When I was young, my parents shifted from our ancestral home to another place as well as traveling for business work. During my vacation, I got a chance to travel with them for business issues in kasese district. The district neighbors Queen Elizabeth national park which is a famous second largest and oldest park in Uganda. During the weekends on Sunday, my parents used to drive me to the park for game drive where I spotted various mammals like Elephants, Buffalos, mongoose, hippopotamus, lions, leopards, Uganda kobs, warthogs and various bird species like grey crowned crane, great blue turaco, wagtail, long horned billed bird, flamingos,ring necked bird and many more.
Such an amazing creatures opened my eyes and sparked a long-life passion of exploring and traveling in not only Uganda but also the rest of the world. After the business season was done in kasese district,I resumed high school where I was passionate in Tourism from what I have seen in queen Elizabeth national park as I explored other national parks on a Uganda safari.
When I reached at the university, I decided to persue Bachelor of Tourism and Hostel management so that i can be exposed into the tourism world of exploring Uganda and other amazing attractions.
Some of the national parks I have explored on a Uganda safari besides Queen Elizabeth national park include
Murchison falls national park.
Murchison falls national park is the largest and oldest park in Uganda covering an area 3983sqkm. The park lies in western part of Uganda and famously known for having the most powerful falls in the whole world. However, the park is the best destination for big five mammals like Elephants, Lions, Leopards, Rhinos and Buffalos. It is also the birding paradise for bird lovers where various bird species are spotted like great blue turacos, grey crowned crane, kingfishers, long horned billed bird, shoebill and many more.
Murchison falls national park can be accessed either by air or by road transport from Kampala. By road the park can be reached out using two gates which are Tangi and Paraa gates taking about 7-9 hours respectively from Kampala. Whereas by air, visitors will fly from Entebbe international airport to either chobe airstrip or pakuba airstrip.
Bwindi Impenetrable national park.
It was 2019 when I hit the road from Kampala to Bwindi Impenetrable national park in Rushaga sector purposely for gorilla trekking. Bwindi forest park is located in south western part of Uganda neighboring Virunga conservation area which is comprised of mgahinga national park, Virunga national park and volcano national park. Since I was a Ugandan, I paid gorilla permit at $70 and was given only one hour to be with gorillas however gorilla permit costing of the foreigners differs by paying $700 per person.
when I used to see gorillas on internet, I never felt the human nature as they used to be recorded by researcher until I saw them with my eyes and indeed, they deserved to be 98% DNA humans. The trekking in the thick forest of Bwindi is an amazing experience because of singing birds and various bird species while searching for gorillas. At the end of the trekking, I was given a certificate for trekking which I never expected in fact it motivated me to keep going to other sectors like Ruhija, Buhoma and Nkuringo, as well visiting Nyakagezi gorilla family in mgahinga park.
Mgahinga national park.
During post covid, I also traveled to Mgahinga national park purposely to see golden monkeys where silver meets gold. It is an interesting unique creature that is not spotted in any other parks in Uganda. It took me about 8-9 hours to reach Mgahinga park from Kampala using private vehicle taking Masaka- Mbarara -Kabale route. While on the way to the park, I spotted Lake Mburo national park where I spotted giraffes, zebras, Uganda kobs, Equator, Lake Bunyonyi in swiss of Africa and beautiful tropical forest of Bwindi. It was a memorable experience though long journey but worthy it due to beautiful sceneries.
Jinja city.
For the fact that I stay in Kampala the capital city in Uganda, I have been desiring to travel and visit the source of the Nile. Way back in 2017, My family and I decided to travel on 1st January to visit Jinja city which was an amazing city surrounded by green vegetation and source of the Nile flowing to Egypt. My big brother drove and it took us about 2-3 hours to reach Jinja passing via Gayaza route however can also be accessed using Jinja – mukono route. When we reached in Jinja we liked people because they are friendly, we moved in their markets where we did some shopping of craft shoes, art t-shirts and craft bags. We were welcomed by traditional dance from Basoga people as we head for a boat cruise to spot the source of the Nile where it is marked. We took photos for memorable and after went back in the boat and took us back at the shores. The place gives the best view of Jinja bridge, green vegetation, spotted canoes for fishers at the source of the Nile, breathing the calm and cool air of the eco-friendly environment.
We really explored Jinja falls like bujagali falls, Tanda falls, Sezibwa falls, busowoko falls and Griffin falls which are best places for water rafting on white waters, River tubing, birding, boat cruise, water cycling, and many more thus a tourism city.
