There are so many tourist destinations in Uganda for those planning to visit. Uganda is also referred to as the Pearl of Africa, by Winston Churchill, one of the country’s earliest tourists in 1907. His personal opinion was that Uganda is ecologically a model country and can barely be compared to any other African country in the context of nature and beauty.

With over 30 different ingenious languages spoken, Uganda is considered the most ethnically diverse country in Africa.

The following are some of the tourist sites that you must not miss during your visit to Uganda.

1. Kampala City

Kampala is the capital city of Uganda, commonly known as a city that never sleeps. The city’s name means “that is of the impala”. Kampala region was originally reserved as a hunting region due to its ever-present supply of impalas- a type of antelope.

Kampala city is characterized by busy markets like the City’s Owino market said to be the largest in both central and East Africa. Owino Market is a must-do experience when visiting Uganda because here you get to browse the different market items like the Ugandan art crafts, clothes, grocery, among others.

There is much more than Kampala offers than the impressive Owino market experience. The beautiful temples, cathedrals, art galleries, and museums include the popular Uganda National Museum, the magnificent Bars, clubs, and restaurants, and the different night-glowing hills that Kampala city sits on.

2. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Just like the name states “Bwindi impenetrable”, this park is located within one of Africa’s oldest and rich forests that inhabit almost half of the world’s endangered mountain Gorillas. The park also has recorded over 350 bird species, 200 tree species, 1 20 mammals, and various butterfly and moth species.

Bwindi Impenetrable National park is located in southwestern Uganda, in Kisoro district accessible throughout the year.

The highlight of visiting this park is tracking the rare Mountain gorillas. A total number of fifteen Gorilla groups have been habituated since 1 993 and are tracked every year by tourists.

Gorilla tracking can last from 6 hours up to a whole day depending on how far the group has moved. Gorilla tracking permits must be purchased in advance due to high demand by tourists. Da Link safaris designs well planned Gorilla tracking tour packages customized to make the experience even more memorable

3. Sipi falls

Sipi Falls is a popular site located in eastern Uganda in the district of Kapchorwa and on the slopes of Mount Elgon National Park.

It is a series of three waterfalls that offer very striking scenery from any point of view.

Sipi Falls is a nice place to relax and literally chill. Its geographical location away from the hustle and noise of the towns and cities makes it an explicit destination.

While at Sipi falls, one can participate in various activities such as abseiling, hiking to the falls, cave exploration, cultural experience, sunset, and sunrise walks, to mention but a few.

4. Murchison Falls National Park

Murchison falls National park is the largest and one of the oldest national parks in Uganda gazetted in 1926. It is located in the northwestern parts of Uganda famously known for its tremendous ear-splitting waterfalls busting through the narrow gullies with very high escarpments, not forgetting the different wildlife species such as elephants, lions, leopards, buffalos, giraffes, among others. A hike to the top of the falls, boat cruise to the bottom of the falls will highlight your visit to this park.

Bird watching in this park will give you chance to sight both land and aquatic bird species as over 450 bird species have been recorded over years. The rare shoebill is usually sighted along the Nile delta.

Other activities in this park include game drives, sport fishing, not forgetting a visit to Ziwa Rhino sanctuary a few kilometers away from the park.

5. Jinja City

Jinja is a famous colonial industrial town located in the Eastern part of Uganda. It is the home of the popular Basoga people.

Jinja city is internationally known as the birthplace of River Nile-the longest river in the world.

Jinja’s gift of River Nile comes with a series of other impressive natural phenomena like the steep cliffs along the river, the heart-throbbing rapid waterfalls, and a beautiful landscape to view. Tourism activities in Jinja include bungee jumping, whitewater rafting, whitewater tubing, mountain biking, quad-biking, boat cruise along the Nile, zip-lining, among others.

6. The equator

It’s not wise enough to talk about Uganda without mentioning the equator. Uganda is blessed to be among the few countries in the world where the equator passes. This offers you a chance to be in two hemispheres at the same time.

The equator landmark is located along Kampala-Masaka road, a highway to other fascinating tourist sites like Queen Elizabeth National Park and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in western Uganda. Therefore, an experience of the equator can be treated as a stopover activity while heading for other richly endowed sites as mentioned above.

The equator landmark in Uganda grants you an opportunity to take memorable photos standing right in the center of the imaginary latitude line cutting across the world.

7. Ziwa rhino sanctuary

Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is located about 1 00 miles north of Kampala in Nakasongola district, on Kampala- Gulu highway, 5km before turning to Masindi.

This is a home for the rare southern white rhino which is the 3rd largest land mammal after the African and Asian elephants.

These Rhinos being herbivorous, contribute much to the ecosystem and the survival of many other branches of nature however, due to the destructive nature of humans, they became extinct in Uganda by 1982. These Rhinos are also called the square-lipped rhinoceros and they are known to be quite sociable, the reason they can be tracked on foot by tourists with the help of tour guides.

Ziwa Rhino sanctuary was established in 2005 to reintroduce the southern white rhinoceros to Uganda with a longtime obligation to build a sustainable rhinoceros’ population.

In a nutshell, tourism in Uganda is mainly focused on Uganda’s nature and wildlife and the above are some of the destinations you should look forward to visiting while in the Pearl of Africa. However, there are a lot more breathtaking places you can visit while in Uganda.

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