges some 45 metres in a roar of spray. You can see the falls in two ways: from a launch trip upstream from Paraa, gliding past hippos, crocodiles, elephants and huge numbers of birds, and on foot from the trail to the top of the falls, where the noise and power are astonishing. North of the river, game drives on the Buligi tracks bring Rothschild's giraffes, elephants, buffalo, Uganda kob, lions and, with luck, leopards. A morning boat trip downstream towards the Lake Albert delta is one of the best chances anywhere of seeing the shoebill.

TipThe Paraa ferry links the two halves of the park and runs on a set timetable; check the times so you don't get stranded on the wrong bank.

Kibale protects a block of moist tropical forest near Fort Portal that holds one of the highest densities of primates in Africa, with thirteen species, including red colobus, L'Hoest's monkeys and grey-cheeked mangabeys. The star attraction is its chimpanzees. Treks leave from Kanyanchu, and once the rangers find the habituated community you spend an hour with the chimps as they feed, groom, squabble and hoot through the forest. Under the Uganda Wildlife Authority tariff for 2027–28, chimpanzee tracking in Kibale costs US$250 for foreign non-residents, with a cheaper low-season rate in April, May and November, and a longer chimpanzee habituation experience is also offered. Just outside the park, the community-run Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary is a superb walk for birds and monkeys.

TipMorning treks give the best chance of seeing chimps active; wear long trousers tucked into socks against ants.

Rising to 5,109 metres at Margherita Peak on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Rwenzori are the legendary "Mountains of the Moon" that ancient geographers believed fed the Nile. They're a world apart: valleys of moss-hung forest, bogs, giant groundsels and lobelias, and, at the top, glaciers that are shrinking fast. A full circuit with a summit attempt takes a week or more of tough, muddy trekking with porters and guides, but shorter day hikes and two- to three-day treks from the trailheads near Kasese give a taste of the mountains. The national park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

TipBook through an established outfitter and expect deep mud even in the drier months; gaiters and rubber boots are standard kit.

Queen Elizabeth National Park, at the foot of the Rwenzori, mixes savannah, crater lakes, forest and wetland, and its heart is the Kazinga Channel, a natural waterway of about 32 kilometres linking Lake George and Lake Edward. Boat trips from below the Mweya peninsula run along the banks, where hippos crowd the shallows, buffalo and elephants come down to drink and pied kingfishers, pelicans and fish eagles are everywhere. Game drives on the Kasenyi plains bring Uganda kob, lions and hyenas, and the forested Kyambura Gorge has its own chimpanzees.

TipThe afternoon cruises tend to see the most animals at the water's edge; sit on the shore side of the boat.

In the remote southern corner of Queen Elizabeth National Park, the Ishasha sector is famous for its lions, which climb into the spreading branches of fig and acacia trees to doze through the hottest part of the day. Nobody knows quite why: perhaps to escape biting flies, catch a breeze or keep watch over the herds of kob and topi below. Spotting a tawny tail hanging from a branch is one of the great sights of an East African safari, and Ishasha is also a natural stopover between the Kazinga Channel and Bwindi.

TipSightings are never guaranteed; a ranger guide knows the favourite trees and recent movements.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, protects an ancient rainforest of steep ridges and valleys that holds roughly half of the world's mountain gorillas, with many habituated families. Treks start from four sectors, Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga and Nkuringo, each with its own groups, and can take anywhere from an hour to most of a day of hiking through thick undergrowth before you reach the family. You then have one hour with them, at a distance of around ten metres, in groups of no more than eight visitors. Under the UWA tariff, a gorilla permit costs US$800 for foreign non-residents, and from January 2027 a low-season rate of US$600 applies in April, May and November. The longer gorilla habituation experience, spending several hours with researchers and rangers alongside a family that is still getting used to people, costs US$1,800. Permits are limited and sell out months ahead in peak season.

TipMake sure your permit and your lodge are in the same sector, since the drive between sectors can take hours. Hire a porter: it supports local families and helps on the steep slopes.

Uganda's smallest national park covers the Ugandan slopes of three of the Virunga volcanoes, Muhavura, Gahinga and Sabinyo, at the point where Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC meet. It has a habituated gorilla family, but its special treat is golden monkey tracking in the bamboo forest, which costs much less and is lively and fun. Fit walkers can climb one of the volcanoes in a day: Sabinyo's summit is shared by all three countries, and Muhavura has a small crater lake at the top. The park's Batwa trail, led by members of the Batwa community who once lived in these forests, explains their traditional life.

TipGorilla treks here are sold through the same UWA system and at the same price as Bwindi; check availability for both when planning.

After the forests, Lake Bunyonyi is the place to slow down. The lake winds between steep terraced hills near Kabale, dotted with more than twenty islands, and its cool climate, lack of crocodiles and hippos and the low-key lodges along its shore make it a favourite spot for swimming, canoeing and doing very little. Dugout canoes and motorboats visit the islands, including the tiny Punishment Island, with a sad history of exclusion, and local guides lead walks through the hill villages. It's an easy drive from the southern Bwindi sectors and Mgahinga, and from here it's not far to the Rwandan border.

TipSwimming is generally considered safe, but check locally and never swim after drinking; the water is deep and cold.