“For magnificence, for variety of form and color, for profusion of brilliant life — bird, insect, reptile, beast — for vast scale — Uganda is truly “the Pearl of Africa.” – Winston Churchill
Uganda is in the middle of Africa. Why did we choose Uganda? My parents were at the time serving as missionaries for our church there for 18 months. They had been there for a total of 10 months and Erin and I had to take the opportunity to go see them. Plus we had never been to Uganda before.
Travel Requirements: If your planning a trip to Uganda you need to be up to date on on your vaccine’s and plan on adding a few others to that list. Visiting our local health department they made it sound as if there was no way we would be returning with out contracting some sort of disease. I guess it is their job to inform you of all the possible risks.
in 10 months!
The recommended Vaccine’s include hep A & B, cholera, influenza, MMR, rabies, typhoid and yellow fever. I could be missing a few so consult your local health department. We also received a prescription for Malaria pills which we began taking the day before we arrived into Uganda and each date there after until a week after we returned. There are a number of mosquito contracted illnesses, but I felt that as long as I took the Malaria pills and used ample amount of mosquito protection (we used a mesquite lotion that we applied multiple times each day), I didn’t have anything to worry about.
When we arrived in country it was required that we show proof of our yellow fever vaccination. This was also required when we left the country. This process was very easy and didn’t add any waiting time for us to enter the country.
The one surprise we did have going through customs was as a US Citizen we needed to pay $50 usd each to get our temporary travel visa to enter the country. (Come to find out this is posted on many websites, but I must have missed it) When we left the country there was not any fees, but the line to check baggage was over 1.5 hours long.
Money: The biggest surprise I had was that almost everywhere we went the American Dollar (usd) was accepted. They even loved the $1 bill. (most preferred is the $20) Uganda is still a major cash transaction country and do most of their business transaction in the local currency (Ugandan Shilling). It is important to know that if you plan to take USD they need to be newer than 2009 and in almost perfect condition. If they are older than that or in poor condition they will not be accepted. Credit Cards are also excepted but in very limited locations. Most of the resorts/hotels, and nicer restaurants will accept them. Make sure to take a Visa that does not have foreign transaction fee to save you money. One of the best cards out there without an annual fee, and has no foreign transaction fees is the Quicksilver Capital One Visa Credit Card. I have this card and love that I also get 1.5% cash back on every purchase.
Language: Ugandan’s speak English as their national language. Not everyone can speak English however and they speak with a pretty thick accent. There are many different tribes in the country and each have their own language. The main language is called Luganda (Language based around the capital city of Kampala). As long as we listened carefully we were able to get buy just fine. The people were great and were very friendly.
Weather: The weather was amazing. I don’t think there is a time during the year where the weather isn’t nice. The season is either rainy or dry. In January while we were there it averaged a high of 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) and a low around 18 degrees (65 degrees Fahrenheit). It was absolutely perfect with only one day where we worried about rain. According to the locals the dry season was just starting.
Source of the Nile River: Did you know the Nile River starts in Uganda? I didn’t. I also didn’t realize that the Nile River flows from South to North. This is just weird when in the US it seems every major river flows from North to South. It was fun to think that just a few days before we were at the end of the Nile River while visiting Egypt. (See Post : Layover in Egypt) The Nile River starts from Lake Victoria which is the largest lake in Africa. We traveled to the start of the Nile by jumping on a small boat just outside the city of Jinja. Traveling across the lake to a small little island which had a couple of small shacks on it that were filled with souvenirs. (We purchased a small dress for our daughter Blair there) Just off this small island was where the Nile starts.
Other Uganda Highlights: (Separate Posts)
Gorilla Trekking in the Rain Forest
African Safari
Equator- Middle of the Earth
Orphanage in Uganda
Uganda Zoo – Behind the Scenes Tour
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