Back in 2017, I had the opportunity to volunteer as a pathologist at the Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Mbarara, Uganda. We packed in a few experiences, including Gorilla Tracking at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, visits to Entebbe and Lake Bunyonyi, and a mini-safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Planning and Travel

Visas and Travel Advisory

At the time of writing, US citizens can obtain an e-visa ahead of time or a visa on arrival at the airport. Check out current entry requirements here.

Currently (June 2023), there is a travel advisory (level 3) due to terrorist attacks and violent crimes, so be aware of the political situation before considering travel here. There are strict laws around homosexuality, so members of the LGBTQIA+ community should strongly consider choosing another destination. If you visit, regardless of your orientation, be cautious, and vigilant, and consider traveling with a buddy or two. We never felt unsafe, and the people we met were some of the nicest in the world. There are always bad actors, and the people of a country are not their government.

I always like to try and understand a country’s history and political situation before visiting, and you can see what books I read before our trip to Uganda here.

Planning

The volunteer program helped me plan the bulk of this trip- they have an established guest house in Mbarara and tour providers they have vetted. We were, however, responsible for international travel and pre- and post-volunteer plans. If you happen to be a pathologist interested in volunteering with Mbarara University of Science and Technology, contact me! It was a transformative experience and they are always looking for new blood.

Moses Tours is the tour company of choice for the volunteer program, and they take care of all of our transport and tours. They were excellent! They were communicative, punctual, flexible, and provided lots of great ideas.

This was before I got into the points game, so we had a pretty basic flight on Delta and KLM. Our route was El Paso, Texas, to Atlanta, Georgia; then on to Amsterdam, then Kigali, Rwanda and finally Entebbe, Uganda. We flew economy and it was fine.

Entebbe, Uganda

We flew into Entebbe, a small city located on the shores of Lake Victoria, about 20 miles from the capital city of Kampala, Uganda.

Our driver picked us up and drove us down the main road, then veered off down a dirt road and sped past huts, shacks, and shops until we arrived at a large, black wrought-iron gate. This was our accommodation for the next two nights- Lake Victoria View Guest House. This is a woman-owned, five-room inn with a lovely little restaurant on the shores of Lake Victoria.

Each room was an individual thatched-roof hut, and ours was named “Thrush” (after the bird, not the infection). The accommodations were basic but decorated with colorful linens and artwork. There was definitely a feminine touch here, and I loved supporting these ladies. The bed was covered in a brightly colored, striped bedspread and surrounded by mosquito netting. It was very firm, as we were to learn most beds were in Uganda!

The bathroom contained a toilet, sink, and shower. As we also found in Uganda, to get hot water, you have to turn on the hot water heater by flipping a switch, then wait 10-30 minutes for the water to heat up.

The food at the restaurant was delicious and homemade. Our favorite was the breakfast of banana pancakes.

Uganda Wildlife Conservation and Education Center

The hotel arranged a driver for us. He took us into town, and we were the only tourists! They drive on the “wrong side of the road” in Uganda so that always takes some getting used to! It was chaos! We exchanged money- at the time of writing, one US dollar equals about 3600 Ugandan Shilling. I usually don’t exchange money, instead opting to get local currency straight out of the ATM, but we could not find an ATM.

The Zoo

We visited the Uganda Wildlife Conservation and Education Center or the Entebbe Zoo. This was a really cool place, a hidden gem! They provide “experiential activities,” where you can pay to be a “keeper for a day,” interacting closely with the animals and learning what it takes to be a zookeeper. If you are bold and a little crazy, you can get up close and personal with the chimpanzees in their “chimpanzee close up” program. They offer VIP tours and long-term volunteer opportunities, as well as on-site accommodations and a restaurant.

We enjoyed our visit to the zoo some of the only foreign tourists. There were several groups of adorable schoolchildren, with kids from each school dressed in unique uniforms. At times, I felt like one of the zoo animals on exhibition, drawing the stares of these little cuties, and an occasional “muzungu!“

Aside- MUZUNGU is a Swahili and Ganda word which means roughly “someone who wanders around aimlessly.” In certain parts of Africa, foreigners (particularly white people) are (affectionately??) referred to using this term. Some days, I thought it was my new name…

We really enjoyed this zoo. The animal enclosures were very similar to their natural habitats and were as open as possible. Many of their animals were rescues, and they seemed committed to conservation and taking care of the wildlife. The main focus, aside from caring for the animals, seemed to be educating children about wildlife and teaching them to be excellent stewards of their environment.

Some of the most interesting parts of the zoo were the chimpanzees, who we watched fishing and playing for a long time, the almost free-range rhinos, and the weird, creepy shoe-bill birds. Those guys looked evil!

Botanic Gardens

We set off walking on the main road with the locals, occasionally getting propositioned by drug dealers and buzzed by boda bodas. Motorcycle taxis are common throughout Africa, and in East Africa, they are called boda bodas. They originated in the Uganda/Kenya borderlands, and that is where the name came from: border border became boda boda.

My Precious

We walked through a neighborhood and happened upon a cute guest house called “Precious Guest House and Restaurant.” We met the proprietor, Ken from London, and he showed us around the facility. I highly recommend staying here if you visit Entebbe. We shared a whole fried fish with veggies and plantains, and it was delicious!

The Gardens

A few more minutes’ walk took us to the Entebbe Botanic Gardens on the shores of Lake Victoria. It costs about 10,000 Ugandan Shillings to enter, and I highly recommend paying an additional 10,000 shillings for a local guide. Our guide was knowledgeable and funny, and he added so much to our visit. There are several restaurants in and around the gardens, where you can try local specialties such as goat soup.

This was no manicured, cultivated garden but instead was a wild natural park- sort of an enclosed portion of the jungle. Part of the original “Tarzan” movie was filmed here, and we got to try our hand at swinging on vines! Not as easy at it looks…Highlights of the gardens included the troop of vervet monkeys frolicking out front with their babies, Colobus monkeys, and hornbills, those huge, ugly, awkward birds that mate for life. There were so many varieties of huge trees, including the cannonball tree, crocodile trees, and umbrella trees. There was wild growing cannabis, which is not so taboo there but smoking in public is not allowed. Termite mounds sprung up everywhere, and many were as tall as we were and 3-4 times as wide!

We saw hideous spiders that our guide said were “dragon spiders.” They were huge and moved like a black widow. I googled “dragon spider” and found out that they actually have wings! I’m glad I didn’t know this then…

We spent about two hours hiking the trails of the gardens. I definitely recommend visiting this special place!

Victoria Mall, Entebbe, Uganda

We left the gardens and continued walking. We decided to stop by the Victoria Mall for some ice cream! The mall had a food court, an electronics store, a gym, and a couple of other shops. After enjoying our soft serve and doing a little people-watching, we decided to try the local transportation… we took boda bodas back to our guest house!

The boda boda ride was a blast! As we rode on the “wrong side” of the road, it felt like we were speeding into oncoming traffic. We rode down hard-packed red dirt roads, stirring up clouds of dust which coated my teeth. We drove past shops and houses and eventually arrived safely at our guest house for a decent dinner and a good night’s sleep!

Next Stop- Lake Bunyonyi

That’s it for our arrival and time in Entebbe, Uganda! Next time, read about our African massage and our stay in the Bird’s Nest on scenic Lake Bunyonyi!