The places to visit in Northern Uganda

Northern Uganda is blessed with one of the most exciting features in the Pearl of Africa. Top ten Uganda brings you the top places to visit in Northern Uganda.

  1. Kidepo Valley National Park

Kidepo Valley lies in the rugged savannah between Uganda’s borders with Sudan and Kenya. The park houses over 77 species of mammals and more than 475 species of birds. Kidepo Valley National park was nominated in World Travel Awards 2017 in the Category of Africa’s leading National park against the others like Masai Mara in Kenya & Serengeti in Tanzania and many others.

  1. Murchison falls national park

Spreading inland from the shore of Lake Albert around the Nile, Murchison Falls National Park forms part of the Murchison Falls Conservative Area (MFCA). Come see four of the ‘big five’ (elephant, lion, leopard and Cape buffalo) just above the Nile. Then have a peek at the famous Murchison Falls where the waters of the Nile squeeze through a narrow gorge to make a beautiful waterfall.

  1. Aruu

Aruu Falls are cascading streams of roaring waterfalls offering a thrilling unforgettable and adventurous experience. This jagged crashing cascade makes Aruu waterfalls an extremely beautiful view. The waterfalls are a very vibrant sight to watch as water gushes down the rocks. This is ideal place for adventure seekers as you can enjoy a bath under the waterfalls and reaching there alone is adventure in itself as the place can be reached through ragged rocks and not so well defined path.

  1. Mount Moroto

Mount Moroto Lies in the extreme east of Uganda and is the most accessible place to see some of the dry northeastern “special”, many at the western edge of their ranges here in Karamoja province. One of a chain of volcanoes along the Kenyan border that begins with Mount Elgon in south and includes Mountains Kadam and Morungole, Moroto is a forest reserve protecting a range of habitats from arid thorn savanna to dry montane forest.

  1. Ajai Wildlife Reserve

Ajai Wildlife Reserve is found in north-eastern Uganda (Arua District) on the western banks of the Nile. The reserve gained world attention when Theodore Roosevelt, a former American president visited in 1910 on a hunting expedition. Ajai Wildlife Reserve consists of mainly woodlands, Savannah plains and swamps. Ajai Wildlife Reserve has great Tourism potential. One can spot Black & White Colobus monkeys, black cobras, red monkeys, buffaloes, civets, and bush-buck, the Common Duiker, puff adders, zebras, pythons, foxes, Vervet Monkeys, green snakes, Leopards, Sitatunga, Oribi, hartebeest, hippopotamuses, Dik Dik, Monitor lizards, Olive baboons, the Uganda Kob, warthogs and waterbucks. Ajai Game reserve is a great birding destination in Uganda. The swamps and woodlands combine to provide perfect habitat for countless bird species including Marabou Stocks, weaver birds, African Fish Eagles and Grey Crowned cranes.

  1. Fort Patiko / Samuel Baker’s Fort

After Baker left in 1888, the fort was used by Emin Pasha and Charles Gordon while they served as Governor of the Equatorial Province of the British Uganda Protectorate. A plaque on the remaining wall of a grain storage building in the center of the fort reads “Fatiko 1872 -88, founded by Sir Samuel Baker, occupied by Emin and Gordon”. The fort was initially constructed by the Arabs as a slave collection centre. Sir Samuel Baker took over the fort from 1872 to 1888 when he was sent on a mission by the Queen of England to stop the slave trade which was being carried out by the Arabs slave traders. The fort then became the headquarters for Emin Pasha and Gordon, the respective Governors of the Equatorial Province of the British Protectorate.

  1. St. Joseph’s Cathedral Gulu District

St. Joseph’s Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Gulu District, Uganda. It is the seat of Archbishop John Baptist Odama, head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu. The Cathedral is a monument to the faith of the first Christians, and to the skills of the Comboni Missionary Brothers. The work was started in the year 1931 and completed in 1941. It seats about 5,000 people. The Brotherhood made and baked 800 000 bricks at the Oyitino River, from where Christians and Catechumens every Sunday after the Mass carried bricks on their heads to the site of building.

  1. The Recreation Project

The Recreation Project’s 5-acre outdoor adventure center is located outside of Gulu town in northern Uganda. The Recreation Project was founded to provide active healing experiences to former abductees returning home after a decades-long conflict with the Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda. Since then, northern Uganda has transitioned from post-conflict recovery to a rapidly developing society. TRP has transitioned with it. We now work with young people of all backgrounds — from children in conflict with the law to students at the best schools in the region — to help them develop necessary life skills through outdoor adventure and play.

  1. Mount Kadam

Mount Kadam is a volcanic mountain that offers spectacular climbing opportunities and beautiful vistas. The mountain is a part of the Pian-upe Wildlife Reserve and is home to many tribes, including the Kadama, Sebei Pokot, Karamojong, Gishu and Tepeth. You are likely to meet many of them on the mountain, as the trails developed will pass by (or in some cases through) their settlements.

  1. Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve

The Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve is a conservation area in the Karamoja sub region of northeastern Uganda. It covers an area of about 2788 square kilometers which makes it the second biggest protected area in the country just after the Murchison Falls National Park in Northwestern Uganda. The southern side of this incredible game reserve was gazetted as the Debasien Animal Sanctuary in 1958. In 1964, this area was extended northwards and it was named Pian Upe Game Reserve. This remarkable game reserve is composed of hot springs and it is sighted as one of the incredible destinations with mercury wells just at Mount Kadam. This tremendous wildlife reserve derived its name from the Karamojong local dialect which denotes “Friendly Enemy.”

  1. Matheniko Wildlife Reserve

Matheniko Wildlife Reserve stands out for its beautiful landscape, unique vegetation, mountains and rocky outcrops. Despite those glowing remarks, Matheniko Wildlife Reserve like the nearby Kidepo Valley National Park is less visited. The main reason for this is the remoteness and poor infrastructure because most influential Ugandan’s originate from other parts of the country. The area has been isolated for a long time under different governments/regimes. Matheniko is a part of the corridor of protected areas in Karamoja that stretches from Kidepo National Park down through Bokora and Pian Upe Wildlife Reserves. The Reserve’s northeastern boundary is also the Uganda-Kenya border.

With all these wonderful places and many more, Northern Uganda is indeed a place to visit.