We decided to put Uganda in our list because of mountain Gorillas, planning for the trip we discovered a lot more.
Before the political crisis caused serious damage to the natural heritage, Uganda was considered the most beautiful country of the continent and it is no surprise that Winston Churchill defined it «the pearl of Africa». In recent years the country has struggled with rebuilding its own system of protected areas. An environmentally-friendly network that currently includes 10 national parks. The first on our list was the Murchison Falls.
Before reaching the park, about 170 km away from Kampala, the capital, we stopped at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary where you can observe the rhinos up close. Created a few years ago, today it is the headquarters of an important breeding program for white rhinos, aimed at their reintroduction in national parks.
Uganda, indeed, hosted the northern subspecies of the white rhino and the eastern sub-species of the black rhino, however both of them became extinct during the dictatorship of Idi Amin.
We reached the park at the Murchison Falls National Park, the largest in the country. The area is crossed by the Victoria Nile,; the spectacular waterfalls here give name to the park. Here, the Nile shrinks into a 7-meters narrow gorge – “Top of the Falls” – before making a jump of 43 meters, turning into a dizzying foam of white water with a deafening roar, and offering a breathtaking show.
The park landscape ranges from acacia and palm trees in the north and tropical forests in the south. The morning game drive experience is unforgettable, where you have the opportunity to meet lions, giraffes, elephants, buffaloes, several species of antelopes and colorful birds that populate the park. It is possible to take a boat trip going up the Nile and almost reaching the base of the waterfalls where you can spot hippos and crocodiles (Amin said that this was the “crocodile headquarters”) as well as elephants, antelopes and birds.
