SPEAKER_01 0:00

Uganda, first of all, has the biggest population of gorillas in the world. It has 51% of the gorilla population. And we you have two tracking national parks for gorillas. We have Bwindi, Impenetrable Forest National Park, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And then we have Mugahinga. Yeah, we have Mount Mugahinga National Park, which doubles as a national park, a forest park, but then also a Mount Mountainous area. So people who like climbing mountains, that's where they can have the whole experience. One of the mountains.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Welcome to the Truly Expat Travel Podcast. I'm your host, Paula, and this is season two. On season one, I

Meet Lynett: 10 years in Uganda's tourism industry, expert in safari, wellness, and cultural experiences

SPEAKER_00 0:39

talk to experts about their favorite holiday destination. On season two, I'll be doing things very differently. I'll be chatting to expats about where they currently live. Why they chose that destination. All those secret hidden gems that only locals know, you know, like favorite restaurants, better neighborhoods, things that do as it don't. Today I have a very special guest here. We met a few months ago, and she has inspired me to visit the places that we're going to talk about. But I'm not going to say it yet. I'm going to let her talk all about it. So yeah, welcome, Lynette. I can't wait to hear all about it. Let's find out about yourself and who you are and what destination we're about to talk about.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Thank you, Paula. So my name is Lynette. I'm a travel expert for working in and around Uganda, Kampala, the Pala of Africa. So I've been in the tourism industry for the past 10 years. I'm passionate about tourism, about travel, about creating a space where people can experience different cultures, learn from them, and also

Uganda's secret superpower: 56 tribes and a culinary culture like nowhere else in the world

SPEAKER_01 1:44

appreciate more of what they have. So I create experiences which blend safari and wellness, culture and wellness experiences, mainly for women groups around the world. Yes. So I'm very excited to share more about Uganda and travel in and around Africa generally. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

So yeah, so Uganda, let's let's dive in. So we're not we're gonna talk about for me, it's it's a destination that is on my bucket list, and I'm sure it's on a lot of other people's bucket lists. So let's get started. What is what's one thing about the destination that only locals know and that you appreciate?

SPEAKER_01 2:19

One thing that's very unique to Uganda is the variety of foods we have to offer as a destination. And the culinary aspect in Uganda is very rich, and most times it's not even noticed by the clients that we have or who come into the country. Because we have over 56 tribes, which are ethnic groups of people, uh yeah, it's a melting point of so much culture. All these tribes have uniquenesses, and when it comes to food, it even goes beyond. So they have unique foods, unique ways of preparing. When you're looking at the carbohydrates, we have a variety over seven carbohydrates. And I think Uganda is the only country in the world where you go to eat, maybe you go to a restaurant and you say, Maybe I want chicken. So you say I want chicken and all food. And when you say you want all food, there is matoke, there is sweet potato, there is pumpkin,

Must-try dish: Luwombo — chicken or beef stew steamed in banana leaves

SPEAKER_01 3:08

there is cassava, there is pocho, there's something we call millet, you know, there is chapati, Irish potato. So it can go up to 10 different small pieces of carbohydrates that they can put on your plate, you know. So it's the only place I think around the world that had a strong variety of culinary experiences. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

So if if I was to come for the first time, what is a dish that I have to try?

unknown 3:33

What is it?

SPEAKER_01 3:34

You'd have to try luombo, which is a very famous dish in the central. And you cook it, can be chicken, it can be peanut paste, it could be beef, but they cook it in a banana fiber, in a banana leaf. I think I see in in Asia they use a lot of banana leaves to wrap.

Traditional drink: Omubisi — fresh or fermented banana juice made with lemongrass

SPEAKER_01 3:52

So here we wrap the food, the stew in a banana leaf with the curry. There's a way they smoke it so that water doesn't pass through. So they put the water, the chicken in, and they wrap it out and steam it. So it's a very famous dish here. It's called low ombo. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Okay. And is there a drink that you have to try as well?

