Uganda is a small country with an oversized history. Once associated with the despot Idi Amin, Uganda has transformed itself into a tourist destination where you can see wild animals and pursue adrenaline activities—or just wander around. I was there in 1993, then again in 2017, and now in 2024. It’s been different every time.

Population: 50M | Capital: Entebbe (pop. 70,000) | Largest City: Kampala (pop. 4M) | Language: English | Currency: Ugandan shilling

(This is the fourth blog post in the series covering my recent trip to Africa. You can read the first three posts, “Zimbabwe”, “Malawi”, and “Tanzania” here).

Winston Churchill famously called Uganda “the Pearl of Africa”, and it really is: green and lush with pretty rolling hills, a profusion of bright flowers, lakes and waterfalls, impossibly bucolic farms and gardens, and peaceful and quiet small villages. Most of the country sits around 1,200 meters (3,900 feet), making for ideal spring-like conditions year-round. The north is flatter and more arid, and hotter. There are large areas of desert near the northern border with South Sudan, dusted with dry scrub and mud and thatched houses, the landscape dotted with cattle and semi-nomadic herdsmen.

For many years Uganda was completely off the tourist map due to civil war and insurrection. Nearly all the wild animals were killed by soldiers and citizens, which in turn collapsed a once-thriving safari circuit.

I’ve been to Uganda three times. The first visit was in the winter of 1993, when I traveled around the south (the only part of the country open), and spent Christmas in Kampala, the largest city. There was next to zero tourism activity. Most of the national parks were closed, and those that were still open had almost nothing to show. But it was a fascinating time to be there as the country emerged from years of hardship and turmoil. People were optimistic and relaxed. Today Uganda is once again firmly on the safari circuit. You can see “the Big Five” animals, as well as primates, waterfalls, jungles, lakes, and plenty of friendly people. As with everywhere else in East Africa, the vast majority of visitors go to Uganda to see animals, and neglect seeing any of the places normal Ugandans actually live and work.

My Route

I was only in Uganda this time for 18 days, and only in the south, so I didn’t cover much ground. I entered from Tanzania and spent the first night in Masaka, then continued on to the Ssese Islands, a group of lush, verdant, sparsely populated islands in Lake Victoria. I visited the islands in 1993 on my first trip to Uganda, and found it interesting this time seeing the changes (more on that later). Back on the mainland I went from Entebbe to Kampala, then continued east along the ludicrously congested A109 highway to Jinja, Tororo, and Mbale. My plan from Mbale was to go northwest to Soroti to Lira and back down to Kampala, completing a counterclockwise loop. But a bridge on the highway was closed forcing all Kampala-bound traffic to be redirected to the Mbale-Jinja route where I’d just come from. I had to return the same way I came, so I ended up in most towns twice.

Getting In and Out

Nearly everyone requires a visa to visit Uganda. Visa on arrival isn’t an option (officially), so you need to apply in advance. I read a few reports from travelers who arrived without one and managed to talk their way in, but I played it safe and applied beforehand. Or rather, I made my friend Chris apply for me. Uganda’s online visa application form is notoriously fussy, many travelers reporting endless difficulties uploading forms and photos. I didn’t want to mess about with all that on my phone (I don’t travel with a laptop), so I asked Chris to do it on his laptop from the comfort of his own home. He was successful, as I knew he would be, but it cost him a lot of cussing and cursing, and it cost me a few pints of beer when I saw him again later back in London.

Tanzania and Uganda share a “one-stop” immigration office at the border town of Mutukula. Both town and office were calm and orderly. I entered Uganda on August 18, and left on September 5 on a flight to Istanbul from the country’s only international airport in Entebbe. I was in Uganda for 18 days.

I love Uganda. There’s an amazing amount of variety for what’s really only a tiny country. Even as a foreigner I can notice differences in society, language, and daily rhythm from region to region. Uganda is about the same size as the U.S. state of Utah, but it boasts jungle, farmland, desert, canyons, grassland, lakes and large rivers.

