In 1981, only 254 mountain gorillas were left on Earth.
Today there are more than a thousand, and about half of them live here. That is where Uganda begins, and it is the smallest of its wonders.
A great comeback, and one forest with thirteen kinds of primate.
Mountain gorillas live in only three countries on Earth, and about half of them are here, in Bwindi. Climb through the forest and a silverback sits an arm’s length away. In the forest of Kibale, thirteen kinds of primate share one canopy, more than all of North America holds in the wild.
Half of Africa’s birds, in a country the size of Great Britain.
All of Canada has recorded 704 kinds of bird. Uganda has 1,088. Two dozen of them live nowhere else on Earth, and a single forest, Bwindi, is the only place that holds every one. The crowned crane on the flag wears a crown of gold and dances.
The youngest country on Earth still crowns kings.
A king crowned at three
In Tooro, King Oyo took the throne in 1995 as a three-year-old, reported as the world’s youngest reigning monarch.
A king his chiefs elect
Next door in Busoga, the king is chosen by his own chiefs, a crown that is voted, not only inherited.
Greeted by name
In the west, people carry praise-names used in greeting, a kindness built into the language itself.
The longest river on Earth begins here.
At Jinja the Nile slips out of Lake Victoria and runs 6,650 km to the sea, farther than Canada is wide. The lake it leaves is the second largest body of fresh water on the planet, after Lake Superior. To the west rise the Rwenzori, the Mountains of the Moon, a name Ptolemy gave them 2,000 years ago, believing their snow fed the Nile. The snow is still there, on the equator.
Lions that climb trees, and giants coming back.
In the Ishasha plains, lions drape themselves along the branches of fig trees, one of the few places on Earth they do. Uganda’s elephants have climbed back into the thousands, it protects more Nubian giraffes than anywhere on Earth, and at Ziwa, rhinos are being born on Ugandan soil again.
Pick what calls you. We plan the trip around it.
Come and explore Uganda.
Tell us what you would love to see, the gorillas, the birds, the river, the kings, all of it, and we will plan the journey with you. The whole of East Africa is yours to explore with Bashem.