Plan B for upcoming Uganda trip
 

Well all our arrangements are made and we leave Nov 14 to fly to Nairobi for 10 night safari in Kenya, then fly to Uganda for 9 more nights of gorillas and birds, then fly to Cape Town for a week and then back to US. Planned it all around gorillas in Uganda.

And now….. Ebola in Uganda. :horror: Not where we’ll be, but head doc there today proposed locking down Kampala, which would be major and complicating.

We’re following details closely and are well versed in how it is transmitted etc. so we shall see. But feel we need to have a plan B in mind for Nov 27-Dec7 Kenya and Cape Town - in case we can’t go to Uganda. Thought I’d pick Fodors folks brains for ideas. Tanzania? Botswana? Bounce over to Rwanda in off chance we could get a permit to see gorillas there at this late date?

Presumably you've asked this of your safari planner for what makes sense logistically in terms of climate and high/low season? I know only that this is wet season in Rwanda, so bear that in mind if you pivot. It's already rainy in the rainforest, but rainy season may not be enjoyable for gorilla trekking.

I don't know your Kenya safari itinerary, but I could easily spend 3 weeks there. Migration herds ought to be well into the Serengeti by now, if Tanzania interests you but that also makes it high season there and may have low availability at this late date. I'd be inclined to take my cues from my safari planner to see what they might suggest given the tight timeline.

I can't comment on the gorilla issue, but if it was me I'd probably head to South Africa and spend more time in South Africa, possibly a driving tour starting in the Eastern Cape at Addo Elephant National Park, then continuing south/west to Cape Town via the Garden Route and Winelands, both of which will be lovely at that time of year. I also might look at the Atlantic coast, north of Cape Town, including the beautiful area around St. Helena Bay and Paternoster, and West Coast National Park. No gorillas, but great scenery and food, picturesque places and fascinating culture and history.

Map - https://goo.gl/maps/SdakEgCRuVmJQRf36

Have your booked in for a Cape Town Pelagic? There are some openings in your time frame

https://www.capetownpelagics.com/cap...s_calendar.htm

I think I would expand north from Cape Town eg to Langebaan, and/or east along the Garden Route. Cape Bird Club has a great website
https://www.capebirdclub.org.za/west...national-park/

Or fly to Johannesberg and go to Kruger.

No gorillas here in Botswana, I'm afraid, but you could organise your own self-drive tour around the country. easily and at very short notice. The migratory birds are back, the forests have a hint of green, and accommodation is readily available almost everywhere because we are heading into the off-season. It is the time of year I usually take my own holiday and I seldom bother to book anything in advance.. It will be a different story after December 15 - the whole country will start to shut down for Christmas and there will be domestic travelers everywhere until the second week of January. But your time slot is really good if you have to change plans at short notice. And you could drive yourself around somewhere like the Orapa Game Reserve and have it all to yourself.
But fingers crossed that Plan A will work out.
Graeme

Thanks to all for the suggestions! We are still planning on Uganda at the moment, but watching the situation carefully. So appreciate having these ideas for our back pocket!

The situation about ebola in Uganda is still under control

If gorilla trekking in Uganda is not possible, I strongly recommend you look into gorilla permits in Rwanda, flying into Kigali instead of Kampala.

IMHO, comparing my experience of gorilla tracking in Rwanda with my daughter and SIL’s experience of gorilla trekking in Uganda, Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park is a better place to see gorillas anyway. There are more habituated groups, with varied degrees of difficulty in reaching the different gorilla groups, some as quick as 30 minutes from the park’s HQ when I was there, and some taking 6 hours or more.

The disadvantage of Rwanda is that gorilla permits are more expensive, but one advantage is that Ruhengeri, near VNP, is connected by a very good road from Kigali. One advantage of Uganda is that you can also do a chimpanzee trek while there. My daughter and SIL enjoyed seeing the chimps more than the gorillas. Rwanda also has chimpanzees and many other species of primates in Nyungwe Forest near where I did some volunteer work, but that’s at the other end of Rwanda between Burare and Cyangugu (Rwanda is a very small country, so distances aren’t as great as they seem).