Uganda was everything I was expecting, and more – green lush mountains, misty mornings, rainforests, gorillas, chimps, monkeys….primates galore! Being November and rainy season I was also expecting mud and rain pretty much all the time. But whilst there was plenty of rain and mud there was also plenty of sunshine and a very pleasant temperature. The mud definitely made driving interesting and bumpy at times but it did not stop us doing anything that we had planned. Winching ourselves out of glue-like black cotton soil bog is all part of the adventure! What I hadn’t really expected was the abundance of fantastic birds and wildlife and the never-ending stunning scenery along our numerous road trips and the endless welcoming smiles and waves along the way.

This brings me on to transport – I really enjoyed having a private guide and 4x4 vehicle to drive me all the way through the western area of Uganda. You get to see the “real Africa” along the side of the road – and for a country that was seriously debilitated by Idi Amin in the 70’s and continues to be threatened by its neighbouring countries’ unrest I was in awe of its inhabitants’ resilience and optimism in the face of so many challenges to their much wanted progress. It is in a period of growth and tourism is blossoming, largely thanks to being one of the few countries left in the world where you can still trek the forests for mountain gorillas in their natural habitat.

My first stop was Semliki Wildlife Reserve – Semliki Lodge is the only lodge in this reserve which was set up as the first protected wildlife area in 1932. Years of civil unrest and war led to the area being poached and hunted, it was a favourite haunt of Amin. In 1995 The Uganda Safari Company won the concession for the Reserve, at which time the game was very low. The work they are doing there is fantastic and they are working closely with the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to encourage animals back – such as large maned lions, kob, buffalo, savannah and forest elephants….even the odd leopard. They have a research station for monitoring and studying the behaviour of their own community of wild chimpanzees in the forest there, and there is access to Lake Albert and the Semliki marshes where you can see the extremely rare shoebill stork, amongst a huge array of other stunning aquatic birdlife. Our boat trip on the Lake was so peaceful – surrounded by the Blue Mountains of the DRC and a long escarpment and the Rwenzori Mountains, shrouded in cloud, the lake was as flat as a mill pond. It was rather eerie, but very calming and stunning, with dramatic blue light and cloud with slivers of sunshine trying to get through. Due to its proximity to the DRC I was informed that this is a route for supplies to go into the DRC across the lake, however, it did not seem to impact our morning’s activity and the Lodge is involved in the community and its healthcare developments.

The Lodge itself is extremely comfortable with the endless expanse of trees and mountains stretching out infront of you as you sit in the thatched restaurant/bar with a fantastic pool and chill out area, and hosted by a very interesting couple who met doing aid work in southern Sudan. They are passionate about the area and run a very tight ship with a very friendly crew – delicious food and the only lodge where we were hosted at meals which led to some fascinating conversations about the area and a great safari feel.

My chimp tracking walk in the Mugiri Forest there was probably the highlight of the whole trip – we set off early to track the dry habitat chimps that live there (around 40 of them) with a guarded ranger from the research post where we climbed to quite a height – from here, my guide and ranger managed to locate the chimps from miles away just by looking through their binoculars and watching the trees, listening for tell tale signs of their whereabouts. They laughed and marveled at my inability to see what on earth they were spotting! How we (OK, they) found them I don’t know – there were no radio calls here – and as they are not fully habituated we did not get closer than about 75 metres, but it was the most thrilling sighting to be hiding in the bushes watching three of them eating in a fig tree so far away, yet they did not take their eyes off us the whole time. This was definitely their patch and we did not push it – it felt such an honour to see them in their habitat, not another person for miles around, just surrounded by trees and forest and the many noises that go with that. What a privelage, a very special experience that will certainly remain with me as one of my top African treats. Like all wildlife, nothing is 100% guaranteed, which is probably why the experience was made to feel even more special. I should probably give a mention to the other primates we saw along the way, colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, baboons, not to mention the numerous warthogs, kobs and birds. Night drives often treat you to a leopard sighting, but sadly they were elusive on mine, as were the forest ellies.

This was a tough one to follow but Ndali in the Kibale Forest area south of Port Fortal was a charming next stop and we drove through some beautifully mountainous scenery to get there. It is run by a very friendly expat whose family have been in the area for a few generations. It has a very homey, relaxed feel to it and a certain eccentric charm in the lack of electricity, friendly dogs who follow you around and a deep hot bath in your cottage to warm you up brilliantly after a rainy start to our stay there. The nearby Kibale Forest is where you can do a chimp trek in the morning where you are very likely to see some of the 1,000 chimps that live there. There are also plenty of lovely scenic walks you can do there after you have had breakfast on the terrace looking down over a stunning crater lake. We learnt about processing vanilla pods, bananas, tea growing and visited the vanilla factory, all in a morning’s walk!

The land got a bit flatter as we headed further south to Queen Elizabeth National Park where we went on a boat trip from Mweya Lodge there on the Kazinga Channel – we were with about 40 other people and we all oohed and aahed as we cruised slowly past pods of hippos all wallowing in the water happily alongside buffalo and crocodiles - we admired fish eagles, kingfisher, pelicans, herons, cormorants drying their wings on the shore.

Then we head to Jacana, a lovely lodge right on the edge of a crater lake where we spent the night in log cabin style rooms built of eucalyptus looking over the lake. This is a birders paradise and you can even take the pontoon around the lake’s edge for some close up bird watching. It is also quite handy for Kyambura Gorge (pronounced Chambura Gorge) which is another beautiful spot where you can go chimp trekking in this riverine forest – however there are only 16 chimps there and you have to remember they move around more than the gorillas so you will not always see them!

