Kampala the capital city of Uganda and its Hills

Kampala is Uganda's capital city with an estimated population of about 1723200. Of the 189 sq.kms, 176 sq.kms is land and 13 sq.km is water. Kampala is headed by the Lord Mayor. All administrative, political, social and economic operations are centralized by Kampala Capital City Authority.

The City was originally built on 7 hills. The first hill of historical importance is Kasubi hill, the second is Mengo hill, the third is Kibuli hill, the fourth is Namirembe hill, the fifth is Lubaga hill, the sixth Nsambya hill and the seventh is Kampala hill.

Luganda that is one of the local languages and English as the official language are the most commonly spoken languages.

The capital is divided into five regions that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Rubaga Division.

We shall keep you posted

By Wyfy

Touring unique Ethnic groups gifted to Uganda

The Bantu not only being the broadest ethnic group in Africa, it's so in Uganda. Speaking different languages with a common prefix 'Ntu' they flourish the Eastern, Western and Central parts of Uganda. Some of these tribes include the Baganda of Central Uganda, Banyankole and Bakiga in the South-Western parts Basoga and Bagisu of Eastern region. Their leadership is hereditary through kingship. Matooke being the dominant staple foods among most tribes.

The Nilotics come next in Population after the Bantu. The Northern region is being their area of occupancy with districts such as Gulu, Lira, Pader, Arua all gifted with different tourism natures.

The Nilo-Hamites are another unique ethnic group that would attractively pay the best experience of your tour into the Pearl of Africa. The Karamajongs of North-Eastern Uganda are the tribe in this ethnic group in Uganda. This region being dominated by dry climatic conditions, the Karamajongs have historically and to-date resorted to nomadic pastoralism as their main economic activity. These survive on beef, blood, and milk from their cattle as their staple foods inspite of an insignificant plantations of millet and other dry crops.

The last ethic is the hamites with a less number in the South Western parts of Uganda bordering Rwanda. These are also pastoralists with large herds of Cattle kept on huge masses of farm-lands.

Experience your best tours throughout the ethnics of Uganda.

We shall keep you posted

By Wyfy

Background of the Pearl of Africa Uganda

In 1908 Winston Churchill  wrote a book about Uganda. In it he said that "For magnificence, for variety of form and colour for profusion of brilliant life - bird, insect , reptile, beast - for vast scale - Uganda is truly  the Pearl of Africa".

After Winston Churchill visiting Uganda and because of Uganda stunning green valleys, vast lakes, and tall mountains. Its high altitude gives it a cooler climate than other places on the equator he called the Uganda the Pearl of Africa but today let us focus the political background of the Pearl of Africa Uganda .

Uganda being a small state in the Eastern African land, its size forever proves insignificant of it's gifted nature by God in the heart of Africa.

Well, Uganda is lucky to have experienced different histories that is to say, the Pre and Post Independence backgrounds.

In the Pre Independence (early 1930s), European and Arab traders trailled their routes into Uganda (Buganda Kingdom by then) with different interests. These were later accampagned by the World War 2 veterans and Patriots who had volunteered their hand into the war under their European colonialists' orders. These later rallied for their Independence of their mother land.

By 1962, Buganda as a British colony had attained it's independence led by a political alliance of the Uganda People's congress (U.P.C) and Kabaka Yekka (K.Y) where the Buganda King (Kabaka) 'Edward Muteesa 2' was elected as the first President of Uganda.

In 1966, UPC dominated the Parliament with it's leader 'Apollo Milton Obote' elected as the Executive President. This was followed by declaring of Uganda as a Republican State.

The 1971 Military coup, ruined Obote's leadership and his Military Army Commander 'Iddi Amin Dadda' overthrew him.

Field Martial Iddi Amin Dadda ruled Uganda for eight years until his reign was ended by the Uganda-Tanzania War of 1979. This war was sparked by Tanzania forces in-hand with Uganda exiles.

This proved to have been an advantage of smoothly paving Obote's return as a President of the Republic of Uganda.

By 1985, Obote was again deposed by Tito Okello Lutwa for ruled for about six months only.

The National Resistance Army (NRA) led by Gen. YK Museveni militarily overthrew Tito's government in 1986.

Currently, Uganda still reigns under leadership of H.E Gen. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.

We shall keep you posted

By Wyfy

Why everyone must visit Uganda?

