Uganda, itinary advice

Hi

we have planned the following itinary:

Kampala-Ssese Island-Kabale-Bwindi-Mweya/QE-Kampala

We have a total of 13 days. We do not have our own transportation. Is this
feasible? Any comments? Is 7 days from Kampala to Bwindi enough/too much?

How do we get from Bwindi to QE? And if we wish to do so - how do we get
from Bwindi to Murchinson? Is it an idea to skip QE, and go back to Kampala
and up to Murchinson? It seems like a long way.


Kennet



--
Sommerferien 2005 går til.... se det her:
www.pernille-kennet.dk

"Pernille og Kennet" schreef in bericht
k...
Hi

we have planned the following itinary:

Kampala-Ssese Island-Kabale-Bwindi-Mweya/QE-Kampala

We have a total of 13 days. We do not have our own transportation. Is this
feasible? Any comments? Is 7 days from Kampala to Bwindi enough/too much?

How do we get from Bwindi to QE? And if we wish to do so - how do we get
from Bwindi to Murchinson? Is it an idea to skip QE, and go back to
Kampala
and up to Murchinson? It seems like a long way.


Kennet



--
Sommerferien 2005 går til.... se det her:
www.pernille-kennet.dk



You can get from Kampala to Bwindi in a day, so what do you plan to do on
the way the rest of the time. In Bwindi of course you go for the gorillas,
but the forest itself is very beautiful too. Spend another day or 2 walking
around. I was not very impressed with Q.E. and I found Murchinson too far.
Kibale forest is nice and you ge to see wild chimpanzees(see my website)
13 days is not an awful lot of time. I would slow down and maybe enjoy a bit
more a true African atmosphere. Ugandans are amongst the nicest of people.


--
Andre van Huizen
www.imaginature.nl

"Andre@imaginature" skrev i en meddelelse
...

"Pernille og Kennet" schreef in bericht
k...
Hi

we have planned the following itinary:

Kampala-Ssese Island-Kabale-Bwindi-Mweya/QE-Kampala

We have a total of 13 days. We do not have our own transportation. Is
this
feasible? Any comments? Is 7 days from Kampala to Bwindi enough/too much?

How do we get from Bwindi to QE? And if we wish to do so - how do we get
from Bwindi to Murchinson? Is it an idea to skip QE, and go back to
Kampala
and up to Murchinson? It seems like a long way.


Kennet



--
Sommerferien 2005 går til.... se det her:
www.pernille-kennet.dk



You can get from Kampala to Bwindi in a day, so what do you plan to do on
the way the rest of the time. In Bwindi of course you go for the gorillas,
but the forest itself is very beautiful too. Spend another day or 2
walking
around. I was not very impressed with Q.E. and I found Murchinson too far.
Kibale forest is nice and you ge to see wild chimpanzees(see my website)
13 days is not an awful lot of time. I would slow down and maybe enjoy a
bit
more a true African atmosphere. Ugandans are amongst the nicest of people.


--
Andre van Huizen
www.imaginature.nl




Hi

we plan to go to Ssese Islands and spend a few days in Kabale. Also, we need
a few days in Kampala to investigate possible accomodation bookings. We plan
to go buy public transport, so it may take a while. You say, that 13 days is
not a lot of time, but actually we have more time, which we plan to spend in
eastern Uganda, a safari in Kenya and Mombassa.

If QE is not that impressive and Murchinson is too far - what would you
suggest? Is it possible to go to Kibale form Bwindi on public transport? How
is accomodation in Kibale?

Kennet
--
Sommerferien 2005 går til.... se det her:
www.pernille-kennet.dk

Hi

we plan to go to Ssese Islands and spend a few days in Kabale. Also, we
need
a few days in Kampala to investigate possible accomodation bookings. We
plan
to go buy public transport, so it may take a while. You say, that 13 days
is
not a lot of time, but actually we have more time, which we plan to spend
in
eastern Uganda, a safari in Kenya and Mombassa.

If QE is not that impressive and Murchinson is too far - what would you
suggest? Is it possible to go to Kibale form Bwindi on public transport?
How
is accomodation in Kibale?

Kennet
--
Sommerferien 2005 går til.... se det her:
www.pernille-kennet.dk


As I can remember,this is '99, it was not easy to get public transport from
Bwindi to Kibale. We hitchhiked parts of it, which was fine.
Kibale had some simple huts and campsite. Nearby Fort Portal has a very nice
guesthouse, The Ruwenzori Inn. Check on the safety situation round Kibale,
sometimes things get rough over there.
QE was nice to drive around but don't expect the amount of wild animals
found in parks in Kenya. The populations of wildlife are still recovering
from the slaughtering years ago.


--
Andre van Huizen
www.imaginature.nl

we plan to go to Ssese Islands and spend a few days in Kabale. Also, we
need
a few days in Kampala to investigate possible accomodation bookings. We
plan
to go buy public transport, so it may take a while. You say, that 13 days
is
not a lot of time, but actually we have more time, which we plan to spend
in
eastern Uganda, a safari in Kenya and Mombassa.

If QE is not that impressive and Murchinson is too far - what would you
suggest? Is it possible to go to Kibale form Bwindi on public transport?
How
is accomodation in Kibale?