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Yes, yes. So the very interesting thing is the culinary experience is very rich. That every culture has its unique food and unique beverage, which most times it's usually a little bit alcoholic. So in Buganda culture or in the central, we have omovisi, which is basically banana juice. So they have a traditional way of how they extract juice from bananas, you know, ripe bananas, and then they get the almovisi juice. Sometimes the omovisi could be fresh, which is not alcoholic, but then there's also a fermented type, which later turns into an alcoholic, a bit fermented.

SPEAKER_02 4:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

So we have omovisti, which is also very famous in the central.

SPEAKER_02 4:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

And they use banana, ripe bananas and a bit of uh lemongrass to make it. So they get the bananas and they mash them up with lemongrass. And that's that's the traditional

Weather in Uganda: 18–28°C year-round. Never too hot, never too cold

SPEAKER_01 5:00

way of how it was being made before you had blenders and all these machines. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Well, that sounds good. That sounds good. You obviously have a lot of uh bananas there. Yes, we do. So, what is the best time to travel to Uganda?

SPEAKER_01 5:14

Yeah, and that's also something very unique, Paola, that Uganda, some for for any traveler listening, Uganda is crossed by the equator. So throughout the year, the weather doesn't really change that much. And being a tropical country, it's hot, you know, it's hot and wet throughout the year. And when I say hot, it doesn't, it's not very hot, you know, like unbearable heat. When it's very hot, it's like maybe 28 degrees Celicious, 28, 29 when it's very hot, you know. And when it's very cold, it can drop up to 18, 19, you know, degrees Celicious. So it's never very hot, never very cold. You never really have to wear a sweater any day in Uganda throughout the year.

SPEAKER_00 5:55

Yeah. Yeah. So it's perfect no matter what time of the year that you go.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Yes. Though we have, of course, peak seasons for travelers, which are the traditional seasons of June, July, August, September. But I always encourage people, if they can, to also come during the low season, which usually is not so crowded. That way they can get a more beautiful experience because the hotels are not crowded, they have more attention, the parks are not crowded, and yet they still have the same experience because the weather is still the same. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Yeah. I like I like going off peak because there's a less crowd. It doesn't really matter too much to me whether or not the temperature is great. It's for me, it's more about less crowds. That's that's how I feel anyway. So, what is there something about Uganda that

What surprises every visitor: genuine, culturally ingrained hospitality

SPEAKER_00 6:41

surprises visitors every time they arrive?

SPEAKER_01 6:44

The genuine hospitality of the people. We are naturally welcoming people. And I think it goes back to the fact that we have so many cultures, so we get to welcome so many people and we get to interact with people of different cultures just by virtue of being Ugandans. So when a foreigner comes, we have it engraved in our culture to be welcoming to visitors. You know, it's our culture which even pushes us to say once a visitor comes, you live the best for the visitor, and it's culturally ingrabbed, you know. So when we have tourists into the country, the hospitality is felt naturally. And this is something sometimes us as Ugandans we don't pick on because we're used to having it, it's part of us, you know. But when a client comes, they're like, wow, people are genuinely happy and welcoming because it's it's part of us. Yeah, so that's something which is very unique.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

That's nice. Okay, so let's get started talking about the gorillas. So when is the best time to visit the gorillas? And what what do you need to know before you go? Because I know that yeah, there's a lot there's back in.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Yes, so Uganda,

Gorilla trekking 101: 51% of the world's gorillas are in Uganda. Permits are $700–$800. Book 4–6 months in advance

