Uganda

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to almost half the world's remaining mountain gorillas: fewer than 1,100 exist on earth. Trekking through ancient highland rainforest to spend an hour face-to-face with a habituated gorilla family is an experience that stays with you for life. Humbling and surreal: you look into their eyes and see the intelligence staring back, a vivid reminder of how close we really are.

Murchison Falls National Park

Uganda's largest park, where the entire Nile forces itself through an 8-metre gap and plunges 45 metres, arguably the most powerful waterfall on earth. The drive in passes through Budongo Forest, the largest Eastern Mahogany Forest in Africa. Game drives bring lions, elephants, giraffes, and buffalo; the Nile boat cruise delivers hippos, crocodiles, and exceptional birdlife.

Queen Elizabeth National Park

Three distinct ecosystems: savannah, forest, and the volcanic crater lakes of Katwe. Game drives across the Kasenyi plains bring the Big 4, while the Kazinga Channel boat cruise delivers hippo pods, elephant herds, buffalo, and basking monitor lizards. And the Ishasha sector: the only place in the world where lions regularly climb giant fig trees.

Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

The only place in Uganda where Southern White Rhinos roam free, and a sighting is guaranteed. Started in 2005 with just 6 rhinos (four from Kenya, two donated by Disney's Animal Kingdom), the sanctuary has grown to 59, with not a single poaching incident, thanks to rangers who follow the animals day and night. Tracking them on foot through open savannah is rare, personal, and genuinely wild.

Lake Mburo National Park

The only national park in Uganda where walking safaris are permitted. Zebras, eland, hippos, impalas, and reedbuck roam open acacia woodland and lakeshore, with panoramic views over the park at sunset.

Kyambura Gorge

A dramatic forest-filled gorge cutting through Queen Elizabeth NP, sheltering one of Africa's richest primate habitats. Track habituated chimpanzees through ancient forest, and time it right for sundowners at sunset over the canopy.

Kibale National Park

The highest density of primates in Africa, home to over 1,500 habituated chimpanzees. Energetic, noisy, and dramatic: their behaviour is a striking contrast to the gorillas' quiet presence. Tracking our closest relatives through the jungle canopy is one of the most immersive wildlife experiences on the continent.

Jinja: Source of the Nile

The adventure capital of East Africa. Stand at the exact spot where the world's longest river begins its journey to the Mediterranean, then throw yourself into Grade 5 white-water rafting, bungee jumping, kayaking, or quad-biking along the Nile.

Lake Nkuruba

The drive alone is worth it: winding through the Ndali-Kasenda crater field with sweeping views at every turn. Swim in the calm crater lake, spot three monkey species, and tour the tea plantation next door. It's completely quiet here, the kind of place where you genuinely unwind, with the Rwenzori Mountains sitting on the horizon.

Lake Bunyonyi

One of the most beautiful lakes in Africa, dotted with 29 small islands and framed by terraced hillsides that step down to the water's edge. Bilharzia-free swimming, canoeing, birdwatching, and a pace of life that slows everything down.

Rwenzori Mountains

The legendary Mountains of the Moon: glacier-capped peaks on the equator, giant prehistoric plant life, and some of the most rewarding alpine trekking in Africa.

Batwa Cultural Experience

The Batwa are the original keepers of Bwindi, an indigenous Pygmy hunter-gatherer people who called the forest home for thousands of years. Their guided cultural experience is humbling, insightful, and unlike anything else on the itinerary.

Masindi Hotel

Built in 1923, Masindi Hotel is the oldest hotel in Uganda, a colonial-era landmark that has hosted everyone from Ernest Hemingway to Humphrey Bogart during the filming of The African Queen. Staying here is a piece of history in itself.

Entebbe

Uganda's lakeside gateway on the shores of Lake Victoria: the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre, botanical gardens with wild chimps, and the calm before or after the journey.

Kampala

Uganda's vibrant capital: the Kasubi Tombs (UNESCO World Heritage Site and burial grounds of the Buganda Kings), the Uganda Museum, and the sprawling Owino Market. A city that gives you the country's history and pulse in a single day.