I must say that my heart was stolen by Africa the first time I visited. I had never considered travelling to Uganda, a country I couldn’t even locate on the map of Africa and knew very little about. Thanks to my profession, I had the opportunity to discover it on a prospecting trip for travel agents.
The smell of wet earth, the wonderful white smiles on those dark faces, the innocence of the people, the rusticity of the streets, the absurdity of civilisation in the midst of nature, all make my heart beat faster.
To begin with, the international airport is not located in the capital, but in Entebbe, a medium-sized town in the middle of nowhere, about 50 kilometres from the capital, and the hotels are small boutique hotels full of African flavour.
On the first day, I visited the only white rhino park in the world on foot. It was an amazing experience, and we arrived at Murchison Falls National Park at night, so I couldn’t see much. At dawn, opening the curtains in your room and finding yourself in an orchard on the banks of the Nile makes you realise that you are in a special place.
From then on, everything was incredible: Queen Elizabeth Park, the lions, the jungle and the Kazinga Channel, teeming with animals, thousands of elephants, hippos, rhinos and gazelles enjoying themselves before our eyes as we sailed towards Lake Victoria.
If you have to die travelling,
let it be in Africa.
Halfway through the trip, we went to see chimpanzees in the wild. They talk so much about gorillas that chimpanzees don’t usually generate high expectations. After three hours of strenuous walking, we hadn’t seen anything. Ready to return, unsuccessful, suddenly a deafening noise began to be heard above us. The treetops were going crazy, you could hear the leaves and a loud screech like a thousand children crying at once. Suddenly, we saw the shadows of the chimpanzees above us, beginning to ‘mark their territory’ above us and coming down from the trees to surround us. There are no words to describe it.
The highlight is undoubtedly the visit to the gorillas. In the world, gorillas can only be seen in the wild in Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. There are only 58 permits per person per day. It is only for a privileged few.
Adrenaline rushes through your veins and you feel truly fortunate. To return to Entebbe and travel across the country from south to north, you have to take a light aircraft, flying over the Nile, the impenetrable Windi jungle and Lake Victoria. It’s like being in a film.
If you have to die travelling, let it be in Africa, please.
