Uganda Safaris

Uganda sits on the equator at the meeting point of East African savannah and Central African rainforest, which is why its wildlife list looks different from Kenya's or Tanzania's. Altitude and rainfall keep the country green for most of the year, and much of it is hill country, crater lakes and forest rather than open plain.

Mountain gorillas are the headline. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Mgahinga hold habituated family groups, and trekking permits allow one hour with a family after a walk that can take anywhere from one to six hours through steep, dense forest. It is demanding, strictly regulated and, for most travellers, the single strongest wildlife experience in Africa.

Kibale Forest, further north, has the highest primate density in East Africa — chimpanzees plus red colobus, grey-cheeked mangabey, L'Hoest's monkey and others. Tracking there is easier walking than Bwindi, and the neighbouring Bigodi wetland is excellent for birds.

The savannah parks carry the rest of the trip. Queen Elizabeth spans the Kazinga Channel between two lakes and is known for its tree-climbing lions in the Ishasha sector; Murchison Falls has the Nile compressed into a seven-metre gap before it drops, with boat trips below the falls; Kidepo, remote in the north-east, is the wildest of them all. Uganda is also one of the finest birding countries in Africa, with over 1,000 recorded species.