Uganda is a unique destination that offers many fantastic experiences you will remember for the rest of your life. The country is mostly famous for its wildlife, but it has more to offer. Seeing the apes like gorillas and chimpanzees is just fantastic. Keep reading if you want to see what you can do in this green country.

1. Walk along rhinos in Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

At first, I was skeptical about this park, but it was absolutely fantastic. You will drive to the main reception. On the way you can find vervet monkeys, bushbucks, and some more wildlife. You will meet a ranger, and he will give information and will tell you the rules. After 15 minutes you will drive to a place, and then you will go by foot. Often it is a small walk, and then you find yourself very close to the rhinos. It is so magical seeing these ancient animals so close to you on foot. They are magical, and the scenery is more natural than I expected. This is a great thing to do in Uganda!

Tourist occurrence: Low

How to get here: The drive is 4 hours from Kampala

How much time needed: 1-3 hours, depending on having lunch here or not.

2. Find many wildlife in Murchison Falls

Murchison Falls National Park is one of the best places to find wildlife in Uganda. It has a huge population of buffaloes, hartebeest, and Uganda kob. Besides, there are good chances to find elephants, giraffes, lions, many birds, and more. We were lucky enough to also find 2 leopards. You can also take a boat on the Nile and try to find hippos, crocodiles, monitor lizards, and more. Do not miss visiting the falls itself. 

Tourist occurrence: Low

How to get here: The drive is 6-7 hours from Kampala

How much time needed: 2-3 days to experience the whole park.

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3. Enjoy a rolex

That is not a watch, you might think? No, a rolex is a traditional dish from Uganda. It is chapati with an omelette rolled in it. The omelette consists of vegetables. It is a tasty dish, and you can eat it as street food or in a restaurant. Of course, this is not close to other highlights, but do not leave Uganda without trying one of these.  

4. Find chimpanzees in Kibale Forest

For most people seeing chimpanzees in Uganda is one of the highlights of the trip. It was one of mine as well, because seeing a wild chimpanzee a couple of meters from you is something so unique. You will first get some information and get into a group of 6-8 tourists before heading into the forest. The hike is not too hard, as it is pretty flat. This experience is unbelievable and should always be on your itinerary. Do not skip this!

Tourist occurrence: High

Price: $ 250

How to get here: The drive is 6-7 hours from Kampala

How much time needed: Around 3 hours, but it can be shorter or longer. You are allowed to be one hour around the chimpanzees.

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5. Find monkeys and birds in the Bigodi Swamp

The Bigodi Swamp is located very close to the Kibale Forest. You can do a lovely hike for a couple of hours to find many birds and monkeys. There are eight species of monkeys to find: Uganda red colobus, vervet monkey, olive baboons, blue monkeys, l'Hoest's monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys, red-tailed monkeys, and black & white colobus. We found the last 3 species, and I noticed that the guides were a bit disappointed with that number (I was not). Besides, we saw many great birds, with the locally common blue turaco as a highlight.

Tourist occurrence: Very low

How to get here: 10 minutes drive from Kibale Forest

How much time needed: Around 2 hours.

6. Experience different community purposes

After Bigodi we did a tour, where we had three different community experiences. First we had some coffee and watched it being made. The next one was a woman-only community that tries to conserve the traditions of the two tribes by selling crafts and singing. The last one is the Banana Men, who make beer and gin out of bananas. These are not my favorite things to do in Uganda, but I was more skeptical at first because I thought it would be more touristic and demanding, as it often is in Kenya and Tanzania.

Tourist occurrence: Very low

How to get here: 10 minutes drive from Kibale Forest

How much time needed: Around 2 hours in total.

7. Enjoy safari in the Mweya sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth National Park is divided into several sectors, and the most visited is the Mweya sector. It has a good abundance of wildlife. You can do a lovely game drive, where I found lions, a leopard, elephants, antelopes, warthogs, many birds, and hyenas. The highlight is to do a boat tour, where you can find hippos, crocodiles, Nile monitors, birds, buffaloes, and many more. You will get very close to the wildlife in the boat. This is a great sector to discover. 

Tourist occurrence: Low

How to get here: 3 hours from Kibale Forest and 4 hours from Bwindi.

How much time needed: 2-3 days.

8. See more chimpanzees in the Kyambura Gorge

Between the sectors of Queen Elizabeth there is the overlooked Kyambura Gorge, where there is a group of around 35 chimpanzees. First of all, the scenery is absolutely fantastic, as it is a forest in a gorge with a river throughout the gorge. You will hear hippos and other wildlife while being there. The highlight is the chimpanzees. There is a very high chance of finding them. A nice thing in comparison to Kibale Forest is that there are way fewer tourists. We were the only group, with a total of 4 tourists. This was one of the absolute highlights of Uganda.

