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Thinking of a Uganda safari? With the big five and some of the world’s best gorilla and chimpanzee trekking on offer Uganda is a safari destination that has it all. Now is a good time to go, as Uganda has yet to take off as a tourist destination in as large a way as many of it’s neighbours. This means safaris in Uganda can prove good value, with less crowds around when you get to the wildlife. It also has something of ‘the road less travelled’ feel about it.
Uganda is small by African standards at ‘just’ 236,000 km sq, around the same size as Great Britain. The country is lush and a verdant green, with one third of its borders made up of three of Africa’s Great Lakes, and the Victoria Nile running through the center. The East African tropical heat is tempered by an average altitude of 1,000 meters, with the east and west borders featuring significant mountains.
The wildlife in Uganda doesn’t compare favourably in terms of density with it’s East African neighbours Kenya and Tanzania, but it is extremely diverse with over 500 mammal species alone. There are pockets with strong wildlife density – such as Murchison Falls National Park, which is relatively small with exceptional wildlife viewing – but the big safari draw in Uganda is the primate life. Uganda is probably the prime destination in the world for trekking opportunities to see habituated chimpanzee and gorilla families in the wild – a truly memorable experience, and one of the best walking safaris to be found anywhere.
Poaching and deforestation continue to be a problem in Uganda – as in much of the rest of Africa – and a recent oil discovery in Lake Albert has led to encroachment into a small area of Queen Elizabeth National Park. Despite this the general standard of national parks in Uganda is excellent, with good facilities, public transport access and range of lodgings, though infrastructure is not particularly developed. Tourist numbers in Uganda are much smaller than neighboring Kenya or Tanzania, meaning national parks are generally less crowded and offer a more enjoyable and intimate visiting experience.