Eastern and Northern Uganda

Exclusive experiences along the eastern frontier
While the beaten tourist track runs south-west from Kampala, those heading in the opposite direction can discover some equally stunning but far from crowded destinations.
On Mount Elgon, the world’s largest free-standing volcanic mountain, walkers will find improbably pretty waterfalls, superb montane panoramas and vast forests. Far to the north, on the border with Southern Sudan, an exciting diversity of wildlife is found in Kidepo Valley National Park, one of Africa’s last truly great wildernesses.
Climate
Mount Elgon experiences dry seasons from June to August and December to March. At high altitudes, night time temperatures are cold. In the far north, Kidepo Valley is hotter and drier, with a single, prolonged dry season between October and March.
Landscape
 Uganda’s eastern frontier is characterized by extensive plains dotted with extinct volcanoes and isolated mountain ranges. By far the most extensive of these is Mount Elgon, covering an area of 4, 000 sq km. Moving north through the remote region of Karamoja towards Kidepo Valley, the landscape becomes progressively drier.
Culture and people
The Bagisu people on the southern slopes of Mount Elgon are known for their biannual imbalu ceremony
in which boys are initiated into manhood through circumcision. The Karamojong, who live between Mount Elgon and Kidepo Valley, are pastoralists who continue to resist change in favour of their traditional, semi-nomadic lifestyle.
Major attractions
Mount Elgon
Mount Elgon National Park is an ideal setting for both short and extended hikes. The park’s Forest Exploration Centre at Kapkwai offers half-day and full-day guided walks through montane
Forest to visit caves and waterfalls. Expeditions, several days in duration, ascend to the 4,321 meter summit of the mountain from a choice of trailheads. Nights are spent in basic huts and campsites. The main peaks form the shattered wall of a collapsed central caldera – at 8 km in diameter, said to be the world’s largest – which contains glacial lakes and hot springs. Excellent opportunities for walking also exist outside the park, notably around Sipi village, where the Sipi River plunges in quick succession over three lofty waterfalls. If these gems are not sufficient incentive, the Sipi valley’s elevated location affords fabulous sunset panoramas over the vast plains and lakes at the base of the mountain.
Accommodation
 Mount Elgon National Park offers basic cottages at Kapkwai while midrange lodges, backpacker cottages and campsites surround Sipi village. At the foot of the mountain, below the towering Wanale Cliffs, Mbale town contains several good hotels and is a good base for exploring the region.
Travel
 Mbale is 230 km (four hours’ drive) from Kampala on good tarmac roads and Sipi another 50 km (one hour’s drive).
Kidepo valley national park, the ultimate wilderness
 Located on the Sudan border in the farthest corner of wild Karamoja district, Kidepo is one of Africa’s most magnificent wildernesses. Big game favorites – elephant, giraffe, zebra, eland, hartebeest, lion, hyena and cheetah, and perhaps Africa’s largest single herd of buffalo – roam rolling grasslands that extend in all directions towards distant mountain ranges. Wildlife also includes species that are rare or absent from other Ugandan protected areas such as aardwolf, bat-eared fox, cheetah, striped hyena and ostrich. Its isolation means that Kidepo is little visited and visitors can expect to enjoy a high degree of solitude.
ACCOMMODATION
 Includes an up market lodge, basic cottages and wilderness campsites.
Travel
 Until recently, most visitors flew to Kidepo. However, since the end of a long-running rebellion in northern Uganda, and following improvements to roads in the region, tourists commonly travel overland to Kidepo from Kampala and Murchison Falls.
Other attractions
Nyero Rock paintings near Kumi.
MURCHISON FALLS NATIONAL PARK.
Over a century has gone by since Winston Churchill famously described the game rich plains around Murchison Falls as ‘Kew Gardens and the Zoo on an unlimited scale’ – and his words still hold true today. Although wildlife was hit hard by poachers during the 1970s and 1980s, the 5,000 sq km wilderness of Uganda’s largest conservation area now contains healthy populations of its 76 mammal species, including elephant, giraffe, hartebeest, buffalo, lion, leopard, Uganda kob and hippo. Varied habitats, such as savanna, open water, papyrus swamp, woodland and tropical forest, are also home to 450 bird species. The Nile is the lifeblood of Murchison Falls National Park, sustaining large numbers of resident hippo, crocodile and water birds as well as other regularly visiting animals. Approaching from the east, it races down 80 km of rapids before crashing onto the rift valley floor over the thunderous Murchison Falls and flowing sedately towards Lake Albert. On the broad, tranquil river below the fall, river craft offer a reliable and comfortable means of viewing game. Traditional game drives are also available as well as forest walks in search of birds and primates. Outside the park, the rich history of the ancient Bunyoro Kingdom can be explored at a number of cultural sites.
Climate
The Nile corridor below Murchison Falls is the lowest part of Uganda and temperatures are hot with a mean high of 29°C (80°F). Wet seasons occur during mid March-June and August-September.
Landscape
Beyond Masindi town, the terrain drops over an escarpment to Lake Albert on the floor of the rift valley. Beyond the Nile, the landscape is flat and increasingly dry. Tropical forests found behind the rift valley escarpment give way to savanna and bush on the hotter plains below.
CULTURE AND PEOPLE:
The Murchison Nile separates two distinct ethnic groups, the Bantu-speaking Bunyoro and the Nilotic peoples of northern Uganda. South of the river, the Bunyoro Kingdom was once one of Africa’s greatest empires. More recently, thousands of Acholi and Langi people living north of the Nile were displaced during a prolonged rebellion. Though the region has been at peace since 2006, these societies are struggling to return to normal.
Major attractions
The park contains three virtually mandatory visitor activities. The most popular of these is the boat trip past impressive populations of hippo and to the bottom of the 40 meter (130 ft) Murchison Falls. Though the view from the boat is memorable enough – it provided a backdrop for Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn in the ‘The African Queen’ – it should certainly be supplemented by a visit to the Top of the Falls to see, hear and feel all the waters of the mighty Nile exploding through a 6 meter gap in the cliffs. The third activity is a drive through the game-rich Buligi grasslands to the shores of the Albert Nile. Birders will be keen to seek water birds, especially the shoebill, along the river, while there are 59 ‘restricted range’ species – among them Albertine rift endemics and rare Central African species – to find in the Budongo and Kaniyo Pabidi forests. Primates, including chimpanzee, can also be tracked in Kaniyo Pabidi forest.
Cultural sites
Hoima town, south of the park, contains three cultural attractions related to the Bunyoro Kingdom: Mparo Tombs, Hoima Palace and Katasiha Fort. North-west of Hoima, salt has been produced beside Lake Albert at Kibero Salt Gardens and hot springs since the 13th century.
Bringing rhinos home
The Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, on the road between Kampala and Murchison Falls, is a secure setting for the reintroduction of rhinos to Uganda, the last wild animals having been poached in the 1980s. Guided walks in the 70 sq km ranch provide the only chance to encounter rhinos in the wild in Uganda.
Accommodation
Murchison Falls National Park has three up market hotels and a tented camp on the banks of the Nile as well as more moderately priced accommodation.
Travel
Masindi Town, on the main route to Murchison Falls, lies 225 km from Kampala on a good tarmac road. The most direct route from Masindi to Para, the park’s main tourism hub is 85 km on a good quality dirt road.