Uganda had always been on the list. The list of places that I had to explore before infrastructure and tourism took over, surrounding every inch of landscape with foreign nationals. Uganda certainly holds its head high as an active player in the tourism industry with many people looking to explore the spectacular views of the Rift Valley or the fast flowing contours of the River Nile.
In October 2019, I had made the decision to move departments at work, hoping to specialise more in primates, following my passion. I decided the best way to celebrate this move, would be to organise a trip that was very heavily based around viewing primates in the wild. A quick google search telling me there would be nowhere better than Uganda, home to around 20 different primate species.
We booked the flights very last minute! For a very reasonable price of £397. If organising your own trip to Uganda, I would recommend going in January/February time, as that's when the rainy season ends. However we had decided to ignore all advice and go during the start of the rainy season.
It was an experience to say the least. Luckily, taking part in many trips over the last few years with substandard roads, Nick's driving skills had vastly improved. (No repeats of Costa Rica, yet!). There were however a few moments that I contemplated looking to religion. When you're navigating between a broken down bus and a vehicle currently sliding down the side of a very steep cliff face, in the midst of a sudden downpour, you need all the help you can get. We landed in Kampala, Entebbe at around 5:00am and after a short wait for the car rental company, we met with Isaac and headed off to our first destination. Isaac was a brilliant guide and translator and helped us through the first few days of our trip. (We used Roadtrip Uganda for the car hire, I would highly recommend).
Our first destination was Mabamba swamp, this unique wetland is about an hours drive from Kampala, It it the best area to spot the prehistoric looking Shoebill. Several hours were spent quartering the streams and inlets throughout Mabamba swamps to no avail, then as we started to head back, we saw a pair of large grey silhouettes fly over head and land in the distance. Our boat managed to squeeze its way down a narrow channel, with both guides paddling their way through the undergrowth, just creeping forward enough for us to get an exceptional view.
Both animals were courting, chattering their jaws and bowing their heads, it was an experience I'll never forget! We stopped and waited as quietly as possible, watching them for around 20 mins, before leaving them in peace. A few minutes after leaving , they took off overhead once again. As well as the few resident Shoebills, the wetland is home to over 300 species of bird but also to some mammals such as otters. It was a magnificent place with spectacular views.
From Mabamba we journeyed another 3 or so hours to Mityana. A great destination for some of Africa's most deadly snakes, drawing in herpers from around the globe. Isaac worked as a translator here to arrange a meeting with Nssugu (not sure I spelt that right) a local man with great reputation for his snake spotting skills. We spent 3 and a half days in Mityana in search of some of Uganda's most venomous and had a few lucky sightings. Although, as it was wet season it was very difficult to get close enough to photograph the snakes, the surrounding areas were almost completely saturated. Also it was HOT! And high temperatures equal very quick snakes...
After a few relentless days searching Mityana, we dropped off Isaac and Nssugu and decided to go it alone for the rest of the journey. Our aim? To make it to Bwindi Impenetrable reserve, home of the Mountain Gorilla. Bwindi is roughly a 9 hour drive if you have good weather and a good sense of direction. But remember, we were in rainy season, meaning you can almost guarantee broken down cars/trucks and washed away roads. We decided it would be best to make a pit stop at Lake Mburo for 2 nights to break up the journey. I would definitely suggest doing this if you are self driving.
The rental car companies will advise you to use Maps.me or potentially google maps, and we did just that, switching between both as and when we needed. Cross referencing the roads that you will traverse and your destinations with an actual road map, is the best way to go about it. This worked for the majority of the trip.
However I will make one recommendation.... STICK TO THE MAIN ROADS!
