Uganda is a world-class safari destination offering luxury gorilla safari tours. Its tourism industry is now ready for a clientele looking for upmarket accommodations, a high level of service, good food and polished operations. Mountain gorilla trekking has turned into one of the must-do bucket list wildlife encounters in the world.
Its main destinations have at least a couple of lodges catering for the luxury market. New scheduled flights are now connecting popular destinations. And accessible charter flights are also opening up the country to people looking for a luxury safari.
Uganda is following the trend of all-inclusive luxury safari packages. Many of the top lodges offer stays inclusive of all meals, activities, drinks and laundry. Some lodges even throw in a free massage to relax you after a day out on the bumpy roads in the parks. Check in advance for details of what is and isn’t included, to avoid any unexpected costs while on the road.
There are many people involved in making your luxury safari memorable. As well as the staff at the lodges (this often includes a private butler and housekeeper) and your driver and guide, there will be porters, park guides and trackers to tip as well.
For a luxury Uganda safari, you even consider doing two treks as there are many different gorilla groups in Uganda, and each visit tends to be different. The composition of all the groups is different as well. Some groups have more than one silver back and some have a lot of babies. The two national parks in Uganda that offer gorilla trekking have a very different feel. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a thickly vegetated rain forest. And the gorillas in Mgahinga National Park are mostly found in the bamboo zone on the Virunga Mountain slopes.
There is a variety of luxury accommodation available in Uganda. Some of the older lodges are relatively big hotels with most modern conveniences, such as 24-hour electricity, Wi-Fi access throughout the lodge, air-conditioning, and hairdryers in the rooms.
The current trend, however, is more towards small, exclusive rustic accommodations, with only about eight to 10 tastefully designed units. There are a lot of different designs out there, with a trend towards using canvas and thatch. This is either in the form of a traditional standing safari tent under a thatched roof, or canvas on wooden frames (something between a room and a tent).
The emphasis is on exclusivity and service, and the style of the architecture and décor is usually in keeping with the environment. You might be assigned a private butler and housekeeper. These people will take care of all your needs, from bringing you coffee for those early morning wake-up calls to cleaning your shoes after gorilla trekking.
To keep the carbon footprint low, many of these lodge’s work on solar power and only have electricity at certain times of the day. Wi-Fi might only be available in the communal lounge and hot ‘bush showers may have to be on request.
