From the moment you land at Entebbe’s modern
and efficient international airport, with its breathtaking equatorial location
on the forested shore of island-strewn Lake Victoria, it is clear that Uganda is
no ordinary safari destination. Dominated by an expansive golf course leading
down to the lakeshore, and a century-old botanical garden alive with the chatter
of acrobatic monkeys and colorful tropical birds, Entebbe itself is the least
obviously urban of all comparably sized African towns. Then, just 40km distant,
sprawled across seven hills, there is the capital Kampala. The bright modern
feel of this bustling, cosmopolitan city reflects the ongoing economic growth
and political stability that has characterized Uganda since 1986, and is
complemented by the sloping spaciousness and runaway greenery of its garden
setting.
Ecologically, Uganda is where the East
African savannah meets the West African jungle. Where else but in this
impossibly lush country can one observe lions prowling the open plains in the
morning and track chimpanzees through the rainforest undergrowth the same
afternoon, then the next day navigate tropical channels teeming with hippo and
crocs before setting off into the misty mountains to stare deep into the eyes of
a mountain gorilla? Certainly, Uganda is the only safari destination whose range
of forest primates is as impressive as its selection of plains antelope. And
this verdant biodiversity is further attested to by Uganda’s status as by far
the smallest of the four African countries whose bird checklist tops the 1,000
mark!