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Uganda is rich in natural and cultural resources. However, many of its citizens live in abject poverty, with electricity and running water still in short supply in many parts of the country. The promotion of responsible tourism in Uganda is one method of reaching the country’s largely rural population and assisting them in conserving their lands and the wildlife that coexists with them. Gorillas, like everyone else, require our assistance – whether it’s to protect them from something as minor as a common cold or something as monumental as oil drilling.
Being in Uganda can feel like such a privilege at times… It’s difficult not to feel overwhelmed when you’re surrounded by spectacular volcanic landscapes, wildlife that many of us grew up dreaming of seeing with our own eyes, and some of the continent’s most friendly, welcoming people who make you feel like a VIP wherever you go. Uganda does everything in its power to accommodate visitors, and as visitors, we owe it to ourselves to try to reciprocate this generosity in some way.
Even though the country is extraordinarily rich in terms of biodiversity and culture, it remains economically impoverished. In Uganda, more than 80 percent of the population lives in rural areas, with the vast majority of them employed as subsistence farmers. Throughout the years, the country has been battered by military coups, murderous dictators, HIV epidemics, and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a guerilla army led by Joseph Kony that waged a nearly two-decade-long insurgency in the country’s northern regions. However, even though these events are no longer taking place, their consequences continue to be felt in poverty rates, illiteracy, lack of access to education, inadequate infrastructure, and orphaned children. Even though Uganda appears to fit the “poor but happy” narrative that so many travelers adore, complete with beaming faces, energetic dances, and excitable children, it’s worth doing some research on the country’s history, speaking with your tour guide, and learning more about the realities of daily Ugandan life before being sucked in quite so quickly by those winning smiles.