Uganda’s top 10 destinations great for Uganda safari include two rain forest 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.
Uganda has all the Savannah plains, the rain forest jungles, the snow-capped mountains, and the indigenous African cultures to brag about. Having this entire travel package in one giant private reserve, makes Ugandan people the most modest, welcoming, entertaining, and so much caring hosts.
Queen Elizabeth National Park
Uganda’s most famous safari destinations protect the highest number of animals. 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.
Mweya Peninsula is the park’s primary tourist hub. Reached by a narrow portage separating Lake Edward and the Kazinga Channel. The peninsula enjoys marvelous views in all directions and is home to the park headquarters.
The Kazinga Channel shores provide year-round water for large numbers of birds, reptiles, and mammals. A boat safari (or launch trip) to view this wildlife spectacle is Queen Elizabeth National Park’s most famous and enduring activity. Boat safaris make a 2-hour round trip between the Mweya jetty and Lake Edward, providing opportunities to view up-close crocodiles, elephants, hippo, buffalo, and a wide variety of water birds.
Game drives give chance to explore the plains north of the Kazinga Channel. Large numbers of animals live here but a patchwork of grassland and scrubby thickets can make game viewing challenging especially after the long rains; you will need more time on your safari drive to carefully spot them.
Ishasha sector is home to a superb variety of animal variety. Hippos are common in the Ishasha River that forms the border between DRC and Uganda. Buffalo, Topi, and Kob roam the Ishasha plains, some of which become prey for Leopard and the sector’s most famous residents, the tree-climbing lions.
Bwindi Forest National Park
It protects the world’s most precious jungle jewels, the mountain gorillas. Most popular to international tourists because it’s the most expensive national park in the country.
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is the best place in the world to see mountain gorillas up close. 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.
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 Afro-montane lowland forest extending to well within the montane forest belt.
Murchison Falls National Park, sits on the shores of Lake Albert in north-western 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.
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 shoe bill storks. There is game fishing in the cascades of Karuma Falls.
The River Nile through that park with its teeming hippo and serried ranks of crocodiles on the sandbanks, coupled with large numbers of other species coming down to drink and bathe, in the highlight of a visit to this magnificent park.
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.
Kibale Forest National Park will immediately welcome you by the dew freshness, endemic flowers’ fragrance, and primates’ musty scents. The alien sounds that bounce off your eardrums echo from distant red colobus hoots and exotic birds’ tweets.
In the distance, the sound of forest elephants felling branches along its path gives you an image of what surprise inhabitants you could encounter in this ancient tropical forest. Unexpected visitors leave trails around your forest camp or cottage to inform you that someone is watching when you’re not. Gaze up, and a single scene might capture the iconic and unique as an olive long-tailed cuckoo flies above a small buffalo herd. The spirit of this jungle will make you feel more alive than ever before.
The most popular activity in Kibale National Park is the guided chimpanzee tracking excursion out of Kanyanchu almost as popular is the guided walking trail through the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary, which is probably better for general monkey viewing and one of the finest birding trails in the country.
Lake Mburo National Park is an increasingly common stop on the south-western Uganda safari circuit. It’s the only one of the top 10 Uganda destinations in the southern region where you’ll see zebras, giraffe, and the only park in the country with impalas, slender mongoose, and giant bush rats.
Lake Mburo is also the only protected area of the top 10 destinations in Uganda where visitors can view game animals on foot and horseback. The park harbours several species you may not see easily elsewhere in Uganda.
It is the only reserve in Uganda to support a large population of impala, and one of only three protected areas countrywide where Burchell’s zebra occurs—the other two being the far less accessible Kidepo Valley and Pian Upe.
Other antelope species casual visitors can spot are topi, bush buck, common duiker, oribi, Defassa water buck, and Bohor reed buck. At the same time, the lake and lush fringing vegetation support healthy populations of buffalo, warthog, bush pig, and hippopotamus.
Jinja, Source of the Nile
One of Uganda’s largest towns, Jinja, just about 80km east of Kampala, overlooking the point where the Nile flows out of Lake Victoria (the Source of The Nile), makes it to our top 10 destinations in Uganda because of its overwhelming popularity with local and international travelers. And it is the source of the mighty river rather than the moderately interesting town that attracts visitors to Jinja.
The thrilling series of grade-five rapids below Bujagali Falls, a magnet for adrenaline tourists, has emerged as perhaps the single most popular tourist activity in Uganda, arguably surpassing even the mountain gorillas of the southwest. The rapids attract several adrenaline adventures concentrated in a small radius. It is one of the most spectacular white-water rafting destinations in the world.
