Set on a former coffee plantation at the foot of the Rwenzori Mountains, Kyambura Gorge Lodge consists of a series of thatch-and-timber suites that are individually decorated in an eclectic style. Sundowners are taken on the airy verandah and meals at communal tables in the dining room.
Your days here start early as you set off in the cool of the morning to look for game like lion and Ugandan kob antelope on the Kasenyi plains while the dense thickets of the Mweya peninsula is the ideal hiding spot for notoriously shy leopard. Of course, the stars of the show are chimpanzees and nine other species of primate. Smaller than their gorilla cousins but no less charming, intelligent or expressive, chimp families can cover vast distances and the trek in Kymabura Gorge to find them will be filled all sorts of enchanting encounters.
You can also learn more about rural life in Uganda by meeting members of the Women’s Coffee Co-operative and the Omumushaka Dance Troupe. See how the Volancoes Safaris Partnership Trust has helped communities to reclaim wetlands, set up a beekeeping station and create the Empundu playground for children.
On your final afternoon, you will cruise the Kazinga Channel, which flows between Lakes George and Edward. One of the continent’s densest concentrations of hippo live here, as well as large numbers of elephants, crocodiles and waterbirds like African fish eagles and pelicans.