SPEAKER_01 7:53

first of all, has the biggest population of gorillas in the world. It has 51% of the gorilla population. And we you have two tracking national parks for gorillas. We have Bwindi, Impenetrable Forest National Park, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and then we have Mugahinga. Yeah, we have Mount Mugahinga National Park, which doubles as a national park, a forest park, but then also a mountainous area. So people who like climbing mountains, that's where they can have the whole experience. One of the mountains. Yes. So when you want to track gorillas, we I always encourage clients to book a bit, a minimum of four months in advance, a minimum, you know, so that you can secure your permits for a particular debt. Because of the conservation agenda, they limit the number of people who visit every gorilla family on any given day, you know. So there have to be eight people visiting a gorilla family per day. And once they visit, they spend one hour with the gorilla family. So because of that, they issue out a permit. So to be able to track the gorillas, we have to secure a permit, and each permit goes for $800. But recently, the General Life Authority introduced rats for the low season, which can also be a really beautiful catch for travelers who want to travel off-peak. So they reduce the permit by one $100. So for the low season is $700. And low season here looks at April, March, April, May, and I think November. March, April, May, November. Then the rest of the year, it's it goes for $800 per person. Someone to track us to be 15 years and above. And uh they have to not have anything flu, cough, because the gorillas are very their DNA is very close to us. So in case we have flu, cough, anything, we can easily catch it. Yeah, they can easily spread it. Then also it's very important for clients to know that the gorilla tracking experience varies from area to area. It can range between a two-hour walk to three, four hours into a rainforest, you know. And because it's a tropical rainforest, it is so thick that whenever people are, whenever they are tracking, they usually have security, a team of two, three security rangers with each team. They are literally slashing bushes to create a way, you know. The forest is that thick. Yeah. And because it's a tropical rainforest, the weather changes. So sometimes even during high season, which we say here it's the dry season, you could go tracking and it rains, you know. You can say off-peak off-peak it rains a lot, but you could go and track and it doesn't rain. So it rains every other day in the rainforest area, you know?

SPEAKER_02 10:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

So I'd usually encourage clients to track during the off-peak season because they have wider variety to see more wildlife, you know, that places are not crowded, because I know sometimes on peak season, permits get done sometimes two, three months ahead of time. That's why when it's when you if you want to track during the low season, you get your permits at least four months earlier. If you want to track in the high season, six months to a year earlier, you should have paid up for those permits. Yeah, because they they usually get done very, very fast. Yeah, mainly during the high season.

SPEAKER_00 12:49

And you can also see other animals there too, can't you?

SPEAKER_01 12:52

Yes, yes. Oh, yeah, definitely, definitely. In windy impenetrable forest, and sometimes, if you're lucky, you can see some forest elephants. You know, it's a budding paradise. There are a lot of bird species. If someone is into reptiles like butterflies, sexophobias, all that, a variety, and then there are also other types of monkeys, you know, cob colobus monkeys, you know, the velvet monkeys, they're all in the forest. Yeah. And then we not only have gorilla tracking, but then we also have chimpanzee, chimpanzee tracking, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that because yeah, that's also on my bucket list. So can you tell me a little bit about the chimpanzee tracking?

SPEAKER_01 13:35

Yes. So the main difference between the gorilla tracking experience and chimpanzee is for the chimpanzee, it's more fun, you know. The chimpanzees because they they're usually playing up in the trees, while the gorillas are usually on ground. So when you find a gorilla family, you're going to find it in its habitat. The babies are playing around, the father is keeping guard, the silverback is somewhere, you know, watching over the whole family. The mothers are just taking care of the little ones. Teenagers are playing, fighting, throwing things. So they're literally on ground, just having a good time in their habitats. While with chimpanzees, they're jumping from branch to branch, from tree to tree. So when you're doing the gorilla trucking experience,

Chimpanzee tracking: a shorter, wilder, tree-top experience — 2 to 3 hours

SPEAKER_01 14:13

you meet the family and they'll be over there in their area, and you'll be here, you know, watching them from here. But with chimpanzees, they're going to be jumping. So you're literally going to be in the forest standing, and literally they'll be jumping from here to here, jumping, making their noise and playing around. So it's a more fun experience, and so it's also shorter. For the gorilla trucking, we give it a one-day program, though it can be shorter, it can be three, four hours or less. But for chimpanzees, roughly two to three hours, you're in and out of the forest.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