Please, if you value your life, do not take the quickest route or use anything that resembles a side road, especially if you cannot find that road on the map provided by Roadtrip Uganda. You WILL NOT make it! We managed to take a small detour from Mityana to Lake Mburo through the beautiful countryside, passing farm houses and watching the road slowly narrowing until it resembled no more than a footpath. This made me fearful enough until that footpath turned into a rocky patch of thin undergrowth that made its way down a vertical slope. I have never been so concerned for my life and my face wasn't keeping any secrets at that point. Have you ever shut your eyes and waited for a moment to be over? How about for 30 minutes, whilst regretting all life choices that had been made in the previous hour. Just don't do it. Use the bright yellow, thick lines that represent the main highways. Besides, you will get to your destination quicker that way, as you can actually travel at the appropriate speed, rather than wasting your time driving for 3 hours to then debate whether or not you should just turn back.
This was one of the better roads we travelled along... They ended up half the width. Finally we had made it from the back roads of the Ugandan countryside, onto the main highway and we were on track to reach Lake Mburo before sunset. It is recommended that if you are driving alone in Uganda, you shouldn't drive in the dark. We were under the impression that we had given ourselves adequate time to get to Hyena Hill Lodge before sunset, but after a stop off for petrol and the navigation of those treacherous roads, it had started to get dark. It was around 7:30 pm by this point. (6 hours after leaving Mityana) when we finally saw the sign post for Hyena Hill Lodge and pulled off onto our final dirt track of the day. As soon as the car hit the rocky road, the lights, the engine and the power all stopped. Suddenly everything was pitch black...
We had no idea what had happened, but threw around some general car terms. Perhaps it had overheated? Maybe the battery had run flat? Who knows, neither of us are mechanics. Oh and did I forget to mention that there was no phone signal... Also its called Hyena Hill Lodge for a reason (but I'll leave that up to your imagination). Luckily we had manged to brake down directly next to a small farmhouse and within a few minutes an older gentleman and his kids came out to investigate.
The 3 children, all between 5-10 had managed to point us in the direction of the lodge. It was just up the hill, a 5 minute walk perhaps? Nick started his ascent whilst I waited by the car. About half way up the hill he managed to get signal and called the accommodation. They couldn't have been more helpful, driving down to pick us up and collect our luggage. Within half an hour of arriving, we heard a peculiar sound. Haunting echo's cascaded their way over the valley. We asked the manger of the hotel what could possibly be making that sound as we had never heard it before, to which he responded "That's why they call this Hyena Hill..". We were gobsmacked. Neither myself or Nick had ever heard the cries of a Hyena before.
Here is a link to the accommodation we stayed at: https://www.hyenahilllodge.com/
I awoke at 3:00am to the same daunting cries. The video below is a recording of the sound, but you might have to turn the volume up to maximum to be able to hear it.
That night we had managed to get hold of RoadTrip Uganda and by 8:00am the next morning a mechanic was already on the case fixing the car. Turns out the battery had come loose. Luckily we had a full day to drive round Lake Mburo, ensuring the car was in working order before another long drive. Again we couldn't have asked for more from RoadTrip and that was the last of our car troubles.
We had some wonderful sightings in Lake Mburo, including a mass gathering of vultures around a recently deceased Burchell's zebra carcass. Although once again, without proper navigation, it can be difficult to navigate the national parks so go easy, take your time. Maybe even buy a map? Each national park has a map dedicated specifically to the park itself and there is a map that covers all of the national parks in one, I took away a few of these as souvenirs myself as they were wonderful!
After Lake Mburo we made the long drive to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Reserve. Funnily enough there isn't much I can say about this experience, except that it's amazing, a real Dian Fossey moment. Everything happened so quickly, it was all over before it had even started. But I'm sure you would have already guessed that. It only took a few hours of trekking in some adequate conditions (I've been in worse). There are porters if you would like someone to carry your bags. Porters are made up of locals from the surrounding communities, some working their way up to being trackers and guides. You aren't obliged to get a porter, but you do need a guide and a guard with you (to keep the forest elephants at bay). So I would recommend bringing some smaller change in order to give a tip at the end of your experience.
