Hi Steemians!

Wanted to share with you an epic trip I had. The country is Uganda, and the vibe is epic! Loved it. As someone who is half Egyptian, and having only seen one country that shares the Nile river (Egypt), it was important to me to visit another African country that shared this mighty ass river. To be honest, the original idea for this trip came from my sister.

We had 11 days to do this trip, and that’s not much considering the flights are 10 hours in total not including a dreadful 10 hour stopover in Istanbul Attaturk Airport.

My sister and I landed in Entebbe International Airport around 4am and had to loiter at the airport for about 4 hours waiting for our Mum to arrive.

Once she arrived, our driver, Robert picked us up and brought us to Kampala where we had two nights. Kampala is interesting in a good way. Very different from the only other African capital I’ve been to (Cairo) but had a really cool vibe.
We met up with a very good friend of my sister and his family. To be honest, due to the fact that I had nowhere to store my images, I had to be strategic with my picture taking.

Before we begin, let me just do a big shout out to a few key things:
The people (amazing), the coffee (amazing), the fish (amazing), the fruits (amazing) and the scenery (amazing).

Kampala

Kampala, as it’s a city, will feature very briefly in this travel blog as cities are cities. I really like Kampala but that’s not what I came to see. I have to say though, went for a fish dinner on the banks of Lake Victoria and have to say, best Nile fish I’ve ever had. I at Nile Perch. Yum Yum!!!!

Jinja

Where we stayed: Holland Park Villas - Luxury Self Service Bungalows

http://www.hollandparkuganda.com/

When we left Kampala to make our way to Jinja, the trip is about 85km. It took us about 2.2 hours to get there. Pretty much the only journey we took on this trip that was a complete road.

Jinja is in the highlands of Uganda. It’s a lot cooler than the lower parts of Uganda, which was quite welcome. The scenery is amazing, and the Nile in this part of Uganda is pretty safe. The reason for this is it’s near a dam.
This was the view from our bungalow.

The place we stayed was amazing. There are a few villas and bungalows you can rent, and it’s self service when it comes to food. We brought a ton of stuff to cook and barbecue which was great. There is definitely something to say about making your own coffee in the morning and knowing it wont be crap. We were obviously drinking Ugandan coffee.

On one of the days, one of the owners was going out on his boat and asked us if we wanted an impromptu bird watching tour and we jumped at the opportunity. Hence the following pictures feature birds pretty heavily.
Where we stayed in Jinja was amazing. The link is below to their website. Fantastic Dutch couple that have been living in Uganda for ages now.

http://www.hollandparkuganda.com/

Murchison Falls

We left Jinja to make our way to Murchisson Falls National Park. The drive was brutal. The actual distance is 333km but the journey took us about 10 hours. This is where the road stops being a road and it’s slow going. Very slow going.
Backs broken, we arrived in Murchison Falls National Park.

This area of Uganda has a much lower elevation than Jinja so it’s a lot more tropical…..and I mean a lot more. This is the part of the Nile where you need to be careful being near the banks of the river. You have crocs and hippos to be mindful of, and let me tell you…almost everything that floats down the river looks like a croc ☺.

Where we stayed: Kabalega Lodge – Mid-High End Eco Lodge
Here’s the link to their website:

http://www.kabalegalodge.com/

Kidepo National Park

So we left Murchison Falls and heading towards the Kidepo region to stay in the Kidepo National Park.

One of the best hotels I have ever stayed in.

Here’s a link to their website.

http://www.wildplacesafrica.com/our-lodges-camps/apoka/

Voted in the top 5 National Parks in Africa!

The drive was another brutal one. It tooks us about 12 hours to arrive there. Here is what the roads looked like for most of the way.

Where we stayed: Apoka Lodge – Luxury Safari Ecolodge

http://www.wildplacesafrica.com/our-lodges-camps/apoka/

One of the best eco lodges I have ever stayed in. Picture this, delux room with canvas for walls, surrounded by animals that can walk right up to your bungalow, the sound of Hyenas, Elephants and Lions at night. Magic!
There’s also an outdoor bath with every bungalow. I honestly didn’t have the nerve to do it…..was also too busy taking pictures and chatting with some amazing people.

While we were here, we went on a couple of safaris, didn’t end up catching sight of any lions or hyenas but they were around. You could hear them at night. I find, a lot of people only go on safaris to see lions and elephants mainly, but you will be in awe of all the animals you see. I have to say, buffalo are actually quite intimidating when you are surrounded by them. It’s just the fact that they are so big! One mood swing and our open top jeep gets smashed.

Another thing that we did was go on a walking safari. That was a really interesting experience, as we had to have an armed escort in case we came across any dangerous animals. Luckily, we didn’t have to use the weapon at any point, and the only dangerous animal was a massive cobra that our guide almost stepped on as we were crossing a swampy bit of land. We were all standing around him and realized the snake was big enough for all of us to see it around our feet. What made it extremely nerve racking was the fact that we didn’t know which end the head was.

Long story short...we made it back safe!

Sadly, I could waffle on, but I won't. I can honestly say, Uganda, it's people and lands are truly amazing.

Next time I go back, I will go down to West to the Gorilla sanctuary as I've heard it is one of those experiences in life that changes you. Can't wait!

Much love Steemians!

Upvotes, resteems and comments are most most welcome!

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