Uganda, “The Pearl of Africa”, is blessed with a wide variety of tourist attractions such as rafting on the upper Nile, hiking up Mt. Elgon, climbing Mountain Rwenzori (the Mountains of the Moon), tracking gorillas and chimps and with so many activities across the country both inside and outside the national parks and game reserves. Rhinos can be approached on foot at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.
Mabira Tropical Rain Forest (Uganda’s largest natural rain forest), a thick, dense canopy covered forest on the Kampala – Jinja highway, provides hiking and cycling trails and with an ideal Rain Forest Lodge good enough for vacation. It is a national forest reserve and its credentials are impressive by any standards. It consists of 312 shrubs and tree species, 287 types of butterflies, 316 species of birds – many of them endemic, 23 species of reptiles, 97 species of moths, and in contrast to other listed inventories some 51 mammal species.
When cycling across any of the four mapped – out trails, a fair number of bird sightings, and mammals, can be recorded. During enroute stops; trees, shrubs, orchids, and insects can be inspected close up. Mabira Forest also offers Uganda’s first zip-lining option, located near the Griffin Falls and can easily be accessed by bike on one of the trails, or via the town of Lugazi by car. Lugazi, has a golf course open to the public should any of the golf-addicted visitors passing through and having time to spare, wish to play.
Adventuring on a bicycle is an upcoming activity/ tourist practice in Uganda’s tourism industry. Borrowing the idea from Rwanda , a country that has benefited so much from this activity since its introduction, cycling is fast becoming an extra activity that tourists take after taking a gorilla safari in Bwindi Impoenetrable National Park and there are many challenges offered by local tour operators in Bwindi. This activity can be done in other areas as well where cyclists can enjoy asightseeing on a ride! Visitors can go around or even through a national park, game reserve/ sanctuary, climb a mountain and even a lake using a two wheeled vehicle (the bike/ bicycle).
Currently, cycling is gaining ground in Uganda that the Uganda Cycling Association has organized a cycling event (Kampala Adventure Cycling 2015 Event – 16/August/2015) along with other associations like The Uganda Tourism Board and Kampala Capital City Authority. Cycling trails and trips are now available covering distances of between 13.3 to 40 kilometers. Anyone visiting Kampala on business and fancying a day out on a bike, this should be one of your options for a workout. Trailing through her rural areas, where there’s little vehicle traffic and safer than cycling along main roads or in the city itself while at the end of it having a serene lake-side setting for a sun downer, a meal, or even a refreshing dip into the swimming pool.