ABOUT UGANDA

Uganda is often called ‘The Pearl of Africa’ because of its beauty, freshness and vibrant spirit. Uganda is a magic country, only recently discovered as a great safari destination.

Come and see for yourself Uganda has it all:

The highest mountain-range of Africa, the largest lake, the great savannas of Kenya and Tanzania and the vast tropical rainforests of Congo and Rwanda. Uganda offers the best of everything from East and West Africa. A unique combination of the large animals like elephants, lions, buffaloes, leopards, giraffes, zebras, hyenas, warthogs, hippos and crocodiles from the savannas and the forest animals like chimpanzees, gorillas, black and white colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, patas monkeys, blue monkeys, forest elephants, forest buffaloes and giant forest hogs.

From the moment you land at Entebbe’s modern and efficient international airport, with its breathtaking equatorial location on the forested shore of island-strewn Lake Victoria, it is clear that Uganda is not ordinary safari destination.

Dominated by an expansive golf course leading down to the lakeshore, and a century-old botanical garden alive with the chatter of acrobatic monkeys and colourful tropical birds, Entebbe itself is the least obviously urban of all comparably sized African towns. Then, just 40km distant, sprawled across seven hills, there is the capital Kampala. The bright modern feel of this bustling, cosmopolitan city reflects the ongoing economic growth and political stability that has characterized Uganda since 1986, and is complemented by the sloping spaciousness and runaway greenery of its garden setting.

Uganda is situated right on the Equator. With its 37 million inhabitants it is a large country of savannah grasslands dotted with lakes and papyrus marshes, through which the perpetually majestic Nile meanders slowly, plunging over cliffs to form waterfalls and rapids which are among the most spectacular in the world.

Uganda is also the land of the Rwenzori Mountains, the famous “Mountains of the Moon” with their snow-capped peaks; of the western branch of the Rift Valley with its sparkling lakes; of impenetrable forests of jungle vegetation; of hills that have been cultivated with care by meticulous local farmers, of vast stretches of grassland used by the proud nomadic herdsmen of the Banyankole tribe; of tea plantations whose endless green carpet stretches to the distant horizon. The national parks scattered throughout the country are home to an unparalleled abundance and variety of wildlife.

Uganda is above all a tapestry of interwoven peoples and tribes, Acholi, Luo, Lango and Alur nomads, the Baganda, Bahutu and Gisu who are of Bantu origin, Swahili, Arabic and Asian businessmen. It was with good reason that it had so impressed Winston Churchill, who referred to Uganda as “the Pearl of Africa” in the heart of the British Empire.