People always ask themselves questions as to why you should visit a place. Some go to the extent of looking out for activities that suit their lifestyle. Well! If you are to enjoy your trip, always leave room for the unexpected-try out the unexpected. The reason why I put up this article is to reference to the great words used by Churchill Winston when he called Uganda, the pearl of Africa. This was during when he decided to visit Uganda, and after his visitation, there was no phrase to express what he had seen. All he thought of was Uganda is the pearl of Africa. Trying to read his mind, I want to dive into his thoughts at that time and get a big picture of what could have gone up in his mind.

 Here are some of places or activities that you need to visit while in Uganda.

Bwindi Impenetrable national park.

Bwindi Impenetrable is one of the remarkable national parks to think about. This is because of the great wild beasts, the gorillas that live in this forest. Gorillas are sought to have characters like those of human beings. There is no way I can begin to explain all that I know about the gorillas. I encourage you to take a personal trip to discover for yourself. What makes these gorillas special is that fact that mountains gorillas around the world are only found in Uganda, Rwanda, and Democratic republic of Congo.

Source of R.Nile.

If you are traveller or someone who knows history, I believe you have heard about R.Nile. The source of R.Nile is in Uganda at Jinja. Jinja is a quiet place which is a 3 hours’ drive from Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. It is normally a hub for tourists who come to the region to carryout different activities. This is a must-see and because of its Uniqueness, Mr. Churchill was wrong with his conclusions.

Bird watching.

I think you have been to countries where you never see birds. Here is in Uganda, birds are everywhere however not every species is everywhere-there are places where you find different species. Uganda is home to more 1000 species of birds. This is country that you shall leave at least without seeing a peculiar bird.

Uganda martyrs.

On June 3^rd every year, it is a public holiday in Uganda. This is because it is the day when the Uganda martyrs where killed. Like any martyr, these were killed on orders of the king because of their faith. The memorial site in a place called Namugongo. You can’t miss this history.

Kabaka’s  lake.

This is largest man-made lake in Africa. People showed love for the king by digging this Lake. The royals in Uganda are one of the most respected people in Uganda.

Uganda’s culture.

Uganda has over 60 different tribes; and you know every tribe has its culture: political, social, economic and artistic. Now imagine all these tribes being encapsulated in one area, they form something amazing. This is Uganda for you.

Different wildlife.

Every country has wildlife but each wildlife pretty differs. This is amazing. Uganda has several wildlife species that are worthy your time of view. You need to see some of the animals for yourself.

Unique food.

Uganda is a food haven. You shall find lots of food species in this country. There countries you walk into and you shall never see things like jackfruit trees, guava trees, and so on but here you are able to see and even take the fruit of it if it’s the season.

From all those perspective, I can only imagine Uganda as the pearls of Africa and this verifies Churchill Winston’s statement.

For those that would like to come and see this marvelous homeland, all you need is to book a tour with gorilla tour booking safaris, www.gorillatourbooking.com.

How to write a gorilla trekking and wildlife safari review in Uganda.

Reviews are one of the most powerful tools that travelers use to express their judgment about their trip. If you a traveler how do you begin the process of writing a review?

To write review, you must be well prepared to narrate your experience to the world.

Although there are many traveler sites that enable people to write reviews. There are only two widely used sites in Uganda: safari booking, www.safaribooking.com and www.tripadvisor.com

All you need is to search out for the company that you traveled with. In most cases you shall find its profile all on those two sites.

After signing up or signing in, you locate the official pages of the company and start writing your review.

A review can be anything from a thank you to the company or guide that you traveled with, a detailed explanation of how you enjoyed your journey, or the little problems that you encountered, to something completely different. I would simply say just write your feeling; how was your journey?

 Did you enjoy it?

There is no limit to the number of words you use while writing a review. You just have to write until you have fully expressed yourself.

Do I need to write a review for every trip I go to?

The answer is absolutely no. You don’t need to write a review for every trip. There is no penalty for not writing a review. Tour operator companies need your review to see the kind of feedback they receive from their clients. This helps them to take every step to be better as a company.

From a personal experience at gorilla tour booking safaris, www.gorillatoubooking.com, I have seen a number of clients writing reviews about our company; I would say this is always one of our happiest moments because we know that whether a review is good or bad, it is going to contribute towards our growth.

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Uganda’s E-visa.

Picture from https://uganda.visahq.com/information/

The E-visa platform was commemorated on July 1st 2016 during the start of a busy traveller season. I believe one of the major reasons is to ease on the process.

