Getting around

Over 800,000 visitors come to Uganda each year and collectively spend over 700 million dollars (according to the World Tourism Organisation). The tourist industry is an important source of revenue for the country.

Foreign visitors fly into the international airport at Entebbe. Most then make their way along Lake Victoria to the capital Kampala, where tours to the national parks can be arranged. Most of Uganda’s major centres are no more than five hours drive away along the surfaced highways.

Driving in Uganda can be an experience. Gridlocked traffic in Kampala means travelling across the capital is slow and tedious. In contrast, speeding and overtaking are all too frequent on the open roads. And like many Africans, Ugandans also tend to drive without headlights at night.

Traffic accidents are common in Uganda, especially on boda-boda (bicycle taxis) which are used as a cheap form of public transport. Boda-bodas and matatus (car taxis) are often poorly maintained and badly driven.

Monkey business

Mountain gorillas are the major attraction for many visitors to Uganda, who travel to the extreme south-western corner of the country to see these amazing animals. Gorilla-tracking takes place in both the Bwindi Impenetrable and Mgahinga Gorilla National Parks, where the animals can be viewed in their natural habitat. Find out more about the gorillas in Geography & Wildlife.

Uganda is also home to a number of other primates, including chimpanzees. Some chimpanzee communities have been well-studied here and groups within many national parks (e.g. Kibale Forest, Queen Elizabeth, Semliki and Murchison Falls) are used to having their human cousins watch them.

At Murchison Falls, tourists not only come to see the wildlife but also to enjoy the spectacular scenery. This includes the 43 metre-high Murchison Falls along the Victoria Nile. For those visitors who like to get closer to the water, Bujagali Falls in the south offers white-water rafting, kayaking and bungee jumping.

World Heritage Sites

As well as the National Parks of Bwindi Impenetrable and the Rwenzori Mountains, the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi in Kampala are also a World Heritage site.

These tombs are housed in the former ‘palace’ at Kasubi, which became a royal burial ground in 1884. However, the surrounding building (known as the Muzibu Azaala Mpanga), made mainly of wood and thatch, was destroyed by fire in 2010.

UNESCO has provided the Ugandan authorities with emergency funds to reconstruct the building, since the know-how and materials are still available locally. Temporary shelters for the royal tombs will allow for ceremonies and practices to continue, because the site remains a centre of religious activity for the Baganda.