Yes, and with chimpanzee trucking, you can do a morning truck or an afternoon truck. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 14:52

Ah, okay. So if I was to plan a trip to Uganda, how long do you recommend someone stay there? Because I mean, there's there's both of those. So you're saying that one is a full day, one is kind of like a a half day. What how long do you think someone should stay in Uganda to be able to experience all this thing? Plus, you know, experience the food and the culture and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 15:16

Yes, so Paula, it depends on the client's time. Really, it goes back to the client's time and availability. But I would, as an expert, I would recommend if you don't have time and you're very, very tight on time, give it four days if you're very tight on time. But you'd have to notice that you would miss out on a lot that the country has to offer. While I always encourage people that once you get a chance to get into the country, explore as much as you can in the country so that you don't go back and be like, oh my god, I was there. I didn't see that, I didn't experience this, you know. Yeah, so on average, we can give it eight days where we can curate a very good experience which has a blend of culture, you know, a little bit of wellness if you want that, you know, and primates if that's the your core. But we also have other eight national parks where we have lions, elephants, buffaloes, giraffes. So, in case you also want a safari experience, you know, we can merge

How long to stay: minimum 4 days, ideal 8 days for the full Uganda experience

SPEAKER_01 16:12

it in there. So as you're going down, so you land into Kampala in Tebe in the airport, you have a one-day experience of culture, imagined, and culinary experiences. And then the following day, you drive to where you find the chimpanzees. So you have the chimpanzee experience, maybe you spend the night, you relax, maybe you visit a community, you test some organic fruits and vegetables in there. Very beautiful. And this is very green in forest, it's a beautiful environment. Then you drive down to Queen Elizabeth National Park, famously known for its tree climbing lions of Ishasha. You know, you have your safari experience. If you want to add safari, you know, you see herds of elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, all in this one area. Then after that, you proceed down to bring the impenetrable. You spend here maybe a day or two, preferably two days, you know, because they even have Kazinga channel where you can do a boat cruise on the channel, and then during the boat cruise, you can see alligators or crocodiles, you can see heaps, heaps of of hippos, you know, schools of hippos, you can see buffaloes all on this, and so many birds. In case someone is a badder and they love birds, this place is a birding paradise. And after that, they can always drive down and track the gorillas. So, roughly eight days, you can have this whole experience before you drive back to Kampala, yeah, to fly out or even visit other countries in the region.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Yeah. Okay, that's perfect. So, what I'll do is in the show notes, put your link in there so that people can contact you if they want to organize this great, like a great trip there. And you can you can help them figure out what they want in case they want to do, I guess, something different.

SPEAKER_01 17:55

Definitely, yeah, definitely. We do customized experiences. So what I've just shared is more primate centric, you know, but other people would want to do a bit more culture-centric. So if they visit the Bantu culture where there is matoke or what you call bananas and peanuts, you know, all that happening, they can visit another culture in the east where there is cattle, cows, you know, and then they can do some milking experiences. They see how we make our traditional cheese, what we call ghee, you know, straight from the cow's milk. You know, they see how we make the millet bread, which is a type of grain that we use to cook a lot this side, you know. So they get to experience a different type of culture, and then they can go down. We have what a place we call Lake Bunyoni, very beautiful, very cynic. So if a client wants a wellness experience, we usually take them there. If it's a group, we can plan a group yoga experience, meditation, journaling, all that in the beautiful, quiet mountains, you know, of Kabale. So all this can be customized and curated,

Customised itineraries: cooking classes, cattle culture in the East, mountain yoga retreats

