Is gorilla trekking done on weekends in DR Congo
Taking a boat ride from Bukavu to Goma on Lake Kivu
Visiting the Ugandan Mud Wrestlers. Discover the thrilling world of Ugandan Mud Wrestlers and experience the excitement of this unique sport. Visiting the Ugandan Mud Wrestlers. Discover the thrilling world of Ugandan Mud Wrestlers and experience the excitement of this unique sport. Visiting the Ugandan Mud Wrestlers also known as Uganda’s Soft Ground Wrestling, at the Bumbash Wrestling Academy in the town of Mukono, some 30 kilometers west of the capital Kampala capital.
The sport copies the style of World Wrestling Entertainment, WWE in the United States. Like WWE, the Ugandan version is as much theater as sport, with bouts announced using the gimmicks of American shows and supervised by a referee in a bold black-and-white striped top. But competitors in the East African nation endure spartan training and living conditions.
Currently, Uganda’s Soft Ground Wrestling has 200 members most of them from unprivileged backgrounds both training hard to get to dream of becoming professional wrestlers.
In a mud pit ringed off by bamboo poles and two thin yellow ropes, a young Ugandan woman lies face-up after being tossed upside down by her opponent. She gets a second wind and takes down her rival with one swipe at her feet to the delight and cheers of dozens of fellow wrestlers watching from the sidelines of the rickety ring.
Other things to do in Uganda while Visiting the Ugandan Mud Wrestlers
Uganda has much to offer for tourists ranging from primates, wildlife, and cultural experiences, here are the Top Things to do on a low-budget safari in Uganda;
Primates tracking
Primate tracking is one of the top Uganda safari activities to do in the new normal. Uganda is home to various primate species, including Mountain Gorillas, Chimpanzees, and golden monkeys. On this activity, you will be able to explore various forests in search of the famous primates. Major activities include Gorilla trekking, Chimpanzee trekking, and golden monkey trekking. These are all done in a group of 8 tourists trekking a given family.
Gorilla Trekking in Uganda
Gorilla Trekking in Uganda on a low budget camping safari in Uganda is done in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, for you to be allowed to go for the gorilla trek you will need to have a gorilla permit which costs USD800 for the foreign non residents, USD700 for the East African Residents and USD90 for the East African Citizens, this gives you an opportunity to spend one hour encounter with the mountain gorillas. You can as well opt for a 4 hour encounter experience that is Gorilla Habituation which costs USD1500 per person per trek, this is gives an opportunity to spend more time with the Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Forest National Park
Chimpanzee Trekking in Uganda
Chimpanzee tracking in Uganda is done in Kibale Forest National Park, Kyambura Gorge in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kalinzu Forest and Budongo Forest close to Murchison Falls National Park. The chimpanzee tracking is done in the morning and afternoon and we can book for you the permits and organize this trek for you depending on the itinerary and timing of the activities. For the normal chimpanzee tracking, a Chimpanzee permit costs USD250 for the foreign non residents, USD200 for the residents this gives you one hour encounter with the chimpanzees. You can as well do the chimpanzee habituation experience which gives you a half day encounter with the chimpanzees; this is only done in Kibale Forest National Park
Golden Monkey Trekking
Golden Monkey tracking is only done in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Golden monkey tracking permit costs USD100 giving you an opportunity to spend one hour encounter with the Golden monkeys, then a Golden monkey habituation permit costs USD140 giving you 4 hour encounter with the Golden monkeys.
Gorilla Habituation Experience
Gorilla Habituation Experience is a gorilla activity done in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park that involves trekking/walking and hiking through the forest to search for semi-habituated mountain gorillas which leave together in a given gorilla family group but are not used to human presence, once you find them you will participate in activities geared to making these mountain gorillas get used to human presence. Gorilla Habituation Experience gives you an opportunity to spend much time with the mountain gorillas that is four hours encounter different from the one hour encounter during the normal gorilla tracking. This experience is unique given the fact it gives you an opportunity to learn more about mountain gorillas. It is done is a group of 4 visitors tracking a given semi-habituated gorilla group.
Wildlife viewing
You will be able to do various game drives in the savannah national parks of Kidepo Valley National Park, Murchison Falls National Park, Lake Mburo National Park and Uganda’s most popular National park Queen Elizabeth National Park, wildlife to see includes tree climbing lions, Buffaloes, Elephants, warthogs, Giraffes, Zebras, Leopard, among others.
Experiential Tourism Activities
Experiential tourism activities is one of another item you should not miss including in your itinerary, these include lion tracking, Mongoose tracking, Hippo Census and Bird counts these are all done in Queen Elizabeth National Park. Depending on the time you have on your safari you will you do one of the activities which normally give you a great up-close experience with animals in their natural habitat.
Cultural experiences
Uganda is ranked among countries with most diverse cultures with more than 50 ethnic tribes and languages, you will be able to enjoy various cultural experiences, you will be able to visit many communities in various national park part of your itinerary where the local community will share with you the hard experience of living near the park and how they have managed to co-exist peacefully with wildlife you will as well enjoy the cultural encounters and traditional dances.
Mountain Hiking and Cycling
Mountain Hiking and cycling is another amazing adventure activity that you can add onto your safari to Uganda. Uganda is a land of various hills, mountains and various highlands giving you a great opportunity for hiking activities and cycling. Mountains include Elgon, Rwenzori, Moroto, Sabinyo, Muhavura and Gahinga among others which are common for hiking.
Bird watching
With over 1000 recorded bird species in Uganda, Uganda is one of the best destinations for birding in Africa; it is home to various migrant birds and Albertine endemics with the Shoebill as one of the must see bird specie the major birding areas include Bwindi Forest, Mabamba swamp, Mubwindi swamp, Bigodi wetland and Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park among others many birds as well can be spotted during game drives in various national parks. Some of the Birds include, Collared pratincole, Palm-nut vulture, Pel’s fishing-owl, Rare Swamp flycatcher, Gray crowned crane(Uganda’s National bird), Giant Kingfisher, Giant Heron, Shoebill stork, Abyssinian Ground Hornbills, Nightjars, Marabou stork, Black headed lapwing, Back-bellied Bustard ,Swamp Fly catcher, Giant Heron, African Jacana, Secretary Bird among others.
Boat Safari excursions
With various lakes and rivers in Uganda boat trips and excursions is one of another top Uganda safari activity to do, Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park, River Nile Excursions to the top of the falls and the Delta give you an opportunity to enjoy wildlife up-close and various water animals in Murchison Falls National Park.
What is the best time for Visiting the Ugandan Mud Wrestlers
The best time for visiting Uganda is during the months of December to February and then June to October which is relatively drier than March to May and November. Uganda is crossed by the equator making it experience a modified equatorial type of climate with two rainy seasons and because of this people tend to associate drier seasons to be the best time to visit Uganda. This is true because when it is raining, it becomes hard to drive through the park for wildlife viewing because of the heavy rains that make the trails too slippery.
Why book a Uganda safari that includes Visiting the Ugandan Mud Wrestlers Through Eco Adventure Safaris
At Eco Adventure Safaris we are committed to the well-being of our staff and guests as well as to having a positive impact on the communities and wild places that our operations reach. Contact us here about planning and booking Uganda safari.