Self-Guided Safari Etiquette while you travel through Uganda
Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The southern part includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, shared with Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda is in the African Great Lakes region, lies within the Nile basin, and has a varied equatorial climate. As of 2024, it has a population of 49.3 million, of whom 8.5 million live in the capital and largest city, Kampala.
Most people who take a Uganda Safari travel with a tour company. They tend to be accompanied by professional guides that let them know the rules and how to behave safely and appropriately. But if you are an independent traveler and opt to rent a vehicle and do a self-drive safari, chances are that nobody will tell you what not to do on an African safari.
Watching wildlife in Uganda is such an exciting and intense experience, it is very likely that some rules will be broken by accident. Some of these rules may seem like common sense while others might actually seem counter-intuitive. For example, some first-time wildlife travelers actually think feeding a wild animal is doing a good deed, when in reality it is extremely harmful. On the occasions we’ve found ourselves breaking the rules, we wound up feeling really bad about it. We’d like to help you learn from our mistakes.
Don’t feed the animals
You must not feed animals in Uganda’s national parks to protect their health and natural behaviors. Feeding them can make them aggressive, cause dependency on humans, and disrupt their natural diets, potentially leading to illness or making them a nuisance by causing them to raid local communities for food. This rule is in place to ensure the safety and well-being of both the wildlife and visitors.
Feeding animals may seem fun for the human doing the feeding, but it is dangerous for the animal. A fed animal quickly becomes a dead animal. Here’s how. When an animal becomes habituated to humans, they lose their natural fear. Then they start begging for food. When food is not provided, they start to become aggressive. They’ll begin to harass people for food, learn to steal it, or end up biting the person who isn’t handing it over. That’s when the animal gets labeled a “problem animal” and it has to be put down by park authorities.
This also applies to passively feeding animals by not storing food properly. Once you’ve had your camp raided by baboons, you will understand the importance of this. It is just as much a crime as feeding animals directly. If you see someone feeding animals, you should report them. If you care about wildlife, let them eat their own food.
Give the wildlife space to work
When driving around in your safari vehicle, don’t get too close to wildlife. It doesn’t matter how cool the sighting is. Everybody needs their personal space, even these animals do. If you get upset when people invade your personal space, but you won’t stomp on your car if you get upset. Some of the elephants and buffalos might do that.
A bit too close. Spread ears are a sign of agitation. If you find yourself in this situation, put the car in reverse and back up slowly to avoid any accidents or injury from angry animals.
They are not pets, and like all individuals they behave unpredictably and are potentially dangerous. You don’t know what they might be thinking, and you can’t know how they’ll react. Give them enough room so they can behave naturally, and not feel threatened.
Don’t corner animals with your vehicle
Cornering animals with a vehicle during game drives is highly unethical, dangerous, and often illegal. This practice can cause severe distress to wildlife and has led to tragic outcomes for both animals and humans. Adhering to responsible safari etiquette is essential for both your safety and the well-being of the animals.
Forcing an animal into a corner or blocking its escape route puts it under immense stress and can cause it to panic. Animals may become defensive and aggressive, leading to unpredictable and potentially dangerous reactions.
Always keep a respectful distance from the wildlife, generally around 20 meters. If an animal shows signs of distress, such as becoming restless or moving away, you are too close.
Don’t Contribute to “Lion Jams”
These are traffic jams that originate with the sighting of a lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, or some other animal near the top of every wildlife watcher’s list. If you stop at this kind of sighting, be mindful of other visitors trying to watch. So many people pull over wherever they see fit, without taking into account that they might be blocking other people. Be nice to others. We understand, it’s the first time you’ve ever seen a lion and you’re really excited to catch a glimpse.
Work your way into the mess, snap a few photos, watch for a couple minutes and then move on. Don’t worry, you are sure to have more great sightings! And always remember to turn your engine off when you stop. There’s nothing more annoying than hearing the loud whir of an engine right next to you while you’re trying to enjoy a peaceful moment with a napping leopard.
Park yourself at comfortable distance away from the jam and make yourself a sandwich. People have remarkably short attention spans and as soon as the animal lays down for a nap or ducks behind a bush, they get bored quickly. If you are patient, you may end up having an amazing sighting all to yourself.
Sharing Information on a wildlife sighting
Some people are reluctant to share this information. They want the sighting all to themselves. But remember, we’re all here for the same reason, to catch a glimpse into the lives of amazing animals we rarely get to see. Tell other people about your sightings and share some tips. You might just make someone’s day. You could advise them to choose the same gorilla family you tracked if they are tracking in the same sector.
The people that you see regularly on your drives and tracking’s will share great information with you too.
Stay Inside your vehicle all the time
In all the large national parks in Uganda there is one cardinal rule: don’t get out of your car during a self-drive safari. This is not just a simple matter of proper safari etiquette. If you get caught by a ranger outside a car you will probably be fined by the park authorities. If you get caught by a leopard or lion outside your car, you might never be heard from again. There are some places within national parks where you are allowed to leave your vehicle, like in picnic areas or in the middle of long bridges. These places will be clearly signed. If you don’t see one of these signs, do not leave your vehicle.
Don’t sit on your car window or top of the car
People know they’re not supposed to get out of their car, so instead they lean out the window to get a better view or, worse yet, sit on the car window to peer over the top of their hood. This is against park rules and for good reason.
Wildlife in these parks are habituated to cars. They know what they look like, how they sound, and how they smell. To most animals in national parks, cars are just a harmless part of the landscape. A moving rock. But when the shape suddenly changes, and the form of a human emerges, it freaks them out. They know something is wrong, and they waste energy and resources trying to figure out what’s going on, or even worse, fleeing.
And there’s one other major problem with sitting on the car window or top of the car. No one is watching your back. Your safari partners are busy watching the same sighting you are. An animal many pop out of the bush directly behind you. We now know who is actually watching your back. That lion sleeping in the little tuft of grass you didn’t check.
Drive slowly
It is just crazy how many animals are run over on Ugandan national park roads due to people speeding. How is it possible to miss a hippo, elephant or giraffe when you’re driving at the speed limit of 30 miles per hour?
One of the most common problems involves tourists rushing to get back to camp before gate closing time. Each night, all visitors must enter the enclosed rest camps before a certain hour. Generally, this time is set just before sunset so that nobody is out driving around after dark. The problem is that sunset is also the best time of day to photograph animals in beautiful golden light. So, you always want to stay just a little bit longer and a little bit longer. There’s an easy solution. Look for creatures close to camp in the evening. Now you don’t have to run any animal over.
Don’t shout at the animals
Visitors must not shout at animals in Uganda’s national parks for both animal welfare and human safety. Yelling can disrupt natural behavior, cause stress, and may provoke a dangerous, aggressive response from wildlife. National Park regulations strictly prohibit unnecessary noise, including shouting and using motor horns.
Animals are in survival mode 100% of the time. They have to feed themselves, raise their young, and be vigilant for predators. It may not seem like much, but those couple of seconds that you make them stop eating or napping, when multiplied by the number of visitors who come through each day, might add up to the amount of energy they needed to catch their meal or avoid becoming one. By simply letting animals go about their business, you’ll get photos of natural behaviors and animals living healthier happier lives.
Don’t litter
No-brainer! You wouldn’t litter in your own home so don’t do it here. You may think that food waste is ok because it’s going to decompose, but bits of food are what draw small animals to the side of the road where they get run over by delivery vehicles at night. Simply keep a small grocery bag in your car and keep all your trash. That should be problem!