For more of the traditional game viewing safari feel in QENP, Ishasha Camp is where you want to head, at the southern tip of the park – this is a great tented camp right on the river in a beautiful area. This is where you would hope to find the tree climbing lions associated with the QENP – we did see some lions and 3 little cubs, but they were under a tree! Always a real bonus to see some cubs, it’s all I can do to stop myself getting out of the car to give them a cuddle.

From here it was a 3 hour drive to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest….the highlight of our trip to see the gorillas! In true Bwindi style we arrived in a torrential downpour and as we stood in the bar of the Buhoma Lodge we stared across the deep dark green valley over to the “impenetrable” forest that loomed up ahead of us and wondered how we were going to slip our way up the steep tracks the following morning. Yet the following morning the sun was shining on the dripping leaves around us as we started our ascent into the Bwindi National Park, aided by sticks and our porters who helped carry our day packs – the best $10 I have ever spent by the way. They are also there to give you a dignified push on the backside if you are struggling with a particularly steep and slippy part of the track! We were looking for the Habinyanja Group which has 22 gorillas (lots of babies) in it and we trekked for 2 hours up the mountain in our group of 8 and it was quite strenuous at times but we went at a slow and comfortable pace – once at the top it was another hour of slower trekking through the denser vegetation, off piste so to speak. We eventually heard the trackers who had gone out at dawn that morning to find the gorillas and we knew we were close. We left our porters with our packs, grabbed out cameras and suddenly there they were. You get so obsessed with how long you might have to trek to find them that it is almost a shock when you see them right there infront of you. It was just beginning to rain which is a bad sign as they don’t like the rain and hide in denser vegetation. Luckily they were still visible though and our hour with them went by in a flash. There was no fear or nervousness and I was struck by how peaceful they were – I was particularly taken with a mother cuddling and grooming her young baby with so much love and affection, I have never seen anything so human in the animal world and it was incredibly moving. The huge silverback behind them was minding his own business, munching on some branches before slumping forward for a little rest! The ones that did really stare you in the face almost seemed to be talking to you, I’m not sure what they were thinking but in no way was it threatening, it was more curiosity and a strange trusting acceptance of our presence. It was one of those experiences that really takes a while to digest. You are then back on that slippery muddy track back to base and the challenges that that incurs….and when you’re back at the lodge looking back at the dark forest you think “did that really happen”? Were we really that close to such an awesome and threatened creature up there? Definitely take a spare battery with you for your camera…mine was not charged properly and it was very disappointing not to be able to take more pictures than I did.

Our last stop en route back to Kampala was a half-way stop off at Lake Mburo and Mihingo Lodge – another stunning lodge location set up on the hills looking down over the plains around. 360 degree views from up here offer a huge feeling of space after Bwindi and it is a perfect place to rest up and let everything sink in, in beautiful surroundings. There is a great variety of game (hyena being the only predator – and no ellies or giraffe) and birds here and we enjoyed another beautiful boat trip on Lake Mburo before the rain really set in again. The Lodge only opened a year ago but it feels very relaxed and the tented rooms and solid Lamu-inspired bathrooms are extremely spacious, all with fantastic views – some are quite a walk down the hill so be careful to ask for one near the restaurant/pool area if you think you can’t walk too far after your gorilla trek! I could happily have stayed here for a couple more nights before heading back to the city.

In Kampala I had the pleasure of staying in the most cosmopolitan of boutique hotels I have come across in an African city to date (bar South Africa), with only 20 rooms – Emin Pasha is a very slick colonial style hotel set in a tropical garden up on a hill looking down over dusty Kampala. The open sided cocktail bar and restaurant was obviously popular with the expats on a Sunday afternoon and the quality of food and wine on offer there was very impressive, with cool white rooms, TVs and minibars and a great swimming pool and roof top terraces to enjoy the view.

A quick trip east of Kampala to Jinja, the source of the Nile, is really more of an attraction for those in search of more adrenalin rushes, if coming face to face with silverback isn’t enough – it is a centre for white water rafting, bungee jumping (although it looked a bit old and rusty for me!), quad-biking and generally geared towards backpackers and expats. I was slightly disappointed to learn it is also the second most industrial city in Uganda which was a bit of a shock after days of driving through lush countryside and small villages. Whilst Gately on the Nile was a homey place to stay, the disco in town seemed to ricochet up the river until the early hours of the morning and you were definitely back in the city.

My very last excursion was to Ngamba Island in Lake Victoria (45 minutes by boat from Entebbe) where there is a chimp sanctuary for orphaned chimps. Here they have the run of the island but they come back to base for regular feedings in the day and also to sleep at night. Here you can go on a forest walk and interact with the chimps and even play at being their caretaker for the day – an admirable and educational centre for learning more about chimps. There are 4 tents for those who want to stay the night.

All in all I just loved Uganda – it was completely different from any other country in Africa I have had the pleasure to visit. A road trip is also a great change from hopping around from lodge to lodge in small planes (which I love!) – having the continuity of one guide the whole way through out is fantastic and the road trips give you hours for riveting and educational discussions ranging from politics and economics, conservation and education to music and contraception! Fascinating. We met so many friendly and welcoming Ugandans (not to mention Rwandans and Congolese) along the road wheeling their bananas to market on their bikes, saw schools having lessons under the trees, women working in the tea plantations, and they all had time to stop and smile at us visitors! It is somewhere where you can walk around and meet people, visit orphanages and schools and see how real life ticks along in this beautiful African green gem of a country.