Jinja
The Jinja area offers an array of adventure sports such as White-Water Rafting, Kayaking, Quad Biking, Horse-Riding and Bungee Jumping. There are lots of lovely places to stay, often with great views over the Nile.
Lake Bunyonyi
Lake Bunyonyi has an altogether more relaxed feel. Here you can swim, canoe or walk around one of the 29 volcano shaped islands or simply relax and gaze at this beautiful spot. There lots of lovely places to stay.
Bulago Island
Bulago is another wonderful place to relax. The entire Island is privately owned. The forest sectors are protected, the paths are well maintained and there are plenty of sandy beaches. There are good opportunities for water sports, beautiful walks or socialising by the pool looking out over the world’s second largest fresh water lake. It’s also reasonably close to Entebbe international airport. There are many accommodation options, all in great locations.
Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is a very successful project which aims to reintroduce rhinos to Uganda. From an initial import of 6 rhinos there are now over 30. As rhino horn is worth more than gold, per ounce, it is a never-ending task to stop the rhinos from being slaughtered for their horn. So, it is very impressive that not one rhino at Ziwa has been poached. However, this requires tight security. Each group of rhinos is monitored 24 hours a day and the entire 70 square kilometres is fenced. Nevertheless, when you track the rhinos on foot it looks and feels as if you are completely in the wild and as the rhinos are well habituated to the presence of humans, it is surprising how close you can get.
You can also go on a 4 hour walk and canoe ride to look for the famous shoebill in Lugogo swamp. The nicest accommodation is at Amuka Lodge.
Mountains to Climb (outside of the national parks)
There are a number of great mountains to climb that are not in the national parks. This means there are no park fees to pay and there is often a greater sense of adventure, as it can be difficult to work out the way to the top, particularly as the local people usually have no understanding as to why anyone would want to go there.
Mount Kaddam
My personal favourite. It’s a 3-day climb, with camp based at the same spot for 2 nights. It is necessary to hire porters, but I have yet to find a guide who knows how to get to the top. The issue is navigating the final ridge, which is a wall that encircles the entire mountain. I have made it to the top twice and failed 3 times. I now believe I know the way, but it is a bit of a scramble. A great adventure!
Mount Moroto
This can be climbed in a day. Similarly, there are some obstacles in terms of finding the way, but it is not as tricky as Mt Kaddam. I have climbed it once and the key is finding the correct start point.
There are plenty of other mountains in Uganda to hike up. If you are interested in doing this let me know and we can make a plan!
Mountain Biking
There are fantastic opportunities for mountain biking in Uganda. Particularly exciting is biking through National Parks such as Queen Elizabeth, Bwindi or Toro Semliki Game Reserve. It’s also possible to bike through Kibale NP and in and around Lake Mburo NP. Outside of the parks there are countless possibilities to bike on tracks with little traffic and great scenery.
Paragliding
I am a keen paraglider pilot and know some great spots to fly. If you are also a qualified paraglider pilot Uganda makes an excellent location to paraglide where virtually no-one else ever has.
Visit a Local Project
Come and spend some time with happy local children at Kyaninga Inclusive Model School (KIMS)!
Uganda’s GDP per capita is around $935. USA GDP per capita is around $63,500. So, there’s a lot less money for the government to spend. This has led to some shocking statistics, such as only 9% of children with disabilities are enrolled in pre-primary, primary or secondary education (Unicef Uganda Education ).
My wife, Jane O’Leary, is the director at KIMS. The focus of the project is Teacher Training, including Children with Special Needs in schools and running a model school – KIMS. For more information, please visit Kyaninga School or better still come and visit the school itself!