Kennet
--
Sommerferien 2005 går til.... se det her:
www.pernille-kennet.dk



Last summer, I did a tour in Uganda/Rwanda with gorilla tours
(http://www.gorillatours.com/).
The diary is on the internet, but in dutch. You can get an impression from
the photo's (click on the numbers at the left to switch days) :
http://www.familie-aarts.com/~jan/ug/html/index.htm

I know from other people, getting by bus from Kabale to QE is no problem.
QE was a bit of a disappointment (except for a lephard!). Most grass near
the lodge was burned and most animals moved to
other area's. It was a sad sight on some places. You can not compare this
park to parks in Kenya, but may be in few years it gets
better. Another lodge, south of Mweya is situated very nice in the forest,
next to a lake.

Murchison Falls is a very nice park. Huge, almost no tourists and impressive
falls. Lots of animals near the river.

About Bwindi : I think you need to get gorilla permits in Kabale. Most
(some) tour companies will provide transport from Kabale to Bwindi. A tip :
You can also get permits to see the gorilla group in the south of Bwindi.
The forest in this part (next to the river) was
very beautifull. But going down and up was a bit steep.


Jan

I know from other people, getting by bus from Kabale to QE is no problem.
QE was a bit of a disappointment (except for a lephard!). Most grass near
the lodge was burned and most animals moved to
other area's. It was a sad sight on some places. You can not compare this
park to parks in Kenya, but may be in few years it gets
better. Another lodge, south of Mweya is situated very nice in the forest,
next to a lake.

OK, I think, that we will drop QE and go to Kibale instead if it is possible
to go there from Bwindi.

I would still like to know, if it is possible to go from Kibale to
Murchinson direct, or if we should go back via Kampala.

Also, I would like to know something about Ssese Islands and the area east
of Bwindi.

Kennet
------------
Sommerferien 2005 går til.... se det her:
www.pernille-kennet.dk

In message
"Jan" wrote:


About Bwindi : I think you need to get gorilla permits in Kabale.
But isn't it also true that there are only so many permits per day, and they
often sell out well in advance? If that happens, your only chance is to hope
for a no-show (not very likely given the cost of the permits!) or for
someone with a ticket to have a cold or other infection whereupon they will
not be allowed to visit the gorillas. They get their money refunded (IIRC)
and the tickets can be re-sold. It's a chance, but not a guarantee.

This is as I understand it from my friends who visited a few years back.
They had permits for two consecutive days, but a couple with another company
who though they had two days' permits only had one day's, and they
didn't get on the gorilla trek on the second day as it was full and were
extremely disappointed.

Slainte

Liz

"Liz" wrote in message
...
In message
"Jan" wrote:


About Bwindi : I think you need to get gorilla permits in Kabale.
But isn't it also true that there are only so many permits per day, and
they
often sell out well in advance? If that happens, your only chance is to
hope
for a no-show (not very likely given the cost of the permits!) or for
someone with a ticket to have a cold or other infection whereupon they
will
not be allowed to visit the gorillas. They get their money refunded (IIRC)
and the tickets can be re-sold. It's a chance, but not a guarantee.

This is as I understand it from my friends who visited a few years back.
They had permits for two consecutive days, but a couple with another
company
who though they had two days' permits only had one day's, and they
didn't get on the gorilla trek on the second day as it was full and were
extremely disappointed.

Slainte

Liz


In the main season there are not enough permits. And tour operators have to
reserve them 3 to 4 months in advance.
Last summer, there were 3 groups in nord Bwindi, but I think only 2 groups
are visited each day. Each with a maximum of 6 people.
In south Bwindi there was a new group, which a maximum of 4 people could be
visiting.
In Mahaginga (to be visited from Kisoro) there is another group.
The group sizes in Rwanda have been increased to get more money.


Jan

I know from other people, getting by bus from Kabale to QE is no problem.
QE was a bit of a disappointment (except for a lephard!). Most grass near
the lodge was burned and most animals moved to
other area's. It was a sad sight on some places. You can not compare this
park to parks in Kenya, but may be in few years it gets
better. Another lodge, south of Mweya is situated very nice in the forest,
next to a lake.

OK, I think, that we will drop QE and go to Kibale instead if it is possible
to go there from Bwindi.

I would still like to know, if it is possible to go from Kibale to
Murchinson direct, or if we should go back via Kampala.

Also, I would like to know something about Ssese Islands and the area east
of Bwindi.

Kennet
------------
Sommerferien 2005 går til.... se det her:
www.pernille-kennet.dk

In message
"Jan" wrote:


About Bwindi : I think you need to get gorilla permits in Kabale.
But isn't it also true that there are only so many permits per day, and they
often sell out well in advance? If that happens, your only chance is to hope
for a no-show (not very likely given the cost of the permits!) or for
someone with a ticket to have a cold or other infection whereupon they will
not be allowed to visit the gorillas. They get their money refunded (IIRC)
and the tickets can be re-sold. It's a chance, but not a guarantee.

This is as I understand it from my friends who visited a few years back.
They had permits for two consecutive days, but a couple with another company
who though they had two days' permits only had one day's, and they
didn't get on the gorilla trek on the second day as it was full and were
extremely disappointed.

Slainte

Liz