The Pearl of Africa

The Pearl of Africa, Uganda

The Pearl of Africa, Uganda appeals through its sheer natural beauty of looming snow-capped mountains, massive lakes, quintessential landscapes, and lush terraced Kigezi highlands that exude peace and serenity. The Pearl of Africa enchants with its dramatic cultural dances and colorful ceremonies, arts and crafts, and heartful people, and exciting nightlife. And everywhere, you will find warm intimacy with its people and cultures.

There are thousands of gift shops in Kampala and Entebbe. From a curved animal to a tropical t-shirt, you’ll find many things you’d like to bring back home. Most upmarket lodges and hotels have souvenir shops within the compound or nearby. If you think of bringing home some souvenirs, your best bet is the souvenir market at Buganda Road or opposite Vicotrial mall in Entebbe, where you may be overwhelmed by choice.

Because the Equator crosses the Pearl of Africa in the immediate center, the weather you will find is tropical, warm, and humid climate all year round with two main distinctive seasons: Dry Season and Rainy Season. Quite different from the areas around Viruganda Mountains (southwestern), which have several peaks over 7,000 ft in elevation. The temperatures are considerably cooler, and there is much more rainfall than in the central areas.

The Pearl of Africa is a preferred safari destination to the savvy traveler because its tourist numbers are still small and tolerable compared to its famous giant safari neighbors. There’s a big chance that tick-off bucket-listers will not step on your toes or disrupt your private getaway and lazy evenings. You most probably could be the only one on a game drive in the entire national park. The destination is a giant private reserve that makes private safari an affordable indulgence for an ordinary traveler.

Uganda’s stunning landscapes extend from the northern savannah plains to the western rainforest jungles, snow-capped mountains of the moon, and into the southwestern Volcano highlands. With the giant Lake Victoria washing off the whole central-southeastern corner, hundreds of lakes around the landscape, from above, you could buy it off as a Claude Monet masterpiece.

Having all this travel trove in one giant private reserve, I think, makes Ugandan people the most modest, welcoming, entertaining, and so much caring hosts.

The Pearl of Africa Safari

Use our safari experts to help you design a Safari or gorilla trekking experience in The Pearl of Africa that suits your style, or pick one of ours and customize it for your way of travel. When you send us an email, our reservations system connects you directly with a matching local expert that would meet your requirements and travel style. No third parties, no agents! You and a local expert shaping how you’ll spend your once-in-a-lifetime holiday in Africa.

The Pearl of Africa Travel Guide

Use our extensive online guide to find the right questions to ask or know more about the destination. We use local experts, safari guides, our team, and travelers to post up-to-date Pearl of Africa travel guides. There’s no better place to find the correct destination information than from a local source or someone who’s been there. Browse our Travel to Uganda Guide, know more about the destination Uganda before you travel!

Journeys

Our safari trips take you to the rich multicultural Ugandan sites to experience the sites, sounds, taste the food, and mix with the local people. Driving east of the capital Kampala takes you to the source of the mighty Nile river. Travelers flock here to relive John Hanington Speke’s experience of discovering the calm beginnings of the Nile’s 6,600-kilometer journey to Egypt.

What is Interesting?

Down the Nile, as it trails through the Albertine Rift leaving small lakes towards the Pearl of Africa’s northwestern border, the Nile leaves behind the most spectacular scenes through Murchison Falls National Park.  Massive numbers of animals and birds gather along its and surround savannah plains. Here, you’ll meet the bush celebrities, Africa BIG 5 game animals ( lion, Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Leopard), and watch their plains drama along this route. A couple of miles south is Queen Elizabeth National Park, a familiar favorite among celebrity travelers like former British Priminister Winston Churchill. Lots more African mammals sprawl the Queen’s savanna bushes pushing Darwin’s survival-for-the-fittest laws to the limit.

Beautiful landscapes

Towards the southwest of Uganda, the plains fade away from the savanna plains into the highlands. The highlands give the southwest stunning vistas that earn the country the name Pearl of Africa. Here, giant patches of rainforest jungles harbor a record number of wildlife species and various African tribes.

How people manage to live with hyper chimpanzee bands that are freely roaming the nearby protected forests is pretty impressive. Some of the apes are habituated to welcome your gazes and funny gadgets through jungle trails.

Higher up about 5,000 ft, in the volcanic mountain slopes, hangs wildlife’s most successful conservation story; the endangered mountain gorilla giants. These primates rule the unexplored territory that will leave a new safari travel style in your experience bag. These giants are Uganda’s tourism magnet, so expect a whole other view of your own existence on this earth.

Where to stay

The Pearl of Africa has a good number of properties to host you when you visit. Whether you’re traveling on your own or hiring one of our trip managers, you’ll find lodging that suits your style.

Uganda is a rewarding single destination, and you don’t have to overland or cross borders. Spend more time at a small exclusive lodge or camp and let yourself get used to the destination, worry less about how things are going, and you’ll find that it’s when you have to leave that you’re just starting to enjoy the destination. Uganda is worth the price. Check out our Pearl of Africa Travel Guide to know a little bit about the destination.