AFRICA UGANDA DESTINATIONS


dreams Wildest


Ben Lerwill heads to Uganda to explore the country’s wild side


A


dozen hippos are wallowing in the Kazinga Channel,


creating a muddy jumble of bulbous snouts, hefty rumps and little pink ears. They make a sight that would normally be all- absorbing – but I can’t keep my eyes on them. Just beyond the hippos are


five elaborately horned buffalos, a warthog family scuttling along the foreshore and a baleful- looking crocodile lurking in the shallows. There’s a sea eagle in the tree above its head and a


herd of elephants making steady progress along the shoreline; it’s hard to know where to look. Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth


National Park goes big on wildlife. Just as remarkable as the range of animals, however, is the space to appreciate them. Other than the boat I’m on, there’s no one else around. It’s the same the following morning, when an early- morning game drive results in a thrilling private encounter with a leopard, its jaws clamped around the body of a baby antelope,


its most-recent kill. There’s not another jeep to be seen for miles.


w PEARL OF AFRICA It’s not as though I’m the only visitor in the country, far from it. This landlocked East African nation might not be the first safari destination to leap to mind, but its reputation is well established. Queen Elizabeth is one of 10 national parks in the country – there are also a further 18 protected areas and wildlife reserves – and all of them offer


something different in terms of their wildlife and natural beauty. Winston Churchill famously described Uganda as ‘The Pearl of Africa’, and he wasn’t known for using empty words. The country is roughly the same size as the UK, and packs in plenty. The vast Lake Victoria forms much of its southern boundary, while elsewhere there are dramatic mountains, open plains and the frothing headwaters of the Nile. It shares borders with Kenya, Tanzania,


25 October 2018 travelweekly.co.uk 77


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