BEYOND GORILLA TREKKING, WHAT ELSE TO CONSIDER IN 2023 ON A UGANDA SAFARI?
Are you planning for a Uganda tour and you don’t know what to consider? Here are the various touristic attractions that will not only bring memories but also make you keep visiting Uganda again and again. Virunga conservation area is highly visited and is comprised of Volcano national park, Virunga national park and mgahinga national park which are the homes of wildlife giants called mountain Gorillas. Besides Virunga, Bwindi Impenetrable national park is also the best destination for gorillas making the world population census of about 1063 individuals in Uganda, Rwanda and Congo however Uganda inhabits half of the gorilla population.
About Uganda Gorillas.
Uganda is one of the leading destinations for a large number of mountain gorillas in the whole world with 17 gorilla families in Bwindi impenetrable national park and Mgahinga national park. Gorillas are known to be close relative of humans due to 98% DNA. Bwindi inhabits gorilla families in four sectors that is Buhoma, Ruhija, Nkuringo and Rushaga sectors adding up to 19 gorilla families and one more Nyakagezi in Mgahinga national park. Visitors are expected to pack cameras, comfortable hiking boots, hiking sticks, long trousers, long stocking, long t-shirts, rain coat and many more.
Gorilla permits in Uganda costs $700 per foreigner and East Africans and Ugandans pay $70 per person. During tracking, visitors are given only one hour to be with gorillas and children about 15 years are allowed to trek. Visitors tracking gorillas are limited to 8 individuals.
Besides gorilla trekking, there are various other attractions and these include,
Golden monkey tracking
Have you ever met silver with gold creature? While on a Uganda safari, don’t miss out such an amazing golden monkey in Mgahinga national park. Golden monkeys are unique monkeys that are only spotted in Virunga conservation areas in the whole world. To access Golden Monkeys in Uganda, visitors pay $100 per foreigners and before tracking, visitors are briefed by rangers on what to do and shouldn’t do. During golden monkey tracking, visitors have high changes of spotting mountain gorillas of Nyakagezi family individuals.
Chimpanzee tracking and habituation.
Besides gorilla tracking in Uganda, visitors may do Chimpanzee tracking or habituation in kibale national park, kyambura gorge and kalinzu in Queen Elizabeth national park and budongo in Murchison falls national park. Chimps are also known as close relative of humans due to 98% DNA and move in groups of about 60 individuals. Visitors are briefed to take cameras with them for memories on a condition of removing flash lights, told to lower their voices while they with chimps, and many more. During tracking, they are expected to pack cameras, raincoats, comfortable hiking boots, hiking sticks, water and snacks, wear long trousers, long t-shirts and many more.
Game drive
During Uganda safari, one of the things not to miss out besides primate parks is Savannah parks which are the best destination for game drive. Some of these Savannah parks include Queen Elizabeth national park, kidepo valley national park, Murchison falls national park and many more. Game drive is best done early morning hours, evening and night hours to spot early raisers and predators. Some of the mammals spotted include elephants, buffalo, lions, leopards, rhinos, zebras, warthogs, water bucks, bush bucks, mongoose, honey badger, zebras, hippopotamus, crocodiles, and many more. During game drive, visitors also spot various bird species in the park like grey crowned crane, great blue turaco, kingfishers, white egrets, pin tailed whydah, wagtail and many more.
Birding
Uganda is a birding paradise for bird lovers which some of them are endemic birds, woodland birds, Savannah birds, forest birds and migrate birds. Birds are ever moving from one place to another searching for food. Although birding is done annually, there is always the best time for birding and this is in dry season in months of January, February, June, July, August, November and December. However, in rainy season some birds can also be spotted and some of these bird species include hammer kob, grey crowned crane, white egrets, flamingos, handsome francolin, vultures, pin tailed whydah, wagtail, bee eaters, long horned billed bird, owl, kingfishers, great blue turacos, ibis, swallow, spurfowl, wagon, shoebill, bulbul, ring necked bird, and many more.
Nature walks.
Despite the fact that Uganda has multiple of tribes’ surrounding national park, it makes the park the best destination for nature walks for visitors. During nature walk, visitors are led by guides who known to be knowing the best places for visitors to visit like bigodi wetland sanctuary which is located in kibale national park surrounded by batoro tribes who said to be natives and bakiga who are migrates. Nature walks takes about 2-3 hours and visitors will be entertained by the traditional dances, visit traditional doctors who use different herbs as medicine, visitors are taught how to cook local meals, taken to elders for stories and many more.
