UGANDA TRIPS AND HOLIDAYS- SELF DRIVE
Trips and holidays often come in five categories; lone trips and holidays, family trips and holidays; friends’ trips and holidays, stranger group trips, and holidays with the last category being couple trips and holidays.
Uganda Lone Trips and Holidays
Whenever you mention lone trips and holidays, you often have two transport options to consider; you either opt for self-drive hire or travel as a shoestring budget traveler using local public transport means.
Lone travelers cannot book trips with tour operators since this invites another person on the trip in the form of a driver or a professional guide. To relegate any of the extra people from invading your company, it is better you self-drive since this also saves you from the company of several strangers in public transport means which in the case of Uganda might come with a lot of delays straining your itinerary.
Regardless, below are some of the trips and holidays for lone travelers in Uganda;
Ssezibwa Falls
If you are the kind of lone traveler who also enjoys non-crowded places, Ssezibwa falls would be the go-to place. It has a unique topology, quiet yet at the same time offering some space for hiking. With the help of the quiet, you will learn about the background of the place and some of the reasons it has remained in its natural form, unhampered with human activities.
Ssezibwa falls is a nice holiday place with space for a picnic in proximity to a resort that would offer you classy accommodation for your holiday.
Sipi Falls
You might be wondering why we would recommend another destination in the category of waterfalls; it is simply because you would have more time by yourself in these places yet at the same time enjoy your sightseeing. Sipi falls is one of; if not the leading hiking destination in Uganda yet un-crowded!
In case you need a self-guided tour, you might have to buy self-guided tour materials and maps to explore the place to the fullest. The destination has several activities beyond hikes but the most interesting for the kind that needs their space would be hiking.
In Sipi falls, you can do community tours, abseiling, camping and nature walks that tag along trails connecting to Pian Upe game reserve also offering wildlife scenes and birding opportunities.
Jinja Town
Apart from Fort portal’s proximity to most of the national parks in western and southwestern Uganda, Jinja town is a fairly exceptional destination to consider for lone travelers. In Jinja, you are assured of the wonderful nightlife in clubs, bars, and dinner at the source of the Nile.
Besides the nightlife, all the other activities in Jinja might not leave you with your personal space since you will be interacting with a number of people as well as sharing boats during the boat cruise, and white water rafting among several other activities with strangers. However, there are still activities like kayaking that you can do individually without any company making it a worthwhile activity for the lone traveler.
Murchison Falls National Park
One of the most common itineraries in Uganda encompasses Jinja and Murchison falls. Jinja town is often considered for white water rafting and kayaking after which tourists often transfer to Murchison falls for the wildlife viewing during a game drive, boat cruise, and hikes to the top of the falls.
Anyone that desires to avoid any company, would opt for a self-driven game drive to discover animals by yourself. Though at one point you might have to hire a ranger; you still have enough space by yourself.
Mgahinga National Park
Bwindi impenetrable forest national park is the most known destination for gorilla trekking in Uganda. However, we would highly recommend Mgahinga gorilla national park for lone traveler holidays and trips in Uganda.
First of all, it is not as popular as Bwindi impenetrable forest national, and it still has a misconception of the possibility of failing to spot gorillas on certain days which is not true. For a few years now, there is one family in Mgahinga gorilla national park that is always present on any trekking date.
The misconception works in favor of lone travelers since it gives you enough space to enjoy yourself in this long trek unlike in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park.
Family Trips and Holidays in Uganda
Whether you are considering a self-dive family trip and holiday, or car hire with a driver or a tour operator organized holiday and trip; Uganda remains one of the most recommended destinations in East Africa.
Cities are often known for crimes, but for the last five years; Kampala has been getting reviews of the safest city to live-in in East Africa. Therefore if what would have been the hub of crime is a recommended destination, then it is no debate that other parts of the country are also safe. However this is never to imply that you will ever encounter any security threats in Uganda, it only implies that they will be minimal
Below are some of the most recommended destinations for family trips and holidays in Uganda:
Jinja Town
If you have never heard of Jinja town, at least you have heard of the river Nile. And if you have heard of river Nile; which is the longest river in Africa, you must have wondered about its source. Of course, there are many debates about what the actual source of the Nile is; However with a satellite image, you clearly see the locality that is likely to be the source of the Nile.
Jinja town is the locality where the source of the Nile is. Though beyond a family holiday or trip to the source of the Nile, there are several other family activities
Visit Uganda National Parks
Uganda has a total of 10 national parks; Murchison Falls National Park, Queen Elizabeth national park, Bwindi impenetrable forest national park, Mgahinga gorilla national park, Lake Mburo National park, Mountain Elgon National park, Semuliki National Park, Kibale Forest National Park, and Kidepo valley national park.
Families with toddlers can visit and do all the activities only in eight parks. Mgahinga gorilla national park and Bwindi impenetrable forest national park offer gorilla trekking which is not doable for children under 15 years. However, you can do forest
Friends’ Trips And Holidays
Friends’ trips and holidays are often group holidays organized by friends. In this kind of trip, you have no strangers, those who would have been strangers are in one way or the other connected to one of the group mates in a special way.
The beauty with these kinds of trips and holidays is there are no limitations. You have an unlimited list of activities. These include but are not limited to gorilla trekking, Chimpanzee tracking, Game drives, nature walks, birding adventures, cycling tours, horse rides, bungee jumps, kayaking, white water rafting, ziplining, cultural tours, and community tours among several other activities
When it comes to Friends’ trips and holidays in Uganda, we highly recommend gorilla trekking, chimpanzee tracking among other activities listed above. You can also contact 4x4uganda for more details regarding self-guided group tours.
Scheduled Trips and Holidays (Stranger group trips and holidays)
Scheduled trips and holidays are very common in motorcycle adventures where you simply book a slot in a group scheduled for a given adventure at a particular time of the year. These are also very common when it comes to overland trips and holidays.
Unlike the other kinds of trips and holidays, these tend to cover a wider space on any given continent at a relatively discounted price. In these kinds of tours, you can travel to over 14 countries. They are often cheaper compared to other kinds of trips because the transport cost and accommodation costs are highly discounted because of the size of the group.
In these kinds of trips and holidays, you will meet people from totally different walks of life. In other words; you have no choice on who you will specifically travel with, the only requirement will be met covering the price tag and passing a few medical tests if there is any.
Couple Trips And Holidays
Couples trips and holidays are simply trips of people who walk in pairs. In case you do not need any interruptions of any kind, we highly recommend a self-guided self-drive tour. In this kind of tour, you will have the liberty to keep flexible in your trip since you will determine when to rest and when to continue with the trip.
You can also opt for car hire with a driver service on top of which you will be able to save most of the time on your trip that would have been wasted in looking for directions. We highly recommend gorilla trekking, chimpanzee tracking, game drive, nature walks, white water rafting, zip-lining among several other wilderness adventure activities.