The largest city Kampala is typically chaotic and crazy. Secondary cities like Gulu, Jinja and Lira have a whiff of the city life, too, but the small towns and villages are very quiet and peaceful and rural. Ugandans are welcoming and friendly. They’re chatty and curious, but never bug you or push you to buy anything, or try to cheat you. English is extremely widely spoken, and many people know a lot about politics, news, culture, and the world. It’s a pleasure talking to Ugandans. Like neighboring countries, the countryside is beautiful, but the towns and cities are somewhat drab and monotonous. It’s obvious that Uganda is an underdeveloped country. Most people you come in contact with are low income or downright poor. Outside of urban areas the infrastructure is very basic. Life is an ongoing struggle for most Ugandans.

This time I sensed a slight pessimism I didn’t notice on previous trips. The people weren’t quite as jolly or happy-go-lucky. I didn’t notice the same sense of despair and gloom as I did in Zimbabwe, but people are definitely under a lot of stress, due mainly to the poor economy and recent inflation. I got the idea the future looks fairly bleak for most Ugandans, and while they’re not moping around complaining, I was told frequently how tough things were, and was asked a lot about options for immigrating to Canada. I don’t remember that being the case on other visits.

Getting Around

Moving around the country on public transportation in Uganda is a mixed bag. The country is not large, and the road network is quite good, so in theory it doesn’t take that long to move from place to place. There are a lot of buses and minivans of all shapes and sizes, so it’s never hard finding transport, though most of it is crowded and uncomfortable. Mostly everyone speaks at least basic English, and most towns have designated areas for buses and minibuses, so with a little gumshoeing it’s pretty easy to find a ride going your way.

On the other hand, traffic is a nightmare in and around the main cities. The journey between Kampala and Jinja, for instance—a trip of 80 kilometers (50 miles)—can take up to 4 hours. It’s a nightmare! There’s a horrendous amount of traffic congestion; cars, trucks, buses, farm and construction vehicles, bicycles, motorcycles, people, all fighting for position. Formula One drivers would give up. Everyone seems to think he knows a shortcut, so vehicles dart off down tiny potholed back roads hoping to jump in front of the queue. Once you’re clear of the main A109 arterial road and its tributaries the situation improves in a hurry, but that main west-east corridor in the south along the lake is the stuff of legend. I had to travel it twice, and I still wake up in cold sweats.

Motorcycle taxis are common in all the towns, and are known as boda-boda (apparently motorcycles used to be used to transport smuggled goods across neighboring borders, “border to border”; boda is a literal rendering of how locals pronounce “border” in English). Boda-bodas are a convenient, fast, and affordable way to get around, but they can be wildly dangerous, especially in Kampala. I usually offered to pay over the asking price in exchange for a slower ride.

Transportation is also more expensive than in Malawi and, especially, Tanzania. Gasoline price is the culprit. For the first few days in country I thought I was being ripped-off when quoted a price for a trip; but I found out very quickly that drivers were on the up-and-up, things just cost more. One guy got quite cross with me when I asked for a reduction. “You’d better ease his burden,” a fellow passenger told me, suggesting the guy was stressed enough about the cost of gas as it was, and I should lay off trying to undercut him. I never did it again.

Most of southern Uganda is located on, or near Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa (it’s also the world’s largest tropical lake, and the world’s second-largest fresh water lake by surface area, second only to Lake Superior), so there is a lot of boat traffic. I took ferries to and from the Ssese Islands. Going to the islands from Masaka, as I did, there’s only one choice, a fairly large flat-bottomed barge that takes passengers and vehicles (and anything else). Going from the Islands back to Entebbe on the mainland there’s a choice between another barge, (which I took), and a “fast” boat, that takes only passengers and is much more expensive. I’ve been on those things before; they’re faster but far less atmospheric, and more claustrophobic, as everyone is assigned proper seats indoors. On the barges you can move about and wander around on the deck.