SPEAKER_01 19:00

and these are just sneak peeks of what you're gonna have to offer. If someone likes mountains, then you have Mount Trenzori, which has snow throughout the year. You know, it's it's based at the equator and it has snow, you know, the peak. The peak, the margarita peak. So it's very beautiful to experience, you know. And then we have Matison Falls, which has a very beautiful waterfall, you know, which is the Matison Falls National Park. Even the park has giraffes, has big, big groups of lions, you know. So it's also very good for safari, very riding safari experiences there too. So depending on the client's interest, a trip can be customized for them.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

That's good. And I and I guess you would suggest not hiring a car, right? Because if you do like a tour like this, you won't need to. You can you'll have someone take you from place to place.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

Yes, yeah, definitely, definitely. They're trained safari guides who have the experience and the knowledge of the different areas and the terrains, so they take you around. You know, that the packages that we provide, all the services we provide, come with they're literally all-inclusive on-ground handling. So you get the vehicle fueled, everything, guide paid for all that, hotels booked, entrance fees cleared, everything. You just come into the destination and we take care of you.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

Okay. You just turn up.

SPEAKER_01 20:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

You do everything else. It's what is the one thing, or what is something that you think that people should know and why you love Uganda so much?

SPEAKER_01 20:32

There's so many reasons, but one thing that really sticks out is the variety. Like it's I mentioned earlier, Uganda is a melting point, you know, of so many cultures, so much culinary experiences, birds, like Uganda has the biggest amount of freshwater bodies in Africa, and Uganda is small. You know, it has over 1,000 bird species, you know. It has two tropical forests, actually, more than two tropical forests currently that are still in existence. We are the primates' capital of the world, you know, because of the chimpanzees and gorillas all in one place. We have the biggest population of the gorillas. We have over a hundred crater lakes, and that's something I had not even talked about. We have so many crater lakes, you know, in the western region of the country. We have amazing weather. The weather here is unmatched. And for someone who has traveled and worked in other parts of Africa, I say this with a full chest that our weather is the best I have seen, you know, even from our neighbors, which are just close to us, our weather is unmatched. And these are small things that we take for granted. The culinary experiences, the food basket that we are. That is, we provide fresh foods, fruits, and vegetables and cubs throughout the year. There's no day when you're going to go in the market and they say, Oh, bananas are off-season. All this, we don't have anything like off-season, you know, throughout the year, we have everything. So those are all the things that come together to make Uganda really the pile of Africa.

SPEAKER_00 21:57

I mean, you have sold me. You didn't need to sell me because that's somewhere I want to go anyway, but you've definitely sold me on the location because it's got every ticks, all the boxes that that kind of uh make me really want to go. Is it is it safe, like for a solo traveler like myself?

SPEAKER_01 22:12

Yes. So what I always encourage solo travelers that because with our infrastructure is not fully well integrated with different aspects, I always encourage a solo traveler, at least if you're uh committed to be a solo traveler, at least the first two, three days, have a guide that you you move with to get you up to speed on how some small nitty-gritties operate, you know, and to also make you have a soft landing into a destination. Yeah. So in case you're you're beat to be on your own fully, have a guide for at least one, two days, you know, and they're not really expensive, you know. And for your safety for ease, having a guide will really ease, and also having a company that you come through, they will plan everything, and they'll even tell you that, okay, from here to here, you'll need a guide from here to here, you can go on your own. Because if you have a company you're working with, you have someone in case of anything, someone in the country who can support, you know, something which is very paramount for a destination like Uganda.

SPEAKER_00 23:13

That's good to know.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 23:15

Yeah, and also sorry, Kyle.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

Sorry, I would also encourage clients before you come into Uganda to always carry out research about every like as much research as you can. Because most times there could be something that your agent or travel company that you're working with maybe skips to inform you about or does not think is very important while it might be, you know, and also ask as many questions as possible. Last year I had some clients coming. To the country, and I didn't know they had a

Solo travel safety advice: hire a guide for at least the first 2–3 days

SPEAKER_01 23:46

drone, they never mentioned it anywhere, you know. So, and they went into Bindi, where we have the gorillas, and they were flying a drone, you know? Yes, and so we get a call. We're like, okay, police has taken your clients, and like, what happened? What's wrong? What's wrong? And like, oh, they were flying a drone, and like they didn't inform me, you know, because to even have the drone come into the country, you need clearance, you know. Yeah, so sometimes something can be so small, and if it's not checked or double confirmed, it can bring an issue. But they were they were cleared later on, yeah. But it was yeah, we had to walk backwards very fast.