Tourist occurrence: Very low

Price: $ 100

How to get here: 1 hour from Mweya and 2-3 hours from Ishasha sector. 

How much time needed: Around 3 hours.

9. Spot lions in trees in Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park

The Ishasha sector is the quieter area of Queen Elizabeth, and that is surprising. The area is nice to discover, as there is a good chance of driving there alone. We found much wildlife, like elephants, hippos, many antelopes, a leopard, buffaloes, Nile monitors, warthogs, and many birds (including a very rare sighting of a shoebill stork). The most sought-after animal is lions, who tend to climb into trees here, and I was lucky enough to find them. This is a nice add-on experience after Mweya. 

Tourist occurrence: Very low

How to get here: 3 hours from Mweya and 2 hours from Bwindi. 

How much time needed: 1-2 days

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10. Watch mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

For a lot of people the reason for visiting Uganda is Bwindi to find mountain gorillas. And for a reason, because I do not want to exaggerate, but this is one of the best experiences I have had in my life. We had to hike for about 2-3 hours to get to them, but it was so worth it. Seeing these impressive gentle giants so close is impressive. The silverback was 10 centimetres from me, and wow! The group consisting of 6 individuals also walked through the forest, so we had different experiences. It was one of the best days of my life. Note that the hike can be strenuous, but there are different levels, which I will talk about on a different page (see below).

Tourist occurrence: High

Price: $ 800

How to get here: 4 hour from Mweya and 12 hours from Kampala. 

How much time needed: Depends on the group visiting. You can stay 1 hour with the gorillas. The can take 1-8 hours. 

11. Do different activities at Lake Mburo National Park

Lake Mburo surprised me a lot! The park may not have the number of species (especially big cats and elephants are absent), but it is very relaxed, and the population of antelopes and zebras is impressive. Besides Kidepo, it is the only place in Uganda which has zebras. The interesting thing about this park is that there is a good range of activities you can do, like horseback riding (I do not recommend riding animals), boat tours, walking safaris, mountain biking and a night game drive. I absolutely recommend staying here for a while and having a relaxed ending to the trip.

Tourist occurrence: Low

How to get here: 6 hours from Bwindi and 5 hours from Kampala. 

How much time needed: 1-2 days

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12. Find shoebill storks in the Mabamba Swamp

The Mabamba Swamp, located on the northwestern shore of Lake Victoria, is a birding paradise! There are many species to discover, like saddle-billed storks, jacanas, and kingfishers, but the absolute highlight is the shoebill stork. This was the bird I wanted to see the most in the world, and this is one of the best in Africa and the best in Uganda. You will go on a boat and move through the cool swamp, where you will see many birds. The goal is finding the shoebill, and you will go there. 

Tourist occurrence: Low

How to get here: 1 hour from Kampala. 

How much time needed: 2-3 hours

13. Cross the equator on two locations

You can visit two places in Uganda, where you cross the Equator. One is close to Queen Elizabeth National Park (photo on the left), and the other is between Lake Mburo National Park and Mbamba Swamp (photo on the right). On the latter one there is a man showing the differences between the currents of the water, which are cool, but you have to pay.

Tourist occurrence: Very low

How to get here: On the route between Kibale Forest and Queen Elizabeth and the other is next to te between Lake Mburo and Kampala.

How much time needed: 10-15 minutes

Note that Point 4 (Kibale Forest), 5 (Bigodi Swamp), and 6 (communities) are very close to each other and not visible properly on this image. 

Things I have not done, but could be interesting

I only visited the west and the south of Uganda, so the north and east are some parts I want to discover. The most important ones to visit throughout the country that I missed are:

• Kidepo Valley (possibly the best safari destination of Uganda)
• Sipi Falls (very good hike opportunities
• Jinja (a relaxed town close to the Nile River)
• Lake Bunyonyi and Mahinga National Park (Gorgeous area and doing gorilla and golden monkey tracking)

Final Thoughts

Uganda surprised me in so many ways. The country has a lot of great people and many amazing things to do. Seeing gorillas and chimpanzees so close were experiences I would never forget. Besides the safaris, there are a lot of colourful birds and different types of activities for safaris. Uganda is a very good contender for my favourite country in the world.

If you want to know more about Uganda, please check out: