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Facts & Information about Uganda
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Famously
known as the "Pearl of Africa", courtesy of William
Churchill, this smallest country in East Africa is known for its
scenery. Also famous for its gorilla populations, the largest
in Africa, birdlife and for its national parks and other natural
attractions.
For all this however, Uganda does not match the diversity of the
wildlife found in Kenya and Tanzania, and the
infrastructure is less developed. |
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Queen
Elizabeth National Park |
| Located
in the South Western part of Uganda, and covering approximately 2000sq.km,
this beautiful park once hosted herds of elephant, buffalo and other herbivores
in addition to the occassional lion. However, the wildlife was decimated
during the civil war ad is just currently recovering. |
| Kazinga
Channel Launch Trip |
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popular tour in this park is the boat trip up this channel whereone
can spot thousands of hippos, birds and other
river wildlife. You may also be lucky and spot elephant and lion. |
| Nature
Walks |
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The
Maramagambo forest, in the South Eastern part of the park, provides for
excellent nature walks. |
| Kyambura
Gorge |
| This
beautiful gorge, in the Eastern corner of the park, is home to various
primates and plenty of birdlife. Walking safaris can be arranged starting
at the ranger post at the Gorge. |
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Formerly known as the 'Impenetrable Forest', the park covers over
300sq.km, and is home to one of the largest surviving populations
of the Mountain Gorilla, numbering about 320 individuals.
Although
the site of an infamous kidnap incident involving tourists in
1999, security is now significantly improved and the park is considered
by many as safe for travel. With more than 350 species of birds,
including several endemic and endangered species, this park is
also a ornithologist's delight.
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| Forest
Walks - There
are some interesting walks in the area surrounding the park headquarters
at Buhoma. |
| Muzabijiro
Loop Trail : A 3 hour walk
with stunning views of the Virunga volcanoes and the Rift Valley in Congo. |
| Waterfall
Trail : A 3 hour round trip
walk which takes you to a 30m waterfall on the Munyanga River. |
| Munyanga
River Trail :
This relaxed half hour trek is outside the park, although surrounding
the park headquarters.
For more information on the park, please contact
us. |
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| This
260sq.km park is dominated by the 5 lakes here, the biggest being Lake
Mburo. The vegetation is generally savannah with scattered bush and acacia
trees. Wildlife in the park includes animals which you are unlikely to
see in other Ugandan parks, such as eland, topi, roan antelope, impala
and the more usual zebra, hippo and buffalo. |
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Murchison
Falls National Park |
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Located
in the Northern part of Uganda, this is the largest park in the
country and is recovering well from the poaching that reduced
the wildlife population of the 1960's. Wildlife ranges from few
lions to much larger numbers of elephant, buffalo and hippo.
However,
the Murchison Falls are a superb attraction and are said to be
the biggest spectacle along the 6700km length of the Nile River.
Launch Trip : This 3 hour trip starts from Paraa and
reaches the base of the falls. Daily scheduled departures are
at 9am and 2pm depending on demand. |
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Budongo
Central Forest Reserve
Located
just south of Murchison Falls Park, this smaller park is a good place
for birdwatching and Chimpanzee tracking.The ' Royal Nile', a stretch
of the forest, is known as the best place in Uganda to see some of the
350 species of bird here. |
Kidepo
Valley National Park
Located
in the extreme North East of Uganda, in an unstable area, this park offers
some of the best scenery in Uganda and is home to animals not usually
found in other Ugandan parks, such as cheetah. Other wildlife includes
predators, such as lion and leopard, elephant and other herbivores such
as zebra and buffalo. |
The
Nile - Jinja
Jinja, on the shores of Lake
Victoria,is a significant but quiet town, where most tourists come to
see the source of the mighty Nile River. The town is also a base for white
water rafting. Other places of interest around Jinja include the beautiful
Bujagali Falls, where it is also possible to camp. |
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Kampala |
| The
capital of Uganda, this lush green city is built on 7 hills and gives
off a certain vibrance day and night. By and large, safe to walk around,
visitors often find it welcoming and relaxing to be here, not least because
of the friendliness of the people. |
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Things
to do |
| Cultural
: A good place to visit is
the Uganda Museum, although it could have more in way of exhibits. The
Kasubi Tombs are also worth a visit. Constructed in 1881, the buildings
contain the tombs of the kings or 'Kaballas' of the Buganda tribe. |
| Activities
: White Water Rafting ranging from
one to three day trips and longer, start from outside Jinja on the Nile,
and offer varying degrees of difficulty, including class 5 rapids. |
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| Just
approximately 40kms from Kampala, is this newly grown forest, just over
50 years old. Known for its birds, monkeys and butterflies, the reserve
is a nice break for those in Kampala who may have a day or less to spare. |
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This
park covers the mountain upto the Kenyan border and is relatively
new. The mountain is an extinct volcano with diverse vegetation
zones and a range of fauna and flora. A challenging mountain to
trek, it is also rewarding as it is less frequented compared to
Mount Kenya or Kilimanjaro. Established routes are few and can
still be challenging to follow due to adverse conditions even
during the dry season. Best time to climb is from December to
late March. |
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Accommodation |
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| Uganda
offers a host of hotels and accomodation options. For more information
on hotels in Uganda, please Contact us. |
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| Uganda
enjoys equatorial weather conditions ranging from the warmth of the lowlands
to the coolness of the highlands. Certain parts of the country are fairly humid while others get higher than average rainfall, mainly during the rainy seasons. Mean emperatures are between 21c to
31c all year round. Wet seasons are March - May, October - November. There
are no climate extremes such as very hot summers or very cold winters and even during the rainy season there are still some sunny intervals. |
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