We were based in the Southern part of Bwindi, Rushaga There are 4 options to choose from when booking onto a gorilla tracking experience. Buhoma, Ruhija, Nkuringo and Rushaga. Each offers a slightly different experience, some offering longer treks, others more scenic view points and some with a larger number of habituated groups. Each one varies with its tourist infrastructure. We tracked the Mishaya group for around an hour before settling in to watch them. If you aren't able to walk as far for whatever reason, you can ask to trek to one of the closer groups and the guides are very accommodating. As it was the low season, none of us headed too far.
On arrival to the base camp you are split into groups of 5 or 6 individuals before setting off. Any more people per group and it wouldn't have felt so personal. There are two experiences on offer at Bwindi for the Gorillas. Firstly the gorilla habituation experience, where you can spend most of the day with the troop. Then there's the gorilla trekking, where you get to spend an hour with them. The latter being the cheaper option at $600 (2019 pricing). We opted for the second option, spending around an hour with the troop of gorillas, although going all that way, I do kind of wish I had chosen the very expensive habituation experience, because why not I guess. For the most part, due to the slightly wetter weather conditions, the troop were in the tree tops foraging for food. But during the last 5 minutes of our encounter, they decided to come down to ground level where we managed to get some impeccable views of them interacting with one another. We still kept a distance of around 6 meters as seen in the photo below with the female mountain gorilla.
In our spare time, we explored the grounds of our accommodation looking for chameleons. If you cant find them yourself, why not ask someone working at the accommodation, they will be well in tune to spotting the local wildlife. Our accommodation was called Nshongi Camp. It was basic, probably one of the cheaper accommodations in the area and literally on the border of the forest. The site was in the middle of building two new self contained rooms with en suite bathrooms, but I'm not sure when they will be finished. Our room had 2 beds with access to a separate shower and toilet block, however the showers were delightfully warm, so we couldn't complain at all. Also the food was very good! I didn't have much luck contacting them in advance so we just decided to take our chances and turn up, luckily we were received with open arms and there was plenty of room.
After Bwindi we headed north to the Ishasha sector in Queen Elizabeth National Park. QENP spans across the border of Uganda and into the Democratic Republic of Congo, so be careful not to take a wrong turn en route. We decided to make the most of what the park had to offer by camping. After all, we had rented camping gear alongside our car for an extra 5 euros per person per day. I would highly recommend stopping for supplies before camping, as there aren't many food options once inside the park. We ate a lot of packet noodles, which was sustenance enough for a few days. The views in QENP are out of this world and nothing beats the sound of elephants, hyenas, leopard, hippos and lions moving around the campsite at night. Just be careful where you set up tent, not too close to the river banks as the hippos make their way onto land at night and you wouldn't want to be in their way.
We spent a night camping in the Southern half of QENP (Ishasha) before moving north to cover the Mweya peninsular and then over to the Kasenyi plains. I would recommend giving yourself almost a week in QENP to cover its entirety, as each area offers something different. Our first campsite was Ishasha River Camp (UWA), it did not disappoint. As the sun started to set all of a sudden the place was bustling with wildlife. We saw hornbills, colobus, hippos, red monkeys and many bird species as well as the infamous tree climbing lions during our daily game drives.
We spent 2 nights in Mweya at campsite 3, located about 500m from to the Tembo Canteen. The food at the Tembo canteen was decent but allow plenty of time, they are in no rush. Here we saw the habituated banded mongoose, birds, spitting cobra's and more large mammals, including a hippo with its calf that came to graze by our tent at night. We spent one of our afternoons on the Kazinga channel Ferry, which offers a different viewing opportunity for some of the large game in the park.
