Uganda continues to be ranked by international bodies as a top tourist destination. An article titled, 52 places to go in 2020 published in The New York Times travel magazine puts Uganda in the 30th position, describing the Pearl of Africa as a Primate capital and birder’s paradise.
“Landlocked in east-central Africa, Uganda has long been in the shadow of Kenya, Tanzania and other countries more popular with visitors on safari. But the Pearl of Africa, with its own rich wildlife, is set to become more accessible, thanks to the resurrection last summer of the country’s national carrier, Uganda Airlines,” reads in part the article published on January 9.
The same article outlines key features such as Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, a renowned mountain gorilla sanctuary in south-western Uganda a UNESCO World Heritage site, as a home to roughly half the world’s mountain gorillas.
“The dense forest mountain park, which ranges in elevation between 3,810ft and 8,880ft, also features a scenic waterfall trail framed by ancient ferns and wild orchids, and is a birder’s paradise, with 350 species of forest birds,” the account further describes.
In 2019, Fodor’s Travel, the internationally-recognized guidebook publisher and travel authority featured Uganda on its annual Go List as one of the 52 destinations to visit in 2019. The Fodor’s website is published out of the U.S. and reaches more than 4.7 million readers worldwide. Writer Kristy Alpert, who visited Uganda in May 2018, urges Fodor’s readers to discover unparalleled wildlife experiences in the Pearl of Africa, adding that the country’s mountainous terrain, soaring waterfalls, and amazing wildlife encounters set it apart from the rest of the continent.
Others on the list
Other destinations on the list (as selected by a wide group of members on the Times Travel desk) include, Washington, British Virgin Islands, Bolivia’s Rurrenbaque, Greenland, Kimberly region in Australia and Paso Robles in California. Others are, Sicily, Salzburg in Austria, Japan’s Tokyo and Caesarea in Israel.
Selection Criteria
According to a subsequent article written on the site by Amy Virshup, the selection process took four months of research, discussion, debate and argument. “We asked our regular contributors as well as The Times’ Foreign and domestic correspondents. We grilled travel pros about what had excited them,” explains the article.