Let’s explore Uganda, home of Knuckles!

Part of a larger journey: this focused Uganda guide is adapted from the Uganda section of my complete East Africa itinerary. Stay here for the Uganda detail, or open the complete trip to see how I connected Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda over one month.

Affiliate disclosure: This article contains GetYourGuide affiliate links. If you book through one of them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Before diving into my itinerary, a few considerations:

• English is the Lingua Franca in the region, but in Rwanda many people speak French instead
• Backpacking is not a big thing in East Africa
• It might be dangerous at times, I don’t recommend going alone
• It’s by no mean a cheap destination
• Info is hard to get online, I’ll try to bring as much useful intel I can
• Prices date from 2023, might have hiked up in the meantime

____

Note: This article detailing logistic can be a nice read as well

Tips on how to travel Africa

I got this one too, for Cheap safaris!

Tips for Cheap Safaris

Itinerary done quick

🇺🇬 UGANDA

That’s it! Do click on the links (destination name) to learn more!

Uganda

Day 1 Road to Kampala

Note: I know, it’s weird to start this way, but this is part of a larger article. I entered through Kenya, straight from Nairobi. A long night bus, mostly filled with locals. It was comfy, but slow, especially around the border. And the border… Gosh it was messy and unfit for the twenty first century.

Arrive in Kampala when you can, visit the Gaddafi Mosque near the main bus station (If you came by bus it’s perfect) or go to your hotel and visit whatever you want.

I only did the Gaddafi Mosque on my first day. Really (and a walk to my hostel, around the hills)

So… it depends on your energy.

Kampala is crazy busy. Taking motorbike rides is especially crazy, no wonder there are a lot of road accidents and death. They call them boda-bodas here. But sometimes, I still say Tuk-Tuk.

So what do to, on a first day, without a lot of times?

I recommend taking your time for arrival, Kampala can be exhausting.

1/ You plan to go to Jinja on day 2? Use day 2 info here. 2/ You don’t and want more time in Kampala? Plan your next days and trips through local agencies or visit the national museum

Also, btw, I spent two nights in Acacia Villa Kampala. It used to be 10 USD a night for a private room. The view is amazing and it’s a really nice spot in town!

Day 2 Kampala

Two options: Go to Jinja for rafting. Or, like me, visit the city a bit more in depth.

I went to the Kasubi tombs, I checked viewpoints, ate some rolled eggs (Rolex), saw the Hindu temple, rode Boda bodas at my life’s peril…

The city is chaotic but friendly, but walking is suicidal in some parts.

If you have three extra days rather than only one, this Murchison Falls safari from Kampala is a practical add-on (affiliate link). I did not take that specific tour, and it does not fit inside this nine-day route without extending it. But this was part of my initial plan. The trip was reduced because of what happened in Tanzania.

So which walking road (if you wanna walk) do?

Start near the independence monument, go south to the Shiva Temple and the Swaminarayan Mandir (It’s interesting to see, I swear!), then all the way to the Kabaka’s Palace. That’s when I realized it wasn’t a walkable city, so I took a boda-boda to the Kasubi’s tombs (and ate my rolex nearby as it wasn’t open yet).

And just like that… It was 5 PM. So I came back before night. This covered the west side of Kampala!

If you woke up earlier, you can have the time to go to the museum, if you didn’t the previous day.

Also, I didn’t go, but worth checking out: Baha’i House of Worship It’s in the north, and if you’re not Desi or of Desi culture, the baha’i faith and their architecture could be a novelty!

Day 3 Road to Fort Portal

Early departure west (7–8 h), from the same bus station where I arrived, I found long distance buses for other parts of the country.

I left around 10 am, (Waited in the bus a bit before 9am) then arrived at 6PM in Fort Portal.

Fort Portal is green, with views of the Rwenzori Mountains, and that’s it. There isn’t much to see, so pretty mich right away, I continued with a minibus to Kasese. I just asked around to find it, it was super easy.

Then, because it wasn’t over. Around 7:30PM, I ate and went further in the mountains, through a road in construction to get to my hostel. This last part took forever, I swear. With the driver we had to carry the motorbike through some sections. It wasn’t just construction, a landslide might have happened. Oh, we also did that in the dark, since I arrived so late…

Around 9:00PM I was at my accommodation, Rwenzori Trekking, they have some tents and some housing. (And prepare tours to Rwenzoris)

Day 4 Rwenzori Mountains

Trek or hike shorter routes near the base.
If you’re not climbing fully, there are beautiful day trails around Ruboni Village. Otherwise, try to get to a good altitude to see the unique plants.

