Filled with amazing wildlife, tropical flora, friendly people and sufficient infrastructure, Uganda is hugely underrated as a traveller's destination. Kampala is an accessible city for the African travelling neophyte and the country's natural attractions are absolutely first-rate.

Murchison Falls Safari

This is Uganda's largest national park and a world-class location for wildlife viewing. Located just five hours from Kampala (depending on admittedly dubious traffic & road conditions), it is extremely accessible, especially for people short on vacation time.

Even a short 3-day safari at the park is enough time to blow you away. You will be treated to the sight of elephants, giraffes, crocodiles, baboons, prolific birdlife and hordes of deafening hippos. These are just some of the animals you will be able to see while visiting the park, either by 4x4 or cruising up the river in a boat. Nearby Kibale Forest National Park provides eco-tours, allowing you to see dozens of chimpanzees in their natural habitat, shouting at each other and swinging from tree to tree.

Sunsets over the Nile are jaw-dropping and accommodations range from camping to 4-star luxury. If you're lucky, wandering elephants might even stroll past your hotel. If heading to Uganda, a trip to Murchison Falls is an absolute must-do.

www.murchisonfallsnationalpark.com

Gorilla Tracking

Want more wildlife? Uganda is also home to the fantastically-named Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, where half of the world's Mountain Gorilla population live. Here you will get to trek through the jungle and get close - but not too close! - to silverbacks in the wild.

Located at the junction of where Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo meet, getting from Kampala to Bwindi takes time, patience and a couple of permits. Gorilla tracking permits and tours should be booked well in advance of your visit. Once at the park, you are only able to spend one hour per day with the gorillas; the national parks maintain these limits in order to protect the gorilla population.

Seeing these incredibly rare animals in the wild is bureaucratic, time-consuming and pricey. And completely worth it for this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Note: Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is an alternative choice for gorilla tracking. Contact a Ugandan tour company or check TripAdvisor prior to purchasing your permit in order to get additional advice on which park gives you the best chance of seeing gorillas when you're in Uganda.

www.uwa.or.ug/gorilla.html

The Source of the Nile

Just an hour from Kampala is Jinja, home of the source of the Nile river. The scenery is beautiful and tour companies in the area allow you to take cycling tours of nearby villages or, for the rough and tumble crowd, ATV tours along the dirt roads connecting them. Friendly, smiling, local children will happily run beside you shouting "Jambo! Jambo! (welcome!) How are you?" as you ride along.

As one of the country's major tourist destinations, the city is full of excellent restaurants only too happy to offer you a cool glass of their local brew, Nile Special.

(It turns out Ugandans aren't the only ones enjoying their local brew - one of the native trees you will see around the country is known as the "Sausage Tree" due to the shape of the large, cylindrical fruit that grows on them. Supposedly, elephants love the fruit as it makes them drunk. Would be a very fun thing to see... from afar!)

Whether sitting at a café in casual, mulitcultural Kampala or hanging with giraffes out on safari, Uganda is a showcase of the best Africa has to offer.