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Half of the world's population of mountain gorillas live in
the wild in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. A few families of these gorillas have been habituated to humans, making
it is possible to get reasonably close to them by hiking into the forest with a wildlife guide. Although visitors are
not allowed to approach closer to the animals than 7 meters, they come right up to you and, as you will see in the pictures, sometimes actually grab onto you (fortunately, this gorilla was only a youngster).
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Chimpanzees are another primate you can see in the wild
in Uganda's Kibale Forest. We also visited the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, currently caring for 48 rescued
chimps.
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We drove over a thousand miles through the Uganda countryside, mostly on bumpy dirt roads, and walked
around in several villages along the way. Most of the country has no running water or electricity and it is
certainly very poor. However, the land is fertile and there seems to be lots of food being grown and harvested
everywhere. People we met were wonderful and welcoming, the children are beautiful, and
the scenes on the street are colorful and full of life.
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In addition to the primates, Uganda has a variety of wildlife including
birds, elephants, hippos, and antelope.
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