We recently finished up four days touring through Uganda - we had a great time there. We drove about 600 miles in all, out from the capital of Kampala to the far western side of the country and back, seeing some of the largest lakes in the world (including Lake Victoria and Lake Edouard), as well as a bunch of national parks and game reserves in Uganda.
What can we say about Uganda? The forests were beautiful. The lakes were HUGE, and the since it was the dry season there, the shorelines were absolutely packed with animals looking for water:
What can we say about Uganda? The forests were beautiful. The lakes were HUGE, and the since it was the dry season there, the shorelines were absolutely packed with animals looking for water:
Everyone was very friendly, but the place definitely had a little rougher edge (and much rougher roads!) than most other places we've traveled. One of the things that fascinated Greg was the fact that you could get a savings account at Barclays Uganda that paid 18% interest, despite an official inflation rate of just ~6%. Not sure about that inflation rate, but either way - crazy!
Easily one of the big highlights of the trip was the number of primates we saw. Chimpanzees were the big draw, but we saw six different species of primates, each fascinating in its own way. A few of our favorite pics:
Easily one of the big highlights of the trip was the number of primates we saw. Chimpanzees were the big draw, but we saw six different species of primates, each fascinating in its own way. A few of our favorite pics:
Although they were pretty plentiful, most of the time it was hard to get a good picture! It felt like they were observing us every bit as much as we were observing them, but most of them kept their distance up in the trees. Chimpanzee trekking was especially exciting, as to keep up with them we basically had to run through a jungle without no real trails. We came out with more than a few scrapes and bug bites, but it was definitely worth it to spend some time with them.
One of the other interest sites we came across was a huge bat cave in the middle of a forest in the far west of the country (near the border with the DRC). Standing even 10 yards away, you could feel the heat emanating from what was at least several thousand fruit bats (see pic below). As we got closer, we also saw a huge (~six yards long) python curled up enjoying the heat as well.
One of the other interest sites we came across was a huge bat cave in the middle of a forest in the far west of the country (near the border with the DRC). Standing even 10 yards away, you could feel the heat emanating from what was at least several thousand fruit bats (see pic below). As we got closer, we also saw a huge (~six yards long) python curled up enjoying the heat as well.
Outside of the forests, a lot of our best site-seeing was along the banks of the lakes. We saw a lot of the same wildlife that was in the Masai Mara (see post), so here are just a few of our favorite pics:
Well, that's all for now. We'll have an update soon from Rwanda!
- GK & JC
- GK & JC
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