Monkey Business in Uganda

It is in Kampala’s museum that we have our first encounter with what would be one of the most special wildlife experiences Africa can offer - surrounded by school kids, we see the skull of the fabled Mountain Gorilla. Can the animal’s head really be that large? We hope to find out later on in our trip to Uganda, a country also known as the pearl of Africa.

A day before, we arrived in the laidback village of Entebbe. If you are an international traveler arriving by air, there is no other way than to arrive here. Entebbe houses the only international airport of ‘The Pearl of Africa’. Most travelers rush to Kampala, as the starting point of their trip onwards the country, but Entebbe is actually quite nice. It’s here, in the chilled-down Via Via guesthouse, that we eat our first ‘Rolex’, a chapati wrap rolled around an omelette.

I explored the Lake Victoria-side town on a bike, cycling to the fish market, Uganda’s Reptile Village and the town’s lush botanical garden.

After my tour through Entebbe, I take a cab to Kampala, which lies 40 kilometres north. From the high minaret of the Qaddafi Mosque, one can see the rolling hills on which the city was built: Kampala (which translates to (the hill) "that is of the impala”) used to be the city of seven hills. Today, however, greater Kampala stands on at least twenty-one hills.

Kampala’s city centre is very busy, so a trip to the shores of the largest lake of Africa is highly recommended. From the Mosque, it’s a twenty-five minutes drive by ‘boda boda’. These motorcycle taxis are the fastest, but not necessarily the safest way to get from A to B. The Taxify app luckily lets you get on a bike driven by a certified driver, who always carries a second passenger helmet. At Ggaba Beach, one can enjoy a cold drink with a great view over Lake Vic, the local market, the fish auction and an improvised photo studio on the lake’s pier.

The next day, I hop in the car with Emma, who’ll be our driver-guide for the coming days. We’ll need a sturdy LandCruiser for our journey to Queen Elizabeth National Park, as the trip can get quite bumpy. An eight hour drive later, we meet up with Ludwig Siefert, a German, 70-year-old veterinarian specialising in big cats, who joins us for dinner. He gives us some background info on the carnivores he tries to protect in the park. We agree on the pickup time: he will collect us the next morning at 5.30am.

‘Lu’ tracks the carnivores of the ‘royal’ park, together with James, who’s on the roof of the truck, scouting the area with a telemetry antenna. Several lions in QENP wear a GPS collar. This is for research purposes, but also to make sure the hungry cats don’t come too close to the surrounding communities. As a result of his work as a vet, Ludwig is allowed to go ‘off-trail’, and so we are able to drive directly up to four prides. It is an amazing experience to get so close to a lion. You can also, for a custom fee, book a trip with Ludwig through the Uganda Carnivores Program.

After a morning with lions, it’s time for a visit to Kalinzu, a forest that several chimpanzee families call their home. On arrival, our guide Frankline promises us a 98% chance of seeing chimpanzees. It turns out she’s right: after just a short walk, a male chimp named ‘Victor’ is greeting us from high up in a tree. Victor is comfortable high up in the tree, so we decide to trek for another 4 hours looking for his family members—unfortunately without any success. No time to be sad about that though: we need to get ready for the highlight of our trip: the mountain gorillas of Bwindi!

After driving for some hours, we arrive in the most Southwest corner of Uganda, where the ‘Bwindi Impenetrable Forest’ lies. The mountain gorillas cannot be found anywhere else in the wild, not even in zoos. Because there is a fixed amount of people who can visit the gorillas without disturbing them too much, you pay $600 for a permit to visit the animals. And that’s even cheap, compared to Rwanda, where such a permit costs $1500 per visit. Per day, there is a maximum amount of eight people allowed per group of gorillas.

The mist between the steep mountain slopes of the dense forest of the evocative ‘Bwindi Impenetrable Forest’ gives the start of our big day of gorilla trekking a mystical touch. After handing over the tickets, an obligatory welcome dance of community members and a briefing by the chief ranger, it’s time to hike.

Upon recommendation of an ecologist we have met before, we’re trekking to Bitukura, a group of eleven gorillas including two silverbacks. It doesn’t take too long before the trackers ahead of us have found the group, so it takes only an hour before we’re face to face with Ndahura, the largest silverback of Bwindi. It boggles the mind: how can we get so close to these animals? Although we’re told not to get closer than seven metres, the gorilla babies are playing at our feet, mischievously beating their chests to show off.

“Most of the gorillas in this group are born in habituation, so they’re used to having human beings around them,” our accompanying ranger Rita tells us. “Slowly but steady, they’ve become used to visitors. That’s why they know we’re not a threat.” Still, it is an unimaginable and unforgettable experience to get so close to these amazing creatures. Every once in a while, a female comes over to pull our legs, while the gigantic Ndahura oversees the whole spectacle from a fair distance. It’s an enormous animal: he must be as three time as bulky as the average man. After having eye contact with him for about thirty minutes, I can’t help but think: if Uganda is already the pearl of Africa, what name should Uganda’s most special treasure bear?

Story by Joost Bastmeijer, a freelance travel writer and photojournalist from The Netherlands, currently traveling through Africa. Check out my photos on Instagram at instagram.com/joostbastmeijer or on my website: joostbastmeijer.com!