Hidden Uganda: Safari to East Africa’s Untouched Destinations

Kidepo Valley butts up against South Sudan, and the national park incorporates thousands of square miles of remote, desert savannah. Dust swirls and the sense of wilderness is absolute. Spotted hyenas drift around, wild dogs hunt in wild, raucous packs, while the buffalo herds number hundreds of individuals. Best of all, there’s a chance you’ll be the only visitors in the entire park. After the two-hour private air charter, you check into your lodge, a luxurious base that completes the feeling of old-world Africa. Then it’s a game drive along the Kidepo River, the oasis that supports such a profusion of wildlife in such a dry desert land. Eagles soar, cheetahs chase oribis, and leopards ambush duikers along the water. If you’re fond of dramatic wildlife encounters, Kidepo Valley National Park will feel like a private playground.

An African safari on the Kidepo Valley savannah is one where the sights are always unexpected. Hold your breath as a cackle of hyenas battles with bachelor lions for a recently killed oribi. Watch in astonishment as an alpha male lion takes down a zebra, confounding the preconceptions that it’s only the lionesses that hunt. Track a leopard that uses dust as camouflage, admiring how it deliberately creates flumes from the scorched landscape. Sometimes all goes quiet. Minutes tick by. As you cross the savannah, it begins to feel like an empty desert. Then you turn a corner and discover 400 to 500 buffalos creating a big burly ball along the riverbanks.

Game drives are flexible here, and you’ll have a private guide who tailors each day to your mood. There are very few rules and hardly any trails. It’s pure adventure, bumping across the virgin savannah in search of the unruly predators. There’s simply not enough food in the desert to support all the carnivores. So they battle each other, cheetahs chased away by the antics of a wild dog pack, lions contesting territorial boundaries on a regular basis. This is a destination where you’re as likely to see predator versus predator as you would predator versus prey. During your stay, it’s easy to change the pace with an unobtrusive visit to an Ik tribal community, remote mountain people that maintain a very traditional way of life.

Flying across Uganda is a beautiful experience. Habitats collide in this large country, each of them connected by the distinctive ochre color of the earth. Today you soar over the desert, and then cruise above the riverine forest of the Nile, onwards towards the majestic volcanic mountains of the west. Thick rainforest carpets the slopes as iconic cones reach high above the clouds. You touch down beside Semuliki National Park then transfer to your lodge, where the afternoon and evening are at your leisure. You can take a number of self-guided walking trails, where a tropical cast of birds fight for your attention and genets and servals are among the animals spotted amongst the trees.

In a forest clearing, the similarities are astonishing. Finger curl around branches, frowns and smiles occupy faces and every set of eyes glimmers with emotion. Chimpanzees are the closest relatives to homo sapiens, and every encounter causes your hairs to stand on end. Yet there’s usually something more in Semuliki National Park. The chimps are walking upright, crossing the forest clearings on two legs. Such behavior isn’t unique to the chimpanzees of Semuliki, but it’s almost impossible to witness in any of East Africa’s other parks. On most chimpanzee treks, the primates are encountered in thick forest, most of them occupying the canopy. But here, they’re found on the ground, walking around.

You’ll spend two days in the park, going on chimpanzee treks through the forest. Sounds guide you as wild hooting indicates the location of the troop. The maximum trekking group size is six, although there’s a good chance you’ll have a privately-guided trek. Spending two days maximizes the opportunity to witness their rare walking behavior, which has hardly been featured even on wildlife documentaries. It also helps encounter different segments of a troop that is often scattered into smaller family units. A mother cradles a hairless baby to her bosom; males use sticks to dig and forage, and the encounters provide some of Africa’s most intimate wildlife moments. Note that trekking time can really vary here, anywhere from 20 minutes to three or four hours through the forest.

