Destinations & Parks

Guides to Uganda's and Rwanda's national parks, lakes, forests, and towns — what's there, when to go, and how long to give each one.

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Bwindi Impenetrable Forest: The Complete Guide

Home to nearly half the world's mountain gorillas, Bwindi is the reason most people first look at a map of Uganda. The four trekking sectors, the wildlife beyond the gorillas, and how to plan a visit.

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16 guides in this topic

UWEC and Entebbe Botanical Gardens: A Spare-Day Guide

Two lakeshore stops minutes from the airport, and the best answer to the arrival or departure day — especially with children too young for gorilla or chimpanzee trekking.

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Semuliki National Park: The Complete Guide

The eastern tip of the Congo's Ituri forest reaching into Uganda — which is why it holds birds found almost nowhere else in East Africa, and a hot spring that boils eggs.

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Mount Elgon National Park: The Complete Guide

A collapsed volcano with a caldera 40 km across, a 4,321 m summit, and almost nobody on it. The cheapest serious mountain trek in East Africa, and the quietest.

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Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary: The Complete Guide

Uganda's rhinos were wiped out entirely by the 1980s. Ziwa is the rebuild — and the only place in the country where you walk up to a rhino on foot.

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The Ssese Islands: The Complete Guide

Eighty-four forested islands in Lake Victoria, and Uganda's nearest thing to a beach holiday. Honest about what they are, what they aren't, and the bilharzia question.

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Fort Portal & the Crater Lakes: A Traveller's Guide

Tea country under the Rwenzoris, with a field of volcanic crater lakes on the doorstep — several of them swimmable, which almost nowhere else in Uganda is.

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Lake Bunyonyi: The Complete Guide

Terraced hillsides, 29 islands, and Uganda's rare bilharzia-free, crocodile-free lake — the natural place to unwind before or after a gorilla trek. A complete guide to Lake Bunyonyi.

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Mgahinga Gorilla National Park & Golden Monkey Trekking

Uganda's smallest park, where three Virunga volcanoes meet three countries — and the only place in Uganda to trek the golden monkey. A guide to Mgahinga, its volcanoes, and its primates.

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Kampala: A Traveller's City Guide

Almost every Uganda safari begins and ends in Kampala, but the city built across seven hills deserves more than a pass-through. History, top sights, food, and how to spend a day there.

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Queen Elizabeth National Park: The Complete Guide

Savanna, wetland, crater lakes, and forest gorge in one park — Queen Elizabeth has one of the highest mammal counts in Africa. The Kazinga Channel, tree-climbing lions, Kyambura Gorge, and how to visit.

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Jinja & the Source of the Nile: Adventure Guide

Where the world's longest river begins, and East Africa's adventure capital — white water rafting, bungee jumping, and the history of Speke's 1862 discovery. A guide to Jinja and how it fits your trip.

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Kidepo Valley National Park: The Complete Guide

Uganda's most remote national park, and its wildest — cheetah, ostrich, and vast savanna without the crowds. What makes Kidepo different from every other Ugandan park, and how to actually get there.

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Lake Mburo National Park: The Complete Guide

Uganda's smallest savanna park is easy to underestimate — it's the only one with impala, and one of the only ones where you can walk, cycle, and ride horseback among the wildlife. A complete guide.

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Kibale Forest National Park: The Complete Guide

Kibale is the primate capital of Africa, with 13 species in one forest — chimpanzees are only the start. The park's other primates, its birding, the Bigodi Wetland walk, and how to visit.

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Sipi Falls: Hiking, Coffee, and Uganda's Prettiest Waterfalls

On the foothills of Mount Elgon, three waterfalls tumble through coffee-growing hills. Here's how to hike Sipi Falls, tour a local coffee farm, and fit it into a Uganda itinerary.

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Murchison Falls National Park: The Complete Safari Guide

Uganda's largest park, where the Nile explodes through a seven-metre gorge. Game drives, a boat safari to the falls, the wildlife, and how to plan a Murchison Falls trip.

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