Why Visit Uganda For A Holiday

Travelers cannot fall short of reasons why they should visit Uganda for a holiday. It’s a land-locked East African nation, sandwiched between major tourist destinations yet still a favorite choice for adventure holiday travelers. 

It’s a landmass that’s almost the size of Britain, but the diversity of its geography within this makes it such a fascinating African holiday destination. From the Karamoja arid deserts in the northeast, where cheetahs and lions pad across the golden savannah plains, to the mountainous rainforest and the soaring majesty of the Rwenzori Mountains, this is an extraordinary country to which you will want to return again and again, as so many do.

For many, the main drawcard is the primate parks, where species co-exist as they have for millennia in a primal wilderness that touches the soul. Uganda still offers the best-value private safari you can have in East Africa. 

These are all excellent reasons to come, but what still takes many holiday travelers by surprise is how much they enjoy the hospitality of Uganda. Some say it is because of the Uganda ubuntu – a philosophy that says that no human can exist in isolation, that we become human through other humans – that there is so much warmth. Regardless, you will find this a most welcoming destination and engaging with locals easy because most Uganda is able and happy to converse in English.

Anyways, here are the main reasons why visit Uganda for a holiday.

Culture, people & logistics

If one country screams unique, colorful, and intoxicating cultural experiences, it must be Uganda. Uganda has over 50 historical tribes sharing a tiny land area of less than 199,000 km². Each tribe speaks a distinctive language, practicing different cultures and only united by contemporary foreign cultures, styles, and languages.

Uganda has a rich cultural history, festivals, and interactions with local people, discovering some of the most friendly and welcoming bunch. If you’re looking for a break from the usual round of cobbled streets and ancient art galleries, then that is the only reason to visit Uganda for a holiday before you plump for the tried and tested.

The central cities of Entebbe and Kampala are a great introduction to Uganda’s urban cultures influenced the west and yet rooted in the indigenous cultural foundation. From the colonial architecture, style, and cuisine to the eastern influences, Uganda’s urban cultures mix reflects a rich indigenous rooting that makes for an exciting experience.

Kampala has its own visual fingerprint. With its new shimmering buildings shoulder to shoulder with downtown slams and overflowing taxi parks, it’s instantly recognizable. You can literally cross a shimmering modern street into a delightful mixture of street markets, animals, food vendors, and buzzing motors.

These are the things that define Uganda in two-dimensional depictions. But Uganda isn’t a place where you simply go sightseeing on a bucket-list holiday. Uganda is a feeling to be experienced by all senses, a stimulant that courses through your veins and feeds your soul.

Uganda is the sweet, milky taste of an omelet rolled in a chapatti, steam still rising from the overused dark pan as you sink your teeth into it. It’s the smell of katogo breakfast, the smoke wafting through the air as I step over the threshold of a moving matatu. It’s the sound of a dozen beating drums and the mellowing adhan as the sun dies over the long street shadows. It’s the sense of serenity as I watch skilled Kiganda dancers move as gingerly as the setting sun behind them, nestled in a green oasis in the middle of a rainforest jungle.

These intangible things make Uganda worth visiting for a holiday, which makes visitors come back for more time after time. 

Each direction you take from the central capital into the countryside has some cultural enchantment that will dazzle your taste for cultural travel, from the short forest people that lived with mountain gorillas in the extreme southwestern mountains to the tall Maasai-like nomadic pastoralist that roam the Karamojong deserts in the extreme northeast. From the manhood celebrating Gisu’s in the East to the long-horned cattle keeping farmers in the west, Uganda’s people and cultures are as attractive as welcoming.

Uganda’s Scenic Landscape Views

Uganda landscapes are iconic and diverse befitting Churchill’s branding name of “The Pearl of Africa.” Synonymous with good life and pleasure. This is a place where nature is generous and where in turn, the inhabitants have respected it for generations until the foreigner invaded its sacredness. From the verdant valleys of Kabale to the white-topped Rwenzori mountains and unspoiled rainforest jungles teeming with insane numbers of primate species, this is a region that lacks nothing when it comes to views.