A sublime road winds beneath the forest canopy, leading you across panoramas of ochre dirt and shimmering green forest. You pass remote villages, where women strap babies to their backs with a vibrant cloth. Then see swathes of rice paddies and maize plantations, which cling to the hills in defiance of gravity. There’s an opportunity to stop at a local village en route, or you can head straight to the luxury of your lodge, where epic vistas greet you at the hilltop. Your serene lodge is ideal for resting the legs, especially when a log fire burns after sunset and swirls of mist are illuminated by the moon.

Slowly and carefully, you trek through the thick Bwindi forest, javelins of light piercing the canopy to guide your journey. Forest elephant trails are followed, overgrown branches are slashed away, and you’re deep in the heart of gorilla territory. Suddenly a glimpse, a ball of black fur crawling on four knuckles. Keep walking, your heartbeat racing as you hear the troop communicating. Then a gorilla comes into full view, flapping her arms and returning your gaze with a fierce stare. While you’re visiting a habituated gorilla troop, the primates like to ensure that everyone is aware of whose territory is being entered. For most of the hour, you’ll watch the gorillas casually going about their day – playing, feeding, and interacting, but for the first few minutes, there’s an exhilarating connection as your eyes meet theirs.

Officially you can come within seven meters of the gorillas, although that’s hard to observe when there are two swinging in the trees above your head, three picking berries behind you, and another eight scattered across a clearing. A silverback emerges, more than double the size of the females, the earth shuddering as he wanders with gargantuan shoulder muscles. A youngster finds entertainment by ripping off twigs and throwing them through the air. So much is happening that you don’t know where to look. It’s easy to spend half the hour focused on a single gorilla, following the redolent facial expressions and poetic eyes. Or you dart from scene to scene, trying to take in the intimacy of the experience. After the hour, you return to the trailhead and transfer back to your lodge, where the rest of the afternoon is spent watching the mist dance through the trees.

Halfway between Bwindi and Entebbe, Lake Mburo National Park evokes the magic of an African safari. Zebra and impala herds wander across green plains; hippos create commotion in an otherwise serene lake, hornbills squawk whenever they spot one of the park’s leopards. This is a national park that really connects you with nature, and you spend the afternoon on a horse-riding safari, following the different antelopes as they graze on the lush plains. Rather than an abundance of predators, this is a park for getting incredibly close to a huge range of herbivores. Canter alongside a zebra, surround yourself with oribis, stop beside the yawning hippos, and ride a horse across a mystically green landscape. You’ll transfer here by road and have lunch at the lodge before an afternoon in the saddle.

As the day breaks, you head out on foot, wandering across the plains as duikers and zebras skip around. Tracing prints in the sand, you follow different antelopes to their pastures, watching them graze just a few meters away. By moving quietly, a walking safari helps you get much closer than a game drive. It’s the normal way to explore here, rather than the exception. And there’s a wonderful sense of freedom as you cross the plains and immerse yourself in a wildlife world that sees few visitors. After lunch, there’s the option for an afternoon walking or horseback safari, followed by a nighttime game drive. This is when you seek out the unknown animals, like a serval on the prowl, or a golden cat lurking in the grass.

After 11 days of adventure, you don’t need to travel to the coast for some waterside rest and relaxation. Take a boat onto Lake Victoria and head out to the Bulago Islands, a remote paradise that’s hidden from the rest of Uganda, never mind from the rest of the world. Your small resort is draped along the water, shaded by coconut palms, and as tranquil as you could imagine. These two days are completely at your leisure, and it’s easy to snooze away the afternoons along the shore. A boat is at your disposal for romantic journeys around the island or across the lake, while cocktails can be served to your chalet at any time of the day. There’s not much to do here, and that’s the attraction. Following the expedition across hidden Uganda, a couple of days on Lake Victoria are an idyllic way to unwind.

After a relaxed morning, you take a boat across Lake Victoria, returning to Entebbe, where you have a day-use hotel room. Later in the evening, you’ll be transferred to Entebbe International Airport for your departing flight.