When we returned from our trip to Tanzania last year (see my earlier blog posts), Cindy said she wanted to do another Africa trip. I had been to Kenya and South Africa and loved those visits and although I would have enjoyed a reprise, I was more keen on a new country. Accordingly our thoughts turned to Botswana, Namibia etc. and to Uganda. Both options seemed to provide opportunities to see some African bird species that would be new to me in addition to the mammals that had beguiled Cindy in Tanzania. The great appeal of the first option was visiting the Okavango which received universal rave reviews. The special appeal of the second was the unique chance to see Mountain Gorillas and Chimpanzees and also to see a Shoebill, one of the most extraordinary birds anywhere. Based primarily on matters of cost and timing, our focus turned to Uganda, west of Kenya and north of Tanzania and smaller than both.

I am going to start with a retrospective post tour and will return to some challenges, complications and details following the choice later, and then per my usual approach in these blogs will detail the actual tour with stories and photos. The bottom line in retrospect was that there were some fantastic moments on the Uganda tour and we did return sound and safe with new birds, new mammals and yes the Shoebill, those gorillas and chimpanzees; BUT if we had known beforehand how the trip would go, we probably would not have gone on this trip. The positives outweighed the negatives but it was closer than it should have been and far closer than on any other trip we or I have taken.

Back to the beginning. Our original plan was to go on a private tour with Greg Homel who had been such a super guide on my visit to Puerto Vallarta and San Blas Mexico in late 2023. Greg had led Uganda tours many times and had what at least had been a great working relationship with a top rate local company and guide in Uganda. Cindy and I talked about the possible trip with two friends (unnamed for now) who we had not traveled with before but were eager to go somewhere with them. Somewhat surprisingly, they were interested and we found a workable time with Greg and started putting together details for a trip for 4 of us. I am not going to belabor the story, but due to some management changes at Greg’s Ugandan partner, their responses and proposals were a combination of slow and far too expensive – even with our expectations that a private small group tour would be more pricey than with a larger group. Greg was as frustrated as we were and as we watched this approach fall apart we looked for alternatives.

To our astonishment we found that there were openings on a Uganda tour offered by Victor Emanuel Nature Tours (VENT) that was scheduled for close to the same time that we were considering and with essentially the same itinerary. VENT was our tour company in Tanzania and we knew the quality would be excellent. Even though there were only two people signed up for the trip, VENT said it would be a go with two more commitments. The price was less than Greg had been able to provide based on the pricing from his Uganda partners. We shared this information with our friends and Greg who shared it with his Uganda partners, who in turn said they just could not meet the price. Our friends were unhappy with the process from Greg’s group – which dragged out over some weeks, and this carried over to a general unease on this trip – which would have been a big first step for them in any event.

To end the story, Cindy and I committed to the VENT tour – at which point Greg’s partners came back and said they would match the price. We had had enough and despite a strong desire to go with Greg, we sent funds to VENT and that was that. Our friends decided to wait for another travel opportunity, in part influenced by some changes that had happened to their schedule. Not the best foundation for starting a trip, but the itinerary looked good and there was appeal in having a small group with a reliable company. Stay tuned…

More complications ahead. Not unexpectedly a visa was needed to visit Uganda. Visas have always been easy to get for other trips if needed – easy application, pay the price and done. The online process was extremely frustrating and one requirement was particularly challenging. For some reason a Yellow Fever vaccination was required to enter the country. Given that the exposure to Yellow Fever would be while in the country and thus the traveler’s problem, this requirement seemed to protect the traveler and not Uganda. Why? It turned out that Yellow Fever vaccinations are not easy to come by and are very expensive in addition. We found that Costco had the vaccinations available – after a process of consultation online with a Travel Health Advisor. Ok, we did that only to find that they recommended against yellow fever vaccinations for anyone over 65 as the risk of complications from the vaccine was greater than the risk of the disease itself. So Costco would not provide the vaccination, instead offering an official waiver form. Now another complication. The visa application was very problematic with among other things the need to attach very small sized copies of various photos and documents. Cindy went through the process first with many starts and stops as the online process rejected documents or just gave up. She indicated no vaccination, just a waiver. Finally she got it done and received a confirmation that the application was accepted and being processed. A few days later, she got notice that it was approved.

