This is just but a tot of Uganda’s most spectacular tourist
destinations. The
Western part of Uganda is one beautiful wonderland
gifted with golden grasslands, green tea plantations, hills with terrace
gardens, thick tropical rainforests and a snow peaked Mountain, The Ruwenzori.
There are game parks, game reserves and forest reserves in this region, which
you can visit in only a 2½ hrs drive from Kampala.
The source of the Nile, alluded so
imprecisely in the ancient writings of Ptolemy, posed as one of the immense
geographical mysteries of the Victorian Age. The river below the falls is no
less spectacular in its own way, with its prolific birdlife, thousands of
hippos, and hefty, gape-mouthed crocodiles, the scene and experience is just
incredible
Edged today by the improbable city
of Jinja, the waterfall described by Speke
now lies inundated beneath the Owen
Falls Dam – Uganda’s main source of hydro-electric power. Nonetheless, a
visit to the source of the Nile remains a moving and wondrous experience, no
less so to those who have seen the same river as it flows past the ancient
Egyptian temples of Luxor some 6,000 km downstream.
These gushing water falls along River Nile are such attractions
a visitor to Uganda wouldn't like to miss. Enjoy white water rafting, boat
rides, game viewing and spot fishing in tropical fresh waters arguably not
found else where.
The Murchison Falls National Park
lies at the northern end of the Albertine
Rift Valley, where the bulky Bunyoro escarpment merges into the vast
plains of Acholi land. One of Uganda's oldest conservation areas, it was
initially gazetted as a game reserve in 1926 to protect a savanna that Winston
Churchill described in 1907 as 'Kew
Gardens and the zoo combined on an unlimited scale'.
Dubbed Uganda's most popular National Park and certainly one of its most
scenic, Queen Elizabeth National Park, stretches from the crater-dotted
foothills of the Ruwenzori ranges in the north, along the shores of Lake Edward
to the remote Ishasha River in the South, incorporating a wide variety of
habitats that range from savanna and wetlands to gallery and lowland forest.
Its lush savannah offers prime fields to buffaloes, elephants, various
antelopes and a checklist of over 600 bird species.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
offers some of the finest motane forest birding in Africa and is a key
destination for any birder visiting Uganda. Bwindi is one of the few in Africa
to have flourished throughout the last Ice Age and it is home to roughly half of the world's mountain gorillas. Of
Uganda's forested reserves, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is best known for
its superb gorilla tracking, but it also provides refuge to elephant,
chimpanzee, monkeys and various small antelope and bird species.
Other destinations in western Uganda
include the fabled "Mountains of
the Moon" - the Ruwenzori’s, Mgahinga National Park - Uganda's smallest and probably most scenic, Semliki national park
which offers a
mosaic of different habitats with some excellent birding opportunities and a
not-to-be-missed boat rides. Others are Lake Mburo national park, Kibale
National park and Katonga Wildlife sactuary
Kibale National park is an extensive biodiversity National Park,
protecting large block of rainforest birding. It harbors the greatest variety
and concentration of primates found anywhere in East Africa.
As the most accessible of Uganda's
major rainforests, Kibale is a home for over 13 remarkable primate species,
including L'Hoest's and red colobus monkey. The elusive forest elephant –
smaller and hairier move seasonally into the developed part of the park.
Superb birds and primates combined
with easy access, good infrastructure and a variety of interesting activities
make this forest a worthwhile destination. Visit any of these superb western Uganda’s
destinations and discover the beauty of African wonderlands!
Peter K.
Philip
Adventure Kenya camping safaris,
Natural
Track Safaris
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