What is the Best time to visit Uganda?
Uganda is a great tourist destination famously known for its amazing and excellent safari activities, when tourists set off to visit Uganda for a safari, they tend to look for the best time for the safari. Like other destinations in the world, the best for traveling to Uganda for a safari greatly depends on the climatic conditions as detailed below
Uganda’s Climate
Uganda’s climate is generally warm tropical climate in various regions of the country apart from the mountainous area such as mountain Elgon areas, Mountain Rwenzori areas which are much cooler. Uganda is a warm tropical climate is characterized by temperatures range of 25-29°.
Uganda experiences 2 seasons that are a dry season and a wet season.
Dry season
The dry season in Uganda is experienced in two periods is from June – August, and December to February, the dry season is characterized by average temperatures of 27°C/81°F in the afternoon and 16°C/61°F in the morning. In the mountainous regions, it gets to be colder.
June, July, and August
The months of June and July are the driest months of the dry season with a little unexpected rain in the south region national parks of Uganda, in the north these months are wet and in far north regions such as Kidepo valley it is semi-arid with drought at times.
December, January, and February
This period is experienced less rainfall amount especially in the south region and the northern region of Uganda is drier with a random little rain fall received.
The dry season is the best time for mountain gorilla trekking because it is drier and it is a perfect time to visit Bwindi impenetrable national park and Mgahinga national park. This dry season is also the best time to visit Uganda’s savannah national parks that are Queen Elizabeth national park, Kidepo national park, and many more.
What makes this period the best time is that the skies are clear because of less rain and more sunshine, vegetation cover is offering excellent viewing of animals. Because of too much sunshine, watering holes in Uganda’s national park mostly savannah national park watering holes dry thus animals crowding permanent watering holes in the park and they are best viewed there. Also in the dry season, the game drive tracks running through the park are dry and less slippery making game viewing safari easy.
Note: the dry season in Uganda is characterized by a high population of tourists creating a high demand for accommodation thus high prices of hotels and lodges, for tourists who hate crowds in the park this might be a bad time to visit Uganda for a safari.
If you are coming for a mountain gorilla trekking safari in the dry season, it is very crucial to book your mountain gorilla trekking permit because of the limited number.
Wet season
The wet season in Uganda is experienced in the periods of March-April and September to November, the wet season is characterized by average temperatures of 28°C/82°F and morning temperatures around 16°C/61°F.
March, April, and May
This period is characterized by more rainfall throughout the whole country with April being the rainfall peak most especially in the south, though much rainfall is received sunshine is also received the whole day. The too much rain makes traveling in this period difficult but not impossible.
September, October, and November
These months receive less rainfall and the weather conditions of this month are compared to March, April, and Many.
The wet season is typically low season in Uganda majorly because of too much rainfall which makes navigating through the parks nearly impossible because of muddy and slippery routes. At times cars get stunk in the muddy, in the wet season vegetation cover becomes thick and more greener which makes wildlife viewing a bit hard.
Because of the low season, there is less demand for accommodation thus low prices for lodges and hotels which makes this period the best time to visit Uganda for low-income earners. For tourists who like less crowd in the park this is also your perfect time to visit Uganda.
When to go to Uganda by season
March to mid-May
This period is characterized by too many rains most especially in Southern region parks such as Bwindi impenetrable national park and Mgahinga national park. In this period it is much recommended for tourists to avoid going mountain gorilla trekking in Uganda because too much rainfall received in homes of mountain gorillas.
Mid-May to Mid-October
This period is the longest dry season in Uganda, this period offers ideal conditions for most safari activities such as mountain gorilla trekking, bird watching, game viewing because of the dry tracks and short vegetation covers. This period is a peak season and prices especially those of accommodation tends to be high.
Mid-October to November
This period is characterized by short rains with plants and tree bearing flowers, this period is the end of the rainy season and the best time for birding and excellent photography because of blue skies.
December to February
This period is a dry season and peak safari time in Uganda, this period is ideal for outdoor activities such as game viewing, hiking, mountain climbing, birding, mountain gorilla trekking and many more.
Best time to visit Uganda according to safari activity
Sometimes the best time to visit Uganda’s national parks depends on the activity to do in Uganda such as mountain gorilla trekking, birding, game viewing, and many more.
Game viewing
Mountain gorilla trekking
Mountain gorilla trekking in Uganda is done in Bwindi impenetrable national park and Mgahinga national park located in southwestern Uganda, these parks are dominated by thick tropical forests in which mountain gorillas inhabit.
Because of the thick tropical forests, these parks receive a lot of rainfall and because of the mountainous region they are found, these parks have colder temperatures. The best time for mountain gorilla trekking in Uganda is in the dry season period (June – August, and December – February)
Birding
Birding safari in Uganda is done throughout the year in various destinations of Uganda but the best experience is got in the period between November – April, in this period migratory bird species, are present in the country’s birding destinations such as Queen Elizabeth national park, Mabamba swamp, Murchison falls national park and many more.
Game viewing
Game viewing is one of the most thrilling safari activities to do in Uganda, game viewing in Uganda is done in savannah parks of Uganda such as Kidepo national park, Murchison falls national park, Queen Elizabeth national park, and others. The best time for game viewing in Uganda is in the dry season in the period of June –August, and December – February.