SPEAKER_00 24:23

Yeah, and is there a certain fitness level you have to be to be able to visit the gorillas and the chimpanzees?

SPEAKER_01 24:29

I mean, with the gorillas, if you can comfortably walk three kilometers, if you can comfortably walk three kilometers, you you're okay, you know. Okay, of course, well, the reason why I say that is not because you're going to walk three kilometers, but because the terrain is a bit steep here and there, so it can be a bit challenging. But then also clients need to know that they sometimes people get affected by altitude, so altitude sickness because we are over 2000 meters of above sea level. If someone is coming from an area because the parts of the world which are below sea level, you know, you can easily get altitude sickness very fast. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

Do you have any festivals there?

SPEAKER_01 25:08

Yes, yes, yes, yes. We have so many festivals. We have Nyegenyege Festival, it's a music festival, so it attracts people from all over the world, people who love music, DJs, you know, oh arts and festivals. It's called Nygenyege, it happens every year in November, so it's a very big festival, yes. And then in terms of culture, in terms of domestic festivals, we have what we call Imbalu Festival, which is uh a culture ceremony from the East where people are initiated from childhood into adulthood, mainly for the men. So it's a circumcision festival for men.

SPEAKER_00 25:43

Okay, very good. Is there anything you can think of that you might like any tips or anything else you'd like to add to let people know about Uganda?

SPEAKER_01 25:52

Tips, tips, tips, tips, tips. Uh like like I had mentioned, it's it's always good to do a little bit of research so that you make sure that you are getting the best experience out of the destination because we have so much to offer. Most times a lot is left out, you know, like the crater lakes. We have so many crater lakes. We have Lake Bunyon, which is a beautiful scenic place, you know. We have the east where we have mountains, you know, Mount Elegon, we have CP Falls. So it's always good to inform the person who is organizing your trip, your client, your agent or your ground handler, exactly what you would want to experience, you know, and maybe watching one, two, three, five YouTube videos of different experiences in Uganda so that you pick out your best, I think would be ideal. Yeah, that can really help you get the best out of a destination than just picking something off the shelf.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

Yeah, that makes sense. That's excellent. Thank you so much for Lynette for coming in. I know it's so early there for you, so I really appreciate you coming on. But I'm sure I'm gonna meet you one day because I'm definitely coming to Uganda. I just don't know when yet.

SPEAKER_01 27:00

Thank you, Paula. I'll be waiting for you. We're here. I'm very excited that we have had this talk. We've had to share about Uganda

Festivals: Nyege Nyege (November music festival) and Imbalu (cultural initiation ceremony)

SPEAKER_01 27:07

and all your questions. In case you have any more questions about Uganda, any more clarifications, I'm here to provide everything you need.

SPEAKER_00 27:14

Perfect. Thank you, Lynette. And yeah, I'll see you later. Thank you. Thank you for joining me on the Truly Expat Travel podcast. If you liked this episode and you found it valuable, then why don't you go ahead and like and subscribe so that you don't miss an episode moving forward. I've got some amazing guests and some fantastic destinations coming up. But if this is the episode and this is the destination that you really want to go to, then I suggest you head over to truly expatravel.com where you'll find travel guides and deep dive into this sort of destination. If that's not what you want and you can't find an episode that is a destination you want to travel to, then head over and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok,

Final tips: research your trip, watch YouTube videos of Uganda, and tell your guide exactly what you want

SPEAKER_00 28:03

because I'm pretty sure you'll find something there. But in the meantime, safe travels and I'll see you next week.