Uganda Safari Safety
Uganda safari safety is a two-way tactic which you and the destination supposed to keep up for the benefit of all tourism stakeholders. Uganda is among the best African countries when it comes to safety and stability. Therefore, if you wish to travel to a safe country in the world, then Uganda got to be on your top list for the safest travel destinations in Africa, and the whole world at large. However, Uganda is not some safe haven, it is just like any other place in the world and something might happen if you do not hold yourself up to safety all the time, such as theft, robbery, and kidnapping among others. You might have read a lot of news about the insecurities of African countries and the other parts of the world. however, it is not just the news to alert you about your safari safety in Uganda, there is slot of things which, you yourself, supposed to hold up in order to be safe during a Uganda safari, and, perhaps, any other safari in other destinations around the world.
The fact is, there are totally rare incidents of insecurity in Uganda, and all you should expect is the safe visits and safe safaris for the time you are going to be in the pearl of Africa. Thanks to the Ugandan government which values all its visitors from all the countries around the world. The government of Uganda undertakes safety and security as a serious concern for the lives of the visitors and the country’s image in the world outside of its realm. The Uganda wildlife authority together with the Uganda police and military, plus the special tourist police of Uganda are provide proactive ways to avoid any unsafe situation to inconvenience your Uganda safari experience. Perhaps, the surges of “Uganda safari woman kidnapped” have made the organisations concerned about the safety of travellers in the national parks of Uganda, in 2020, more than ever before. Therefore, this is sure deal that the national parks are all safe to visit in Uganda, but, still your safety is skewed to you.
Uganda is safe to visit , but some risk zoned should be avoided, such as parts of northern Uganda, Congo border, and the areas in the Karamoja region. And as travel alerts concerned, many countries in Uganda have issued a travel warning for the travellers to stay away from some areas in Uganda, for example, travellers from the united stated of America are alerted to stay in about 50km away from the Congo –Uganda boarder and the Uganda- south Sudan boarder. Other countries, have issued warnings to travellers to avoid the remote Karamoja area of north eastern region of Uganda, which includes kidepo valley national park and pian upe game reserve. However, the security status of Karamoja now is positive and vastly improved for the past 5 years. However, some countries still take Karamoja to the a travel alert area of concern, but the fact is kidepo valley national park is a safe place to visit, and it also provides fly in safaris from the Entebbe international airport, and kajjansi air field and others in different national parks around the country. also many of the reputable safari operators in Uganda put emphasis that the safety alerts for kidepo valley national park and other places in the northern part of Uganda might not be 100% true, and you can travel by road to kidepo valley national parks. However, for the self-drive in kidepo valley national park, and any other national parks in Uganda, it is better to seek for local advice or hire a safari guide to help you out.
Uganda safari safety areas of concern
One of the most prone areas of safety during the Ugandan safari is the road safety, and it should be one of the things you have to take caution about. The Uganda roads are not the good, and most of them have a bad state, especially the rural road network. The roads in Uganda are poor and inadequetly marked. However, the highway roads are much better than the roads in the towns, but some roads are narrow, therefore you have to carefully drive on these roads. Also the high way roads might not be bumpy but are full of highway robbers, both during the day and night, for the reason, it is good not to travel alone.
Another area is political violence which is very common in the town areas of Uganda, and Kampala capital city. There are no more political issues from the Lord’s Resistance Army of joseph kony and the rebel attacks in eastern Congo. The northern part of Uganda has been safe for the last couples of years. There is also an introduction of the civilian police in northern Uganda, and army deployment along the border areas to avoid any kind of political violence to penetrate through the Ugandan borders. However, the chaos and the political rally riots suddenly emerge in Kampala and other big towns in Uganda, such as mbarara, masaka and Jinja. Therefore, for any riot and chaos in the city, it is better you run to the central police station in Kampala city centre.
Medical emergencies are checked if at all you are in Kampala, Kampala has the best health facilities in Uganda. However, there are limited and sometimes inadequate health facilities outside Kampala capital city. Also some of the hospitals and medical facilities may lack adequate equipment, supplies, medicine among others. If you are traveling to the rural areas of Uganda, like in the national parks, it is good that you take antimalarial to avoid falling sick. It is also to avoid swimming in the water bodied such as lakes in the rural areas, also do not taste any water, all water in Uganda might be contaminated with water borne disease vectors such as diarrhoea, typhoid, and dysentery among others. And if you fall sick during a Uganda safari, it is good to talks to the person in charge, so that they can provide first aid before transporting you to any hospital in Kampala.
Uganda safari safety tips
The safari safety in Uganda is also a part for you to play, for example, personal property safety is something you have to do on your own. However, some of the following tips will help you put light to some personal safety concern areas, during a Uganda safari;
Keep your valuables safe when on a Uganda safari. Make sure that all your expensive valuables are not put on the display. Make sure that you ask your safari lodge to keep for you any of your valuable when going for outdoor safaris activities.
Keep all you money safe, it is not cool to walk with a lot of money in your bag, but if you have no option, make sure you keep all your money in a front bag. Alternatively, it is good to move with a master card, as most of the hotels and lodges can accept payment by cards.
Make sure that you travel documents are safe, such as he return tickets and the passports. You can leave you travel documents in your hotel room volt, this prevents you from dropping your important documents in the forest during gorilla trekking or make them wet during the boat cruise.
The night life is really enjoyable, however, as a traveller in Uganda, it is good if you avoid walking in the dark night alone. Not only walking, but also driving at night might put you to a risk of being robbed or even fall into an accident.
If you are a gay visitor to Uganda for a safari, you have to know that Ugandans might not care about what you done, but make sure not to expose yourself; there is a bill restricting gays in Uganda, it might also look out of contest for the village people in the rural areas. For the nightlife in Kampala, no one will mind about who you love for the night, but during the day it might not be cool for the gays, however, lesbians might not be at that risk.
Besides, Uganda is a free and somehow liberal country with a great level of hospitality. Uganda is a safe country for your next safari, but checking your countries travel advisory, is not a bad thing. You can visit any part of Uganda for an extreme safari excitement, book with a local tour operator to avoid inconveniences and miss outs on the secrets of the pearl of Africa.
