Glorious Uganda

The ultimate destination

by Jacqui Brenner

I arrived in Uganda in 2007, carrying the emotional baggage of some upsetting medical news as well as my father’s pessimistic warning that a trip to Africa meant inevitable death. Fortunately, as soon as I touched down in Entebbe (slightly worn out after a 36 hour journey from Australia), I knew that I had made the right choice in coming. Nothing I had seen so far in my lifetime of travel had come close to comparing to the power of Uganda. Spiritual gurus talk constantly about the importance of living in the moment, and that’s exactly what this country provides. You can’t worry about life back home, you can’t care about daily stresses as Uganda mesmerises you with its exotic sights and sounds (and ok, there’s some smells too!).

My decision to travel with a tour company was an excellent one. Sharing the experience with a bunch of like-minded travellers was amazing and it’s incredible how quickly you can bond with complete strangers when there are no toilets, few showers and no electricity. It’s a very different life to my comfortable existence back home, but for reasons I can’t quite explain, I loved every dirty minute of it!

Africa has so much to offer, but for me it was all about two things – the people and the wildlife. Despite the county’s difficult history (or maybe because of it?), the locals are warm, friendly and surprisingly content. The astonishing number of children that materialise from even the most deserted of settings, stole my heart with their big smiles and joy-filled laughter.

Like a Hollywood movie, wildlife abounds in Uganda’s lush green landscape and I had to constantly remind myself that I wasn’t dreaming. I cruised amongst the hippos, trekked to the chimpanzees, hung out with playful lion cubs and spent some sleepless nights lying in my tent, listening to predators as they roamed around our campsite, much too close for comfort! Finally it came time to see the gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Uganda is one of only three countries in the entire world where gorillas can be found in the wild and it is an indescribable privilege to sit amongst them in their natural habitat.

The trek to the gorillas can be challenging, but fortunately for un-fit me, the gorillas were close to camp and we didn’t have to go far before we encountered the family of 15 beautiful apes. Initially they were watching us as much as we were watching them, but after a short time, they settled into their daily routine. The babies wrestled with one another, the adults lazed around and ate whilst the intimidating silverback watched over his group. The silverback was awe-inspiring and I will never forget the moment when he went from relaxing under a bush, to charging at our group. The eyes down, crouch to the ground technique helped us to calm his nerves, but those 60 seconds when all 400 pounds of pure muscle came at us, were the most exciting, scary and exhilarating moments of the my life.

The town of Bwindi has thrived on the tourism generated by the gorilla treks. All the locals are employed either directly or indirectly by this industry and inspiringly, the locals travel to other towns to explain the value of ecotourism and sustainability. I was proud to learn that my incredible experience was actually helping to support the people and help conservation efforts at the same time.  

I can’t say enough about the amazing experiences that I had in Uganda. The people are remarkable, the history is fascinating and the wildlife is simply breathtaking. If you truly want to have an adventure that gets you out of your comfort zone then Uganda is the ultimate destination. I have travelled around the world and nothing has affected me quite like this place.