We ventured over to the Kasenyi Plains for big cat game viewing. Kasenyi is notorious for its sightings of Lions and Leopards, also offering night drives. From there, we headed north once more towards Kibale National Forest. In my mind, Kibale was the number one destination for me, the primate hub of Uganda. We had allowed ourselves 3 nights in Kibale to maximise our chances of seeing as many of its primate as possible. Kibale is home to 12 species of primate including:
Chimpanzees
L'Hoest monkeys
Olive Baboons
Blue Monkeys
Black and White Colobus
Ugandan Red Colobus
Red-tailed Monkeys
Ugandan Mangabeys
Vervet Monkeys
Galago
Dwarf Galago
Potto
We had already been lucky enough to see 5 of the species on this list and were not necessarily targeting nocturnal species. We were looking for Chimps, Blue monkeys, Red Colobus and Ugandan Mangabeys. Luckily we managed to get decent sightings of 5 species, 3 of which were found on the main road heading into Kibale on our first day. Driving the main road into Kibale at around 3:00pm seems to give great results. We did this for two days and also managed to spot the Blue monkey on the same road. The easiest way to find the primates is to look for movement in the trees. Red-tailed monkeys are very vocal creatures and give away their location pretty easily. Often you can find red-tailed monkeys following or even interacting with a group of colobus, as seen below.
The main way to see chimps is to go on the chimp trekking tour held from the forest headquarters, which will set you back around $150 per person. I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy this tour as you venture out in groups only to then come back together once the chimps have been spotted. We ended up with what appeared to be over 30 people all standing around and chatting very loudly, whilst we were trying to watch the wildlife. Not sure that I would do this again, especially as there are alternative places for the same activity.
However one thing I would definitely recommend in Kibale is a trip to Bigodi swamp. There appeared to be more primates living here, than in the forest itself and if you are extremely lucky, the chimps have been known to venture into the area too.
We cut our time in Kibale short by one day, after breezing through our target species list and decided to make our way towards Murchison Falls. Over the last year, infrastructure into Murchison Falls has increased. It seems to have gone from one extreme to another; from wet, eroding dirt roads to 8 meter wide highways. Each road has been designed to carry mining trucks and other large machinery to the national park which is devastating in itself. Although it makes the journey easier, it has decimated the local landscape and there are rumours of the national park also being mined, which will have horrendous impacts on the local wildlife populations.
Murchison Falls National Park is expansive, covering just under 4,000 square kilometres, it is by far Uganda's largest national park. It is home to the Murchison or Kabalega falls, where Lake Albert and Lake Kyoga meet at the Victoria Nile squeezing through a mere 7 meter gap. It is considered to be the most powerful waterfall in the world and is a sight to behold. You can view it from a boat trip or hike to the top of the falls.
As well as the stunning scenery, Murchison Falls National Park is home to some incredible wildlife and has ample camping opportunities (although the toilets and showering facilities aren't as nice as Queen Elizabeth National Park).
After a brilliant few weeks, we made the long drive back to Kampala to stay at the ViaVia guesthouse (Highly recommend) for some last minute relaxing, good food and a few beers. They also covered the basics like helping organise a taxi to take us to the airport and a breakfast to take with us.
Self Driving Note: They say when driving in Uganda, keep some small change ("Water") aside for the police as you will get pulled over. Up until Murchison Falls, we had only been pulled over once, and we were going slightly over the speed limit, so entirely our fault. However on our road from Murchison Falls back to Kampala, we were stopped 4 or 5 times. To be honest I lost count, as well as starting to lose my temper. It is a very long, straight and well travelled road, so there is ample opportunity to get pulled over. We found out that if we stayed relatively close to the car in front, it gave the police less time to notice that there was a white person driving and by that point they didn't have much time to stop you. So just stick to the speed limits and accept that you will get pulled over on the tourist roads!
We played ignorant a few times, pretending we only had actual water, which they of course didn't want (as they won't outright ask you for money) and the police spewed off a few different lines of ..."You aren't allowed to drive over here, you need a driver..." and "You can't take our currency back home with you, leave it with us...". All in all, don't feel intimidated they are still pretty friendly. Play dumb on occasion as it does work. And if you do still have to pay, keep some smaller notes aside. Do not reach into your purse/wallet and advertise how much cash you have on you. Also best to keep your driving license to hand just in case. All in all, a fantastic country with spectacular national parks and phenomenal wildlife!
Below is a link to the Ugandan Wildlife Authority Website and the price tariff for 2020-2022. (This includes park entry, camping, vehicle fees, guides etc).
If you want to see more photos from this trip, you can find them on the photography showcase page...
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