Uganda’s Top Tourist Destinations
Uganda, the pearl of Africa is blessed with many tourist attractions such as game parks, to physical features, amazing forests, endangered animals, birds and many more, here we bring you the best and most sought after tourist attractions from the top most attractions to the least ones. Muzbag safaris bring you these top sought after safaris destinations.
1. Source of the Nile in Jinja
River Nile is the longest river in world followed by the Amazon River in South America and it flows north of Uganda through Sudan and Egypt into the Mediterranean Sea. The source of the Nile is found in Jinja (South-eastern part of Uganda) and it’s at this point that R. Nile exactly starts from L.Victoria.
The source of the Nile was discovered by John Hanning Speke in 1857 who was a British explorer at the time. While at the Nile young youths will entertain you with culture dances locally known as the “Tamanaibuga”. Also while at the source of the Nile you will see the historical monument of John Hanning Speke who discovered the source of the river Nile, also you will see the monument of Mahatma Gandhi an Indian activist who requested some of his ashes to be poured in R.Nile, this monument was an idea of the Indian community in Uganda in the collaboration with the Indian government.
Tourist activities you can do while at the source of the Nile include:
- boat riding
- sport fishing
- boat riding competitions during a certain season of the year
- Bungee jumping
- Horse back riding
- Village walks
- Mountain bike riding
- Kayaking
- Water Rafting
2. Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Bwindi is a home of over 400 gorillas with unique human like characters, what makes it more interesting is the gorilla habituation experience where the tourists are allowed to spend more time with the gorillas, can do research on them, get to see or know how they play, how they feed and to know more about their behaviors.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park lies in south western Uganda on the border of Congo and Uganda. The park can be accessible from either Kampala-Mbarara-Bushenyi route, or Mbarara-Ntugamo-Rukungiri route and it takes 6-7 hours on the road. You can choose to use a charter plane to fly from Entebbe or from Kajansi airstrip and it lands to Kihihi in Kanungu district on a tarmac airstrip, after landing it takes only an hour’s drive to the park.
The park was reserved as national park in 1991. People travel from different parts of the world to Bwindi to track the unique and endangered gorillas. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is also a home of over 315 bird species like the Stripe-breasted tit, the Black-headed waxbill, the Brown woodland Warbler, the Kivu ground thrush, the Cinnamon Bracken Warbler, the Archer’s Ground Robin, the Banded Prinia, the Olive Pigeon, the Streaky Seedeater and many more. For bird watchers it is really a good place to spot birds. Bwindi also has other primates like chimpanzee, baboons and other animals such as elephants.
Among other interesting things in Bwindi tourists always get a chance to discover the history and culture of the unique Batwa people living with in the Bwindi impenetrable forest. The Batwa people are short Bushmen who live in small huts they build and also live in caves in the forest within Bwindi impenetrable national park.
Tourist activities in Bwindi:
- Gorilla trekking
- Bird watching
- Forest walks
- Visit the Batwa forest people
- See other primates like chimpanzees, Baboons and Monkeys.
3. Queen Elizabeth National Park
Queen Elizabeth National Park is the most visited and most popular national park in Uganda, and one of the things that make Queen Elizabeth National Park popular are the many tree climbing lions in the Ishasha sector which is found south of the park. Tree climbing lions are found only in this park in the whole of Uganda, Queen Elizabeth National Park It is also a home of over 500 bird species like the Dwarf Honey-guide, the Grey Cuckoo-shrike, the Fine Banded Woodpecker, the Western Green Tinker-bird, African Green Broad-bill and many more.
Queen Elizabeth National Park has a wide range of wild life such as lions, elephants, buffaloes, leopards, hippopotamuses, antelopes, chimpanzees, crocodiles, baboons, white and red Colobus monkeys, warthogs and many more. It also has a very interesting boat cruise on Kazinga channel where tourists get to spot view all kinds of animals, the unique and interesting thing on Kazinga channel is that it is the main source of water in the park, this means that most animals come and drink from the same source which makes the boat cruise awesome because you get to see a lot of animals on the banks of the channel while on this boat cruise, it is a very exciting boat cruise you wouldn’t want to miss.
While on this boat cruise be 100% sure of seeing hippos, elephants, birds, crocodiles, dears and antelopes and many more, the boat cruise starts from Mweya peninsular and continues to Kazinga channel. In the middle of Kazinga channel there is a very small peninsula where birds gather which gives an opportunity to tourists to enjoy most bird species from one place. Among other activities you can choose to do while in Queen Elizabeth National Park include visiting the nearby villages, meeting local people.
