It is a tough challenge to describe Uganda in a few short paragraphs. Despite the small size of the country, the diversity of landscape, topography, people, wildlife, birdlife and plant life is mind-boggling. If we had to distill the essence of Uganda down to one word, we might say ‘productive”.
Lush? Luxuriant? Abundant? Diverse? They all work. This beautiful country is right at the heart of Africa; at the crossroads of East and West, North and South. It has rich, misty primordial forests. Hot, vast grasslands with impossibly big skies.
Glacier-peaked mountain ranges and palm-fringed tropical islands with sandy beaches. Tumultuous, roiling rivers, placid sparkling lakes and endless miles of papyrus wetlands.
Aristotle said “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” , and nowhere is this more true than this lovely gem of a country.
Uganda has many attractions, many easily identifiable landmarks: the Equator, the River Nile, Lake Victoria, the Ruwenzori Mountains, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, the eastern most edge of the Central African Rainforest, the Western Rift Valley, the peak of Mount Elgon (the largest volcanic base in the world).
National Parks, Game Reserves, Forest Reserves. It has incredible birdlife (even the most die-hard non-birder can’t fail to be impressed) and a tremendous array of wildlife. Its unique position on the continent means it have both savanna species typical of East Africa (lion, cheetah, elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, warthog etc), and forest species more typical of Central Africa
(forest elephant, red river hog, chimpanzee, mountain gorilla, forest buffalo).
Wrap all of this up with the rich cultural history and heritage of more than 50 tribes – both Nilotic and Bantu – who live here and warmly welcome visitors, the ‘whole’ is great indeed. Regardless of what we say, regardless of the words we choose, our clients’ reactions are often the same: “I never knew it was so beautiful” The message is clear. The only way to get a real feel for what Uganda is like, you need to visit and see it yourself.
