15 - Uganda
My next stop in Africa took me to Uganda for a unique bucket list item: to trek with the mountain gorillas (shoutout to my sister and brother-in-law for giving me this idea!). These incredible creatures are only found in the wild in Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and there are only ~1,000 left, though their numbers have increased in the past couple of decades thanks to conservation efforts and crackdowns on poaching!
Cities
From Zanzibar, I flew into Entebbe, a common starting point for these trekking tours. Kampala, the capital city, was also an option, but I tend to gravitate towards quieter areas when I travel (Entebbe has a population of 70,000 vs. Kampala’s 1,800,000).
If you’re wondering about logistics, I booked a guided tour for the week. It would be difficult to do this itinerary yourself as it involves many, many hours of driving on dirt roads that aren’t in the greatest shape and/or don’t show up on Google maps. My guide, Andrew, picked me up early the next morning, and we began our adventure.
The next few days were split into three parts:
Trekking with chimpanzees in Kibale National Park
Trekking with mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Relaxing at Lake Bunyonyi
Day one was long. The kind of long where your legs are a bit numb, and your back is sore from sitting all day.
We drove upwards of ~eight hours to get to Kibale National Park, making a stop at the nearby Amebere Ga Nyamwiru Caves and Nyakasura Hills for a short hike with a local guide. The caves were once the home of the Chwezi leader. There’s a rich historical background/some mythical elements about the Chwezi if you’d like to read about it (here’s a link).
We then made our way to our lodging for the next couple of nights (sunset views from my room👇🏼) and rested up for the next day’s trek with the chimpanzees.
After an early wake-up call and briefing with the park rangers, I set off with a few other folks into the forest. We hiked for 30, 35 minutes before we had our first chimp sighting, and then for the next hour, it seemed like we spotted one every few minutes. Super cool to be so close to our distant relatives; they really are so similar to humans! I feel like I’ve made every single one of the expressions in the pictures below 😂.
After the trek and a quick lunch, Andrew and I met up with his friend Stella who led us on a nature walk through a nearby swamp/forest area. We saw several species of monkeys, including the red-tailed monkey and black and white colobus. The red-tailed monkeys were too hard to photograph since most of them were higher in the trees than my zoom could handle, but here are a couple of the colobus.
Day three was another long driving day as we left Kibale and headed south. The landscapes changed from flat bush plains to dense and lush forests. We even got to do a short game drive as we passed through Queen Elizabeth National Park and spotted several animals, including elephants, baboons, and vervet monkeys (these guys have a distinct…feature that you’ll see below - upper right).
Finally, the day had arrived to search for the gorillas. Much like the chimpanzee trek in Kibale, Bwindi’s park rangers were fully armed with AKs to scare off any elephants that we might encounter. They briefed the ~35 visitors and split us up into groups; each group was assigned to one gorilla family.
And off we went. While the first trek had been a relatively gentle, flat hike, this one was a challenge. We scaled steep inclines, scrambled through thick undergrowth, and had our shoes and socks swallowed by loose soil as we slid down slopes. It felt less like a guided tour and more like a true venture through the wilderness.
Our lead guide would make a narrow way for us through the dense brush with his machete; he himself was following two trackers who set off much earlier in the day to find our gorilla family. After about 90 minutes of some truly intense hiking, we were told to put our masks on (to prevent the spread of human diseases to the gorillas) - we were close!
Per park rules, we got to spend one hour with this family. They numbered upwards of 30 members - the silverback (alpha male), a few younger males, and ten females, each with a baby! It was breathtaking and surreal to be up close and personal with such magnificent creatures. We were literally a few feet away on some occasions! I particularly enjoyed watching the little ones play with each other 🥹. The hour passed entirely too quickly, and soon we had to say our goodbyes.
Side note: if you’re wondering why we were able to get so close to the gorillas without being in real danger, it’s a good question. The gorillas have been habituated by park rangers over the years. In other words, they’re used to humans being around and see us as a natural part of their habitat.
Andrew picked me back up at the trailhead, and we set off for Lake Bunyonyi, the last stop in our journey. We stayed at a gorgeous resort tucked away in one corner of the lake. I enjoyed the first day so much that I added a second. On our way back to Entebbe on the final day, we passed the equator, so you can stand in both hemispheres at the same time!
Accounting
Total spending for 6 day/5 night trekking tour, including tips - $3,540.86 ($590.14/day)
Like the Serengeti safari, this was a super expensive excursion. The trekking permit fees alone for Kibale and Bwindi were $1,000.
The package included all meals and mid-range accommodation (a couple of the properties were very nice - borderline luxury imo).
Total other spending (for ~2.5 days) - $187.22
Food - $52.38
Lodging - $72.64
Miscellaneous - $51.50 (visa)
Transportation - $10.69
Total Uganda spending (8 days) - $3,728.08 ($466.01/day)
Pondering
During my short time in Uganda, one conversation with Andrew stood out. He explained how the Ugandan people are made up of 50+ tribes organized into various kingdoms. Several dialects are spoken (e.g., Luganda, Swahili, Rukiga). Most of these are region-specific, so often the common tongue ends up being English.
Maybe that shouldn’t throw me off as much as it did. My family is from Taiwan, and pretty much everyone there understands Mandarin (one of Mandarin’s names literally translates to “common words/language”). Perhaps that contributed to my misconception that Swahili or some other African language would be the linguistic link for Ugandans rather than English.
Anyway, our chat made me think how being born in the US and speaking fluent English from a young age is an immense blessing made possible by my parents, and I’m the lucky beneficiary. I don’t realize how often I take this for granted.
Here’s an Instagram reel of this unforgettable week!
Next up, my last stop in this month-long East Africa adventure - Kenya.