Lake Bunyonyi’s exotic landscapes that are a magnet for local and international travelers place it on this list of top 10 destinations in Uganda. Dotted with at least 20 small islands and encircled by steep terraced hills, Bunyonyi is a magical spot. It has been a popular day trip out of Kabale for decades. Over the past few years, the lake has further gained popularity thanks to a proliferation of budget and other campsites and resorts around the small fishing village of Rutinda (also known as Kyabahinga) and nearby islands.
Bunyonyi is a local name translating to “little birds,” which references the prolific weaver colonies along its shore. Larger birds are also represented by grey-crowned cranes, African harrier hawks, and various herons and egrets. Other common sightings include the levillant cuckoo, white-tailed monad, slender-billed baglafetch, cardinal woodpecker, and the African kingfisher.
The lake is large and irregularly shaped with numerous islands and the surrounding hillsides, which locals have beautifully cultivated like parts of Nepal. The area is vibrant with activities like canoeing, cycling, or hiking.
Kidepo Valley National Park
Nestled in the extreme north-eastern corner of Uganda among rugged hills and valleys and off the beaten track, Kidepo National Park is a destination hidden so far away that its beauty has mostly gone unnoticed. Sprawling with expansive Savannah plains, soaring mountains, spectacular landscapes, and great buffalo herds, Kidepo Valley offers one of Africa’s most attractive picturesque Uganda safaris. It sits on a massive 557 sq. mile (1,442 sq. km) rocky semi-arid Karamoja province.
Of all the top ten destinations in Uganda, Kidepo Valley is the most remote and unusual. It is crammed in the north-western corner of Uganda’s border with Kenya and South Sudan, which would take approximately 10 hours to drive 292 mi from Kampala to Kidepo on the newly paved road.
Kidepo National Park offers breath-taking Savannah scenery that ends on a rocky horizon. The park harbours outstanding landscape scenery unrivalled by any other national park in the whole of East Africa, and it features a wide latitudinal array that offers a variety of climatic conditions which support remarkably different vegetation.
Rwenzori Mountains National Park encompasses the legendary Rwenzori Mountains dubbed the mountains of the Moon, where the highest snow-peak in the country (third-highest on the continent) pervades the East African clouds. The ranges are a combination of beautiful peaks, glaciers, Valleys, Rivers, Lakes, and various species of flora and fauna, making the Rwenzori scenic. The stratified vegetation is one of the main attractions for visitors.
The Rwenzori is the highest mountain range in Africa. Its loftiest peaks, Margherita (5,109m) and Alexandra (5,083m) on Mount Stanley are exceeded in altitude elsewhere in Africa only by Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya. Both of which are extinct volcanoes standing in isolation above the surrounding plains. In addition to Mount Stanley, there are four other glacial peaks in the Rwenzori: Mount Speke (4,890m), Mount Emin (4,791m), Mount Gessi (4,715m), and Mount Luigi da Savoia (4,627m).
The Rwenzori Mountains are unique among east Africa’s major peaks in that they are not volcanic in origin. Still, they do rise directly from the Rift Valley floor, and their formation, like that of Kilimanjaro and Kenya, was linked to the geological upheaval that created the Rift.
Entebbe – Kampala
Kampala is linked to Entebbe’s international airport by a smooth-surfaced highway passing through a lush cover of broad-leaved plantains that make for a fascinating introduction to Uganda.
Coming by air, you’ll land at Entebbe International Airport (EBB, 3km from the town centre, and if your main interest is natural history, then you’d be well advised to stay over in Entebbe rather than heading on to the capital.
Kampala is the pulsating heart of Uganda’s cultural and intellectual life, nightlife. It also lies at the international and domestic long-haul bus network hub, making it an attractive base for independent travelers seeking a taste of urban African cultures.
Entebbe’s attractions to see include Uganda Wildlife Education Centre, commonly known as the Zoo, which will give you a great introduction to most of Uganda’s wildlife you’ll find in the countryside.
Lake Victoria, the largest lake on the continent is a good place to start your visit to Uganda. Birders will find the shores rich with unique bird species in places like Botanical Gardens and Mabamba Swamps (for the Shoe bill Storks). Ngamba Islands on Lake Victoria protects orphaned chimpanzees and tourists can visit via a speed boat and even spend a night or two on the island.
Near the airport are a great many places to stay that are a walking distance to shopping malls, local open markets, golf courses, and quaint suburbs for sunset walks and biking experiences.