Uganda's secret gem

IN the middle of Lake Victoria is an example of the rare tourism potential set to make Uganda a major drawcard, writes Vanessa Woods.

Best kept secrets ... whitewater rafting action. Picture: Ray Strange

THE last time I went on safari, I found myself desperate to go to the toilet in the middle of Samburu National Park.

As I crouched behind the truck to protect myself from large carnivores, three busloads of tourists pulled up behind me and started taking photos of my bare bottom.

That's the problem with safaris these days. Nothing happens without 60 people pulling out their digital cameras.

This time when I returned to Africa, I wanted to find something more than a tourist trap and less cliche.

Uganda is East Africa's best-kept secret. Safer than Nairobi, with more variety than Tanzania, it is slowly gaining an international reputation as the next safari hotspot.

You can drive around Queen Elizabeth National Park all day and see barely anyone – an unheard-of luxury in the bigger game parks.

It has all the usual suspects: lions, buffalo and hippos, but I was more interested in an animal you can't find on the usual safari – chimpanzees.

For intrepid trekkers, there are wild chimp walks in Kibale National Park. Guides will wake you up at the crack of dawn so you can trek into the forest and catch a rare glimpse of chimpanzees in their natural habitat.

I like watching wildlife but don't want to work too hard or walk too far to do it. Luckily, in the middle of Lake Victoria, there is a beautiful island that is the answer to my lazy prayers.

After breakfast at a civilised hour, a speedboat will take you from Entebbe to Ngamba Island, which sits like a Jurassic Park prehistoric wilderness.

As you approach, there is an eerie hooting sound. A flock of birds scatters above the forest, making you wonder what exactly is hidden in the green shadows.

We disembark on to the island and walk to the viewing platform that overlooks the forest. The keeper, Stan, lets out a great pant hoot and black hulking figures slink out of the forest towards him.

The Ngamba chimpanzees are orphans. Captured to be sold as pets, their parents killed by hunters, all the chimps are in the care of Debby Cox, an Australian who started the sanctuary eight years ago.

The sanctuary is now an international success story, not just because it is one of the world's best facilities for chimps but because it is now run by Ugandans.

"I've always thought it important to give back to the country," she says. "The Ugandans are perfectly capable managers, they love the chimps, and they're doing a great job."

Each chimp has a story, and the keepers know them all. There is Baluku, a rather tubby chimp who was the size of a milk carton when he arrived in a pet pack four years ago.

There is Megan, taken by poachers and later found as part of an ice-skating circus in Russia before being safely returned home.

Night on Ngamba Island is magical. You can sit on the deck of your luxury safari tent and watch the lanterns on the fishing boats bob up and down beneath a smattering of stars.

In the morning, you wake with the chimps as they pant hoot excitedly about the day.

But Uganda isn't just about animals and the Nile isn't only in Egypt. Two hours from Entebbe is Jinja, the legendary source of the Nile.

It's easy to imagine Cleopatra's barge floating down on the perfumed air. But she wouldn't have made it much further than the dam, where the river is made for another kind of boat.

"Whitewater rafting here is just fabulous," says former Brisbane resident Merryde Loosemore, owner of the guest house Gately on Nile.

"Compared with Australia, there are no rocks and the river is wide and deep. Usually you're rafting through gorges, but here it's just so smooth and open."

Like skiing on powder as opposed to on ice?

"I never thought of it like that, but yes."

Loosemore makes rafting sound like a pleasant jaunt on the river, but actually it's a long, gruelling day.

I thought you might get on at the top of a rapid then get out at the bottom, like a ride in a fun park, but rafting is an all-day affair.

Tourism in Uganda is on the up as people discover all the country has to offer. Will it ever see the hordes of tourists of Kenya?

Probably in a few years. Natural beauty like this doesn't go unnoticed forever. So my advice is; get there as fast as you can.