Tourist activities in Queen Elizabeth National Park:
- Game drive
- Bird watching
- Boat cruise
- Visit a near by local community
4. Murchison Falls National Park
Murchison falls national park is the largest and the oldest national park in Uganda. It is found in the northwestern part of Uganda. One of the most interesting things in Murchison is the narrow gorge through which the Nile passes at a very high pressure turning water white as flows down the falls. It was gazetted as a wildlife reserve in 1926 and Murchison falls has the biggest number of the Nile crocodiles, it also has a good number of animals such as lions, buffaloes, elephants, leopards, hippopotamus, giraffes, baboons, chimpanzees, red and white colobus monkeys, hyenas, waterbucks among others.
Murchison is also a home of over 450 bird species some of which include the rare Shoe bills, the Goliath Heron, the African Darter, the Secretary Bird, the Long Tailed Night-jar, the Standard -Winged Night-jar, the Pennant-Winged Night-jar, the Pied King-Fisher, the Blacked-Billed Wood-Dove which makes it so famous to the birders and many more. While you are on your game drive you can’t miss to spot some of the BIG FIVE ANIMALS i.e. Lions, Leopards, elephants, Buffalo plus chimpanzees in Budongo forest, which makes it more interesting for the tourists. Tourists become more excited when they go for a boat cruise and they enjoy the falls, see animals and birds alongside the river bank.
Murchison is surrounded by good, comfortable and classic hotels like Paraa safari lodge, Fort Murchison falls and Pakuba lodge making it easier for the tourists coming to Murchison falls expecting a good memorable stay. In terms of transport road and air can both be used and on road it takes only 4-5 hour from Kampala the capital city.
- Game drive
- Bird watching
- Boat cruise
- Visit a near by local community
- See chimpanzees in Budongo forest(Part of Murchison falls)
5. Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
Ziwa rhino sanctuary is the only place in Uganda where you can find variety of rhinos in a big population both white northern and southern Rhinos plus black rhinos. It is located north of Kampala in Nakasongola district along the Kampala-Gulu high way that is 3 hours’ drive. Tourists who are interested in rhinos always get a good time at ziwa rhino sanctuary and while at Ziwa professional tour guides will tell you all you need to know about the rhinos.
6. Lake Bunyonyi.
Located in western Uganda Lake Bunyonyi lies between 2 districts namely Kisoro and Kabale. Lake Bunyonyi has many small islands which makes it very beautify to visit, it’s really amazing and nice. At the lake tourists always go for swimming and bird watchers get to spot little/small/young birds around. Lake Bunyonyi has network of many islands and tourists can canoe between islands as an activity. Tourists also get a chance of visiting nearby communities of local people and they interact with them. Making it to be among the interesting places enjoyed by tourists
7. Mabira Forest
Mabira forest is regularly visited because of its bird species. Mabira is the best place to view all kinds of birds in Uganda with approximately 315 bird species. Mabira forest lies in two districts Mukono and Buikwe along Kampala-Jinja high way. Mabira forest which is 58.7kms from Kampala city which makes it the nearest forest to Kampala the capital city making it more accessible to tourists to get all the time to spot all kinds of birds without worrying of anything like time or to worry about the long distance to their place of accommodation. Among the bird species to spot here is the rare Nathan francolin, and others like the black and white mannikin, the chestnut wattle-eye, the red headed malimbe, the hairy breasted barbet, the tambourine dove and many others. Mabira forest is a home of endangered primates’ species that is Uganda Mangabey monkey a species of Old World monkey only found in Uganda. All these make Mabira to be unique destination and ranked to be among the top visited tourist sites in Uganda
8. Kampala (the capital city of Uganda)
Kampala is the most interesting and active city in Uganda because of its beauty, nature, people, climate, local businesses among others. Kampala is situated in the central region of Uganda set on 7 hills and it covers an area of 189km2. Different languages are spoken in Kampala however Luganda, Kiswahili and English are the most spoken languages. Kampala has lots of tourist attractions you can enjoy, they include Bulange-Mengo (Buganda parliament), Kabaka’s palace (Lubiiri), Kasubi tombs, Uganda martyrs catholic shrine -Namugongo, Ndere troupe center, Uganda National Mosque, Uganda Museum, Kabaka’s lake, National Theater, Makerere University, Uganda Parliament, Bahai temple among others.
The city has a lot of financial institutions such as Banks i.e. Barclays bank, Standard chartered bank, Bank of Africa, Equity Bank, Cairo Bank as well as Forex bureaus, local markets, car parks, business buildings and apartments, hotels, universities and many more.
There are a number of shopping centers in city like Shoprite, Acacia mall, game supermarket, mega standard supermarket, freedom city among others where you can buy all necessities you want. There are some places where fresh fruits are sold like Nakasero market, Owino market and many more. Come enjoy the pearl of Africa with Muzbag Safaris.