My Favorite Things

My visit to the Ssese Islands was a highlight. I was there on my 1993 trip and found the place magical, green and lush, quiet and brimming with friendly people working small farm plots and fishing in Lake Victoria. The entire country at the time was in the back of beyond, but the islands were a little farther back than even that. Kalangala, the main town, had one “guest house” (I use the term loosely), one restaurant (sort of), no bank, no bars, extremely limited electricity, very few shops, and only a small market.

Things have changed: there’s now a bank, a gas station, a mobile phone shop, a reliable electricity supply, and a fairly large market with plenty of small shops and groceries. BIDCO, a private palm oil processor, owns a 6,100 hectare (15,000 acre) palm oil plantation on Bugala, the main island, so there are workers’ quarters and quite a lot of infrastructure to support that.

Kampala residents have discovered the Ssese Islands, making it a busy (and apparently rowdy) weekend destination. A dozen or so hotels and lodges have sprung up along the lakeside, a couple of them positively swanky. It’s still a very, very quiet place, particularly during the week when I was there, but the modern world has caught up with it. That didn’t keep me from going for long walks into the lovely green rolling hills and exploring the little fishing villages along the lake.

You walk a half kilometer from the lake and town, and nothing has changed.

And I love the beauty of southern Uganda, the soft countryside and the gentle vibe you find in most towns and villages. I love sitting with a beer in a pub and chatting to one of the locals, and I love the way people stop to talk, and how they ask you where you’re from, where you’re going and what you think of their country.

My Less Favorite Things

There’s not much to dislike, frankly, though things in Uganda are generally very basic; when you travel like a local you eventually become a bit ground down and miss some of the comforts of home. When that happens you get a little more irritable and impatient, and you start noticing more of the problems. Uganda isn’t a wealthy country, and like its neighbors it’s mostly underdeveloped and rough, and can be dirty and chaotic, particularly in the cities. There’s not a lot of luxury. But that’s par for the course in most of Africa. People work with what they have, and while it’s obvious there’s hardship and poverty, the country works, in its own way.

Traffic congestion is definitely one of my less favorite things. It’s hard to know what can be done about it; there are simply too many vehicles for the state of the roads, and not enough money or political will to do anything about it. As a tourist with nothing but time on my hands it was annoying, but hardly important.

People

For the past twenty-five years, if you’d asked me which country in Africa has the friendliest people, I’d have said Uganda, without hesitation. They’re warm and friendly and easy-going, but also reasonably serious and mature. English is very widely spoken, so you can talk to nearly anyone, and about a wide variety of topics. While Malawians can be a bit deprecating and even shy, and while Tanzanians can sometimes be slightly forward or edgy, Ugandans are delightfully right in the middle. I never felt in danger, cheated, used, or anything other than welcome, and was largely left alone when I wanted to be.

Accommodation

Prices in general in Uganda are around 10% – 15% higher than in Tanzania, and lodging was no exception. The variety and type of lodging is very similar to that in Tanzania and Malawi, but you pay a little more, especially in the larger cities. Decent budget rooms in the capital Kampala, and a few of the secondary cities like Jinja, proved hard to find. You can find cheap, and you can find clean and quiet, but not at the same place.

I didn’t stay in Uganda very long this time, and didn’t move around as much as I did in Tanzania and Malawi, so don’t have as good a sample size; but in the smaller towns there are plenty of rooms for between $15 – $20. In larger places like Kampala and Jinja I paid closer to $20 – $30. I wasn’t sure why: on paper Uganda isn’t doing a whole lot better than Tanzania or Malawi or Kenya, and the infrastructure and development is, if anything, poorer than in Tanzania. Room quality was generally good, though. I never stayed anywhere really dirty, and bugs or dirt weren’t a problem.

Nocturnal noise is a problem in Uganda, too, from bars and clubs, though less so than in Tanzania, mercifully.

