Kabale Backpackers

A 50-minute drive away, the Bwindi National Park is home to around half of the world’s tiny population of mountain gorillas. Permits and guided visits are essential here: only 72 people are admitted to the park each day and only eight are allowed to encounter a gorilla family. Those who’ve met them understand why the rules matter so much. The gorillas may be the star turn at Bwindi but being a densely forested wilderness it is, of course, full of other rare and elusive creatures, including elephants, giant forest hogs, African golden cats and colobus monkeys. Just across the border in Tanzania, the Ibanda Game Reserve (one hour, 40 minutes) is totally different terrain: these wide grasslands along the banks of the Kagera river are dotted with acacia trees and orchids and roamed by hippos, water buffalo and packs of baboons. Most of the remaining mountain gorillas live in the Mgahinga/Volcanoes National Parks (two hours, 10 minutes), belonging to Uganda and Rwanda respectively. The local Batwa people lead tours through this area of conical extinct volcanoes, high in the clouds, where endangered golden monkeys swing between the trees, and lakes glimmer below. If you’re heading northwards, it’s around four hours to the Queen Elizabeth National Park and Murchison Falls, five hours to stand on the equator (and take a picture…) and six hours, 45 minutes to the capital city, Kampala.