Kampala city has various means of transport like buses, taxis, special cars hires and motorcycles locally known as boda bodas. There are also plane charters that fly short distances within Uganda and they can be accessed at Kajjansi airstrip a few miles from the city center. Therefore Kampala in terms of transport suits every standard of man who lives in Kampala.
Kampala has the best conclusive hotels like Sheraton hotel, Hotel African, Serena Hotel, Grand Imperial Royal, Grand imperial hotel and many more where every kind of food is prepared both local dishes and international with self-contained accommodation.
There is number of recreation centers with comedy, musicians, sports in places like Lugogo Rugby grounds, Lugogo cricket oval and many others.
9. Buganda parliament and the king’s palace. (Lubiri)
Uganda is a country with many tribes and cultures, but there is this outstanding tribe that is known as the Buganda tribe found in the central part of Uganda. Baganda people have played a very big role to see that their culture doesn’t perish like others. So they have kept their traditional myths, believes, customs, behaviors, culture plus the language known as Luganda, which is the most spoken language in central Uganda today. Tourists come to Buganda kingdom to learn the history of Buganda and see the traditional places. Among the things tourists yarn to see are:
I). Buganda parliament and the Buganda administration building where Kabaka holds his meetings with his administration team. Before it was built, the Baganda used to hold their meetings under trees. After a number of generations they learnt how to construct grass thatched buildings. Later then prime minister ‘Sir Apollo Kagwa” introduced the idea of building with bricks and as time went on Buganda grew. During the 1950’s while in exile in Scotland he admired their way of building where he borrowed the idea of European way of construction which was used to construct the existing building. When you enter into Buganda parliament compound, you will see a monument of Kabaka Muteesa Edward II. Then around reception you will find paintings of the 52 totems of all Buganda clans and a guide is always there to tell you everything about the Buganda.
II). Kabaka’s Palace (Lubiri).
In Buganda kingdom the king is referred to as Kabaka, He lives in a palace locally known as Lubiri. On the main gate of the palace there is afire place which is always burning throughout the year. It is a traditional fire locally referred to as “Ekyoto Kyegombolola”. The care taker of this fire place and tour guides at the palace are always available and ready to talk to the tourists about the mystery of this fire place. Another interesting thing is when you enter the palace there is also Idd Amin’s underground prison where he used to punish people from. (Amin Dada was once a Ugandan president 1971-1979).
There is also a famous KABAKA’S LAKE which the largest man-made lake in Uganda which was constructed during the reign of Ssekabaka Mwanga whose intention was to create a lake that could connect to Lake Victoria so that he could to travel by boat to Lake Victoria from the palace.
10. Kasubi Tombs
Kasubi tombs is the royal ground where the Baganda buried the previous 4 kings namely Muteesa I 1835-1884, Mwanga II 1867-1903, Daudi Chwa II 1896-1939 and Muteesa II 1924-1969.
11. Uganda Martyrs Shrine Namugongo
It is the largest catholic pilgrimage in Uganda where Catholics travel from all around the world every year on 3rd June to come and remember the 22 young men who were executed in the late 18th century on orders of then king Mwanga of Buganda. “The French missionary priest Lourdel, considered that the principle Cause was Mwanga’s feeling of being despised by the literate Christians who claimed a superior knowledge of religion’’. The executioners ensured that victim remains’ turned to ashes. On 3rd June at Namugongo, Tourists enjoys the day so much because they get to see kinds of music and dances from different Ugandan tribes since it is a day where all Ugandans come to gather and celebrate more especially the Catholics.
12. Mountain Rwenzori national park.
It is the third highest mountain in Africa. Tourists prefer Rwenzori national park because of its nature plus the activity of mountain climbing. Bird watchers love Rwenzori national park since it has approximately 241 bird species like the Ladens bushshrike, the white-starred robin, slender-billed starling, Cinnamon-chested bee-eater, the black eagle, the bearded vulture, Rwenzori turaco and many others.
13. Sipi falls
Sipi falls is composed of 3 waterfalls found in the eastern part of Uganda in Kapchorwa with the beautiful cave at the foot of the falls. Sipi falls has the best and amazing falls in eastern Uganda. Tourists always get a chance also to visit Mountain Elgon since it is also found in the same area.
14. Sezibwa falls
Sezibwa falls is found in Mukono district which is located 32 kilo meters along Kampala-Jinja high way. It a Buganda cultural heritage site. Little about this out standing water falls, Buganda people claim that it was born by human being 100 years along. This story attracts many tourist from different countries because it is too difficult to believe. Other activities done here include the viewing beautiful scenery at site, nature guided walk, bird watching because it is also home of various birds species, rock climbing, community walk.
15. Kitagata hot springs
In western part of Uganda we find nature hot springs .Here local people boil eggs from this hot springs, cook. Many local people like over 150 bath in this hot spring believing that they are going to be healed from their diseases and many other things are done from this place
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