Food and Drink

Alas, arrival in Uganda didn’t instigate any meaningful change in the type and quality of available food. Most basic local meals in Uganda are similar to those in Tanzania and Malawi. The white maize dumpling porridge blob is called posho, but it’s the same thing as nshima and ugali. Matoke—boiled and mashed plantain—features much more prominently on the menu in Uganda. Matoke isn’t bad when hot and fresh, with a slightly tart taste, but it’s nasty when it’s not fresh or hot, which unfortunately is often. Rice is fairly available, and there was often potato (called “Irish”), sweet potato, and cassava on the menu. Chicken, goat and tough, stringy beef were common choices for protein. Fruit and vegetables were easily available, and generally very good, though slightly more expensive than in Tanzania or Malawi.

One notable addition to the dining landscape in Uganda is the rolex. There are a few variations, but basically a rolex is an egg fried in oil with onion, cabbage and chili, then wrapped burrito-style in a chapati. You can find rolex in the odd restaurant, but they’re more usually available as a street food served at roadside stalls. They’re filling and tasty, though often fairly oily, but are very cheap, usually no more than twenty-five cents. Some of the more ambitious rolex sellers also serve roast chicken and simple meals. Most days I tried to eat just a light dinner in order to leave room for a rolex later in the evening, taking in some of the street life at the same time.

There are plenty of places to drink in Uganda, and beer is easily and widely available. You find noisy bars in Uganda, too, but mercifully there seem to be fewer of them. Ugandans like to actually talk and visit with friends over a beer, so the bars tend to have quieter music, or oftentimes no music at all, which was a relief from the ear-splitting racket in Malawi and Tanzania. Local beer is all of the fizzy lager type. Bell, Pilsner, and Nile are the most common brands.

It was relatively easy to find coffee in Uganda, though much of it is instant, or weak drip. I found some very good, though expensive cafes in Kampala and Mbale where they served much higher-end espresso coffees and fancy blended drinks. Tanzania definitely has the edge on good coffee. Ugandans prefer tea as a hot drink, anytime of the day or night, and it was nearly always available anywhere, usually drunk with plenty of sugar.

Costs

As I mentioned above in the accommodation section, prices in Uganda are slightly higher than in Tanzania and Malawi, particularly for transportation and accommodation. Gasoline prices are quite a lot higher than in Tanzania, which translates into more expensive bus rides. Food, groceries, fruit & veg, beer, water and basic toiletries are all around 10% – 15% higher. Uganda is still by no means an expensive destination, at least at the budget/local level, but the cost increase was notable. I spent around $35 – $40 per day in Uganda for everything. As always, safaris and fancy hotels quickly increase your required budget. I didn’t go on any, but I believe safaris and other game-related activities in Uganda are considered to be more affordable than in neighboring countries.

Verdict

A success! I was sorry I didn’t have more time to visit the north of Uganda—my favorite area—but it gives me a good reason to go back again. If you don’t visit the game parks and waterfalls and white water rafting rivers, there’s really nothing much to see in Uganda other than Uganda itself. Traveling the way I do, visiting just normal towns and moving independently is easy and satisfying, and is, in my opinion, the best way to experience Uganda.

So that’s it for the posts on my East Africa trip. If you missed the others on Zimbabwe, Malawi and Tanzania, click here to read them.

To view a photo album of some of what I think are the best pictures from the trip, click here and choose “East Africa 2024” on the top left.

I wrote a book about my 1993-94 travels in East Africa, called Resting With Old Man, which is where the title of this blog comes from. I visited Kenya, Uganda, Eritrea, and Ethiopia, and had the adventure of a lifetime. Uganda was a very different place back then, as were all the other places; you might be interested in the story. Find it here.

I’m home in Vancouver for now, busy planning my next trip. In the meantime…

Stay Tuned!

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“You should travel to learn about countries and the way normal people live in them, not to see the spectacular things. Buy vegetables, get a haircut, explore a suburb, walk out of town. Don’t look for the special, look for the banal.”