Now it was my turn and I had similar problems attaching documents and a faltering online process. Finally all the attachments were accepted and it came time to pay. I entered the correct information for the credit card (the same one accepted for Cindy’s application). The system crashed without acknowledging receipt or non-receipt. Worse, now there was an official application, which I could not reopen to modify and/or try again to pay. What next? I tried repeatedly to reopen the process and got the same message that there already was an application filed for that passport, and another could not be filed. After several stressful days including unanswered calls to the number provided for the Ugandan embassy, I found an email address for the director of immigration and explained the problem. I finally got a response with a way to make payment and I did. Another two days later the notice came that it was approved. Would that end the matter? Well maybe. It was not at all clear that when we showed up in Uganda, that our yellow fever vaccination waiver would actually be accepted. And later it came up as we checked in for our flight. We were allowed to board, but there was some skepticism as to whether we would be allowed to enter.

So after the stress of getting the tour commitment, there was the added and really quite great stress with the visas. Not holding you in suspense, when we arrived at the airport in Entebbe, Uganda – at around 4:00 a.m., our documents were approved almost perfunctorily and no attention was paid at all to the waiver. The notice of acceptance from the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration was all that was needed and our passports were stamped and we were good to go. But there would be more stress ahead – some self inflicted. The tour materials provided by VENT indicated that credit cards were commonly accepted and that there would be opportunities to use ATM’s in the country. Even so, as we had done for our Tanzania trip, we should have gotten some foreign exchange to take with us. We did not, and we made matters worse since we arrived at the airport so early, we did not get Ugandan shillings there either. Our lack of this currency would rear an ugly head throughout the trip. Nothing was uglier than when we finally got to an ATM midway through the tour as they were most definitely NOT commonly available, the ATM not only did not provide funds, but confiscated the card. AAARGH!!! AND many/most places did not accept credit cards and if any American currency was accepted, it had to be crisp and recently printed.

After all the preliminary stress, the trip to Uganda was actually quite good. We gave ourselves a gift by flying business class starting with a long 11 hour non-stop flight from Seattle to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines. The lay-flat seats were great, the ride was comfortable and the service excellent even if offerings of water were rare. The Istanbul Airport is pretty new and very impressive. Finding and getting to our connecting flight to Entebbe (with a short stop in Kigali Rwanda) was easy and quick with a relatively quick layover. If anything, we would have enjoyed a longer layover as we hear that the Turkish Airlines lounge in Istanbul is superb. Our flight to Kigali left on schedule. The seats were not as luxurious as on the first flight, but very comfortable and the entertainment system was good. Six plus hours hardly seemed that long. Then a short stop in Rwanda and then on to Entebbe. There is always that moment of dread as you leave the airport counting on someone with your name on a sign who will get you to your hotel – especially when you arrive so early. He was there and not more than 20 minutes later we were at the Boma Hotel – our tour semi-officially on its way – the formal tour to actually start at dinner the next day.

Although at the end we are glad that our friends did not come on this tour due to some of the challenges, it sure would have been nice to have had them with us. From the start when we met the two other members of the group, there were concerns. No reason to go into details as we will never see them again. I will just leave it that we were not fans and there were issues that arose far too frequently. I cannot think of many if any people that Cindy, the always good hearted and good natured person that she is, cannot get along with. But it happened here – not horribly obnoxious as some people I have seen are – but enough chafing to actually make much of the trip unpleasant. Unlike other trips where for example meals with the group are fun with shared stories etc., these were silent – eat and be gone. That’s enough on that – no war stories. Just sad. Blogs to follow will talk about places and animals – birds and mammals and some people – the Ugandans that we met along the way. Mostly positive to great with a couple of not so great. Especially, wonderful Ugandan people who were in many ways the best part of the trip. We thoroughly enjoyed our first accommodation at the Boma Hotel in Entebbe. Our trip would end there as well. Let’s go.