Here is some of the information you need to know about the about the E-visa.

I’m going concentrate on specific types of visa during my explanations. These are the type of visa that almost any adventurer tourist would want.

The East Africa Tourist Visa.

Multiple entry visa

Ordinary visa.

You can apply for one of these visas to fulfill your adventure ambitions using the E-visa platform: https://www.visas.immigration.go.ug/

The East Africa Tourist visa:

The East Africa tourist visa allows a tourist to travel between the Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. The holder of the visa normally moves from the country that issued the visa, let say Uganda, to Kenya and Rwanda in this case without applying for domestic visa. This is convenient for those that come to do activities that span among these countries. For example some of the itineraries are designed such that you do gorilla trekking in both Rwanda and Uganda. In such a case, this visa would suite that appropriate situation.

To apply for this visa using the Uganda’s E-visa platform:

You shall need the following documents.

A copy of the passport (Bio-data page), travel itinerary, copy of the recent passport size photograph, Vaccination certificate ( Yellow fever), and a return ticket.

The fee for such a visa is $100.

Ordinary visa-single entry visa.

Those who plan on doing activities within the Ugandan border, you can apply for an ordinary visa, single entry visa.

The documents required for such a visa are:

A copy of the passport (Bio-data page), Vaccination certificate (Yellow fever),and Copy of the recent passport size photograph. The fee for such a visa is $50.

Multiple entry-visas.

The multi-entry visa suits those who feel like entering the country several times during the span of the visa. You can come in and go out and then in and out repeatedly as long as the visa is still valid.

The documents required are:

A copy of the passport (Bio-data page), Vaccination certificate( Yellow fever),and Copy of the recent passport size photograph, Police clearance from Interpol or home country, Recommendation letters from 2 referees in Uganda, and a cover letter stating reasons for multiple entry. The fee for such a visa is $100.

After submission of all those required documents,

You shall receive a notification with an application Number which you shall use to track the application.

 You shall receive an email notification detailing the steps to be taken, with an attachment of the e-visa approval to travel. The attachment should be printed and presented to Immigration Officers as proof that the e-visa was approved.

In case the application is deferred, it can be sent back for amendment by the applicant or more documents requested by the processing Immigration Officer

If you are successful with your visa, you shall pay for the visas at the Points of Entry (The Uganda border of entry)

We at gorilla tour booking safaris, www.gorillatourbooking.com, greatly encourage those who are going to travel with us to use the e-visa because of its efficiency.

For more information visit https://www.visas.immigration.go.ug/

Tips for traveling with children in Uganda for a holiday/vacation.

When you are planning to go on vacation with your family, you need to consider these tips for traveling with children.  Children are nice and lovely being around with; however to fully enjoy your trip, you need to take care of them so well. Here are some of the tips to fully enjoy your vacation.

Plan in advance.

There is no short cut to enjoy the best moments with your children. You need to plan in advance for your journey. It is always better to consider making your bookings. If you plan in advance, you shall have the time to look out for discounted flights. Always there are discounts to be offered but sometimes the prices become so competitive during the peak season so the best advice would be to search out for cheap flights before time. If it is possible, make some deposits on flights. After finding the best flight to Uganda, the next thing is to find the best hotel. This surely depends on the amount of money you are willing to pay. There are luxury hotels, mid-range hotels, and budget hotels. Normally in Uganda, people come do to several activities such as gorilla trekking. Ensure that you have already decided on what you are going to do. If you are planning on doing activities, hire a tour operator. Do-it-yourself is almost impossible in cases where you have kids. For those who would wish to go for gorilla trekking, ensure that your kids are above 16 years because this is the acceptable age for gorilla trekking. In addition, ensure that you have booked your gorilla permits. Gorilla permits in Uganda cost around 600 USD per individual. You can book permits with the help of your tour operators. Companies like gorilla tour booking safaris, www.gorillatourbooking.com, are reputable for gorilla trekking. Check them out for their services.

Consider the climate.

You can travel to Uganda all-year round since the weather is so convenient. Kids tend to fall sick if they are not properly dressed. It is always better to dress them well. Pack their gloves, shoes, jackets or sweaters.

Don’t go for camping.

For sure in most cases children are not ready to go for camping especially in countries like Uganda. Of course adults can do that but I wouldn’t advise children to try that. Why? In case of changes around the camp, Adults can always adjust according.