For many southwestern is the very image of what Uganda is all about. A dreamlike country of vast verdant hills dotted with pine trees, a place where the landscape becomes poetry.

Its colors are impossibly green all year round, with solitary shiny-roofed houses standing on top of hills flanked by impressively terraced slopes that reach upward to the sky. See it for yourself, and you’ll understand why so many bloggers and writers call it the pearl of Africa and why any traveler in search of inspiration should visit Uganda for their holiday.

Regardless of where you travel in Uganda, you’re never too far from a scenic vista or an interesting natural landmark. The world’s longest river crossing the country to the northwest is juxtaposed with the wildlife reserves, large lakes, and waterfalls it meaders through on its path. West of the Nile river in Uganda is home to the unique fynbos botanical kingdom. On the Nile’s exit in Uganda’s northwest, majestic Murchison Falls spills thousands of gallons of water per minute over the edge of an impressive river gorge. The largest freshwater lake holds modern civilization on its banks at its source. Uganda will leave you in awe.

Uganda’s savannah landscapes are a huge reason many tourists visit Uganda for a holiday. The plains are naturally endowed with awe-inspiring terrain made up of nutrient-rich, flattened, open plains, short grasses, and some granite kopjes spread out. With this type of vegetation, game viewing is guaranteed to be exceptional throughout the year.

Exceptional wildlife viewing adventures

Going on a safari in Uganda for a holiday is an adventure dream for animal lovers. Wildlife viewing adventures bring you the closest anyone can get to wild lions and elephants and giraffes, buffalo, hippos, and zebras in their native habitat, without the annoying crowds of the Serengeti. 

Even for solo travelers who can never get excited about the idea of a group safari, Uganda is a perfect private travel destination. It is also considered very safe with fantastic scenery and wildlife, even for solo women travelers.

Uganda’s National Parks are a gem of wildlife-viewing in Africa, especially in the dry season from December to February and June to July when all animals must come to waterholes to drink and bathe. And the fact that Uganda is relatively unknown without the tourist crowds makes it one of the top African destinations to visit for a holiday. You can drive for miles without seeing another person but couldn’t go far without seeing an antelope, buffalo, or elephant.

Exceptional Primate Trekking Adventures

The southwest is crumbled with rainforest jungles infested with the highest populations of primates on the continent. Many of these are habituated to human visits and make for the strongest reason why tourists visit Uganda for a holiday.

Tourists rate primate viewing adventures, like gorilla and chimpanzee trekking in Uganda’s rainforest, the best experiences compared to anywhere in the world. And for the most successful conservation program, the primate adventures are fronting the most successful conservation program. Today, Uganda protects more than half the world’s mountain gorilla population within two powerful protected areas.

More than 1500 common chimpanzees swing in protected large rainforests across the western regions. Uganda has 20 primate species that steal your gaze on a holiday morning strolling through a misty jungle.

The list of 1090 bird species recorded in Uganda is an unstoppable magnet for a birding holiday in the Pearl of Africa for avian enthusiasts. In addition, Uganda has the most accessible bird watching spots than anywhere else; you could spot 30 different species sitting at a balcony at a boutique guesthouse in suburban Entebbe town.

Accommodation and Lodging

As a growing travel destination, one of the youngest on the continent, Uganda presents an outstanding choice for travel accommodation. From boutique hotels to Airbnb vacation rentals, regenerative homestays to exclusive jungle resorts, Uganda’s wide selection of travel lodging for all kinds of travelers is an excellent reason to visit for a holiday.

Visit Uganda for A Holiday With Encounter Africa

Encounter Africa Safaris Ltd organizes holiday trips in Uganda at some of the most comfortable rates for both budget and luxury travelers. We have a team of experts that Understand Uganda and travel logistics to help you put together a custom-made holiday visit to Uganda with less hustle.

We’ll give you all the accommodation choices transport recommendations, and book your gorilla and chimpanzee permits so that you don’t have to stress planning your experience. Please send us an email at info@gorilla-tracking-uganda.com.