For the full mountain rather than my short visit, this seven-day Rwenzori trek to Margherita Peak is a long GetYourGuide option (affiliate link). I did not use that operator.

What I did, due to price constraint issues, is do a shorter portion of the hike. But in my head, it was a kind of blur, still. I don’t know if it was what happened or the medication… If you do two days, it’s starting to be a bit costly, but that’s when you start seeing the unique vegetation.

Day 5 Rwenzori Mountains

Second day of hiking. You can sleep in one of the lodge then go higher to see the plants and stuff!

Rwenzoris means moon mountains. What a lovely name!

That’s the part that became too much of a blur. I looked at the pictures on my phone, that whole part is somehow, missing? I wonder what happened.

I’m really sorry about this part. since it’s part of the larger trip and I had to write it, I did the standalone article, but… It’s just… A blur, you know?

Day 6 Road to Kabale

Rough day on bad roads.
It was like 12 hours, I got stuck at the back of a 12 seaters with 20 people. A big black guy, sitting on my lap, a girl vomiting just in front of me, the only openable window open right next to me, with stops lasting hours and autists trying to touch me or grab me.

It was genuinely awful.

But at the time I went there, there were no other ways direct from the Rwenzoris.

A better/nicer option might be to go back to Kampala…

Essentially, to go on, you suffer. That’s why Uganda is 7/10 and will not be more than this.

And that’s also why, to spend more time in Uganda before attempting trips like that, you can do Murchison, Rwenzori, then a day in Kampala before the Lake Bunyoni. Trust me.

I arrived around the late evening in Kabale, hopped on a boat across the docks (Ask a boda boda to take you there).

How to get a boat to Bunyonyi?

Well you’ll need to negotiate for the boat, by the docks. It was getting late, so the negotiation was harder, but I essentially got the guy’s phone number and the promise he would come and get me out of the island.

Fuel is really expensive in Uganda. So if the prices quoted are high, you got the reason. And it took more than 20 minutes by boat.

I then spent three nights in Byoona Amagara, a nice resort. (My review is still up on maps. Amazing food, a lot of books to read (shared) possibility of doing boat tours, swimming by the docks, resting…)

Days 7–8 Lake Bunyonyi

Quiet, scenic, dotted with small islands.
A perfect spot to rest and read!

On the second day, kayak, read, and recharge before entering Rwanda. I really needed this rest, and so did many travelers.

I know, it’s a bit boring said this way, so let’s be a bit more “yay”.

A boat tour will last a few hours (Better in the morning or evening), it will go around the main islands, sometimes with stops, there is a lot of wildlife and some things of interests (plants, local life, natural beauty…), so it’s defo worth it. Otherwise, Byoona Amagara was absolutely idyllic. There, I said it.

Day 9 Return / Onward

You can go further or home. Your choice :)

From Kabale, it was relatively easy to go to Rwanda, I went to the main bus station, there I found that a lot of buses and minibuses went to Gatuna. Gatuna is the border with Rwanda. So you can go and cross it, admiring the modernity and how nice the staff is. Absolutely incredible. As soon as you’re on the other side, many touts will try to get you in some form of transport. I took a rather large bus filled with people and that was departing right away. There were no lies, no overpricing, it was essentially smooth.

Otherwise, from Kabale, you can go back to Kampala, a lot of buses were going straight to Kampala!

More days?

Ok, so this was 9 days, with almost four days wasted in transport. A long week and not the most enjoyable. I underestimated the transportation options.

So… To make it worth: Add three days for Murchison, one more day for a longer hike in the Rwenzoris (Trust me, it’s incredibly beautiful) then from the rwenzoris, spend a day as a Jinja day-trip (Or two for some hiking around!). That will make it a two weeks trip easily.

Even more time?

Three words:

Bwindi, impenetrable, forest. The Bwindi impenetrable forest is very popular with those not hiking in rwanda, I hesitated to do so. From Kasese, it’s an additional two to three days.

The road to take is Kasese -> Kisoro > Rubuguri

Meaning two minibus! Expect it to be long. Then, the way back will be the same, but I recommend going onward to Cyanika to go to Ruhengeri, Rwanda

That’s it. I hope you enjoyed!