Remember mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes are a threat to humanity in some way. There is absolutely a cure for it but to avoid catching the disease, carry mosquito repellants. Of course, in case you get sick; you can be treated and be cured so don’t get scared about travelling to Uganda. Although there are mosquitoes like in many other African countries, not everyone gets sick of malaria. In fact some spend years without catching the infection.

Don’t use public transport.

Public transport is not good for your kids in Uganda. They would be treated to surprise. It is not that a risk affair but I would advise car hiring. Hiring a car shall make your kids comfortable. They shall be able to enjoy the sights without any issue. The problem with public system is being squeezed. Toyota vans are the most used means of public transport used in Uganda, they carry 14 passengers but there times when they add an extra person, this is of course illegal but it’s in many times done. To fully enjoy your trip with your kids, go for a car hire. The good thing if you were coming to Uganda on a planned itinerary by a tour operator, you shall not worry about public transport because all the time, you shall be using their vehicles.

Keep kids engaged.

Kids love to play so you might as well consider getting things that keep them busy. Buy them games. There are times when you shall need your time, to get this time. You need your kids engaged. This is the way forward. Enjoy your time with the kids.

Uganda and Rwanda Safaris 

⇒1 Day Lake Mburo National Park Wildlife Safari Tour
⇒1 Day Ngamba Island Excursion Tour
⇒2 day Lake Mburo National Park.
⇒2 Days Murchison falls National Park Plus Rhinos.
⇒2-Day Tour to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
⇒2 Days,Rwanda Gorilla safari Gorilla tracking Adventure.

⇒3 Days Gorilla Trekking Tours , Gorilla Expeditions Safaris Bwindi National Park.
⇒3 Day Wildlife Safari -Queen Elizabeth National Park- Short Safari in Uganda.
⇒3 Days Murchison Falls Experience Safari to Uganda.
⇒3 Days Kibale Forest - Chimp trekking Mini - Safaris - Best of the Best Safaris.⇒3 Days Lake Mburo National Park Tour and Game Safari in Uganda.
⇒3 Days Rwanda Gorilla Trekking Tour & Dian Fossey -Rwanda Safari.
⇒3 Days Gorilla Trekking Safari-Uganda, short Gorilla tour in Uganda.
⇒4 Days , Uganda Mountain Gorilla tour Uganda Gorilla Trekking Safari.
⇒4 days Uganda Gorilla Tracking and BIG 5 Queen Elizabeth National Park Safari.
⇒4 Days Gorilla Tracking in PNV.
⇒4 Days-Track Rwanda Gorillas twice! Rwanda Gorilla tracking Tour.
⇒5 Days Uganda Safari trekking Chimpanzees and Gorilla tracking.
⇒5 Days gorillas and wildlife safari to Bwindi Impenetrable national park, and Queen Elizabeth N.P.
⇒5 Days Uganda Safari trekking Chimpanzees and Gorilla tracking.
⇒6 Days Gorilla Trekking in Uganda Bwindi Super Safari.
⇒6 Days Uganda/Rwanda Double Gorilla Tracking.
⇒7 Day Uganda Safari Gorillas and Chimp Tracking Kibale, Queen Elizabeth and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

⇒7-Day Uganda Super Safari: Lake Mburo ,Bwindi Impenetrable , Queen Elizabeth and Kibale 
⇒7 Days Gorilla Trekking Safari Adventure and Wildlife Uganda .
⇒7 days-Gorilla tour Rwanda Uganda Gorilla Tracking Tour. 
⇒7 Days Rwanda Gorillas & Chimps .
⇒8 Days Uganda Chimps and Rwanda Gorillas.
⇒9 Days Bwindi Gorilla Trekking Lake Bunyonyi-Queen National Park .
⇒10 Days Rwanda - Uganda Primates 
⇒10 Days Uganda Honeymoon Safari 
11 Days – Tour Rwanda Uganda Gorillas Gorilla Tour Uganda Rwanda 
⇒12 Days Rwanda Gorillas & Uganda Safari. 
⇒13 Days Uganda Rwanda Wildlife Tour
⇒14 Days All Round Cross boarder Tour.
⇒14 Day Gorilla Adventure Tour and Uganda Highlight Holidays Tour.
⇒15 Days Genocide, Gorillas and Wildlife.
⇒26 Days Uganda Rwanda Safari.
⇒Professional Programmes Doctor, Engineer, Lawyer or any other profession Safari to Uganda or Rwanda.

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