UGANDA

BUHOMA
Sights & Sites
●Bwindi Impenetrable National Park – Headquarters; 011-256-312-280-0450; bwindiforestnationalpark.com; ½ all world’s gorillas live here.

KAMPALA
Hotels
●Kampala Serena Hotel – Apollo Kaggwa Road; 011-256-41-430-9000; serenahotels.com; free-form pool with palm trees and waterfall, array of restaurants and shops mean never have to leave grounds; December-February is dry and less crowded; ask for pool-facing room.

KASESE
Hotels
●Kyambura Gorge Lodge – Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda; 011-256-44-870-870-8480; www.volcanoessafaris.com; 8-room eco lodge.
Sights & Sites
●Queen Elizabeth National Park Uganda – Fort Portal-Mpondwe Road; 011-256-31-228-0450; www.queenelizabethnationalpark.com.
●Rwenzori Mountains National Park – Saad House; 011-256-483-44936 (Rwenzori Mountain Services); traveluganda.co.ug/Ruwenzori.asp; fabled, mist-covered Mountains of Moon; stretch for about 100km; include several mountains permanently covered by glaciers and snow; highest peak is Margherita on Mt. Stanley; trekking conditions are tough; mountains have well-deserved reputation for being very wet at times; reward is magnificent scenery.

KIDEPO VALLEY NATIONAL PARK
Hotels
●Apoka Lodge – Park; 011-256-779-459-917; safariuganda.com; 1^st privately owned lodge in 556 square mile park in country’s dry, northeastern corner; overlooks Narus River valley, whose permanent water supply draws large herds of buffalo and elephants, as well as more obscure mammals (Jackson’s hartebeest and Rothschild’s giraffes); far from park’s tsetse zone 10 huge thatched bandas set on stilts and walled off from bug life; lovely infinity pool in natural granite pool; communal dining; observation tower; December-March is dry season; book rooms 1, 2, or 7.

KANUNGU
Hotels
●Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp – Gorilla Territory, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park; 011-44-20-7190-7728 (London office); sanctuaryretreats.com/lodges/uganda/gorilla-forest-camp.cfm; luxury tented camp that work with Batwa Pygmy tribe, indigenous hunter-gatherers relocated when park created, to share culture and history with guests.
Sights & Sites
●Bwindi Impenetrable National Park – Kabale; 011-256-486-424-121; bwindiforestnationalpark.com; Bwindi Impenetrable Forest part, situated along Congo border (next to Virunga National Park) and on Albertine Rift edge; 128 sq mi; jungle forests; both lowland and montane forest accessible only on foot; UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site; among Africa’s richest ecosystems; habitat to 120 mammal species, 348 bird species, 220 butterfly species, 27 frog species (chameleons, geckos, and many endangered species); floristically, among most diverse east Africa forests, with more than 1K flowering plant species (163 tree and 104 fern species); sanctuary for chimpanzees and colobus monkeys, and many birds (such as hornbills and turacos); most notable for 340 Bwindi gorillas (half world’s population Mountain Gorillas), with 4 habituated Mountain Gorilla groups open to tourism: Mubare; Habinyanja; Nkuringo group (at Nkuringo); and Rushegura (near Buhoma).