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Uganda’s airport transport infrastructure is rather nascent. It is the case for example, that the country has one international airport. This means that flying across regions domestically can be a difficult challenge– this especially if you are not a big government person or something. Luckily, not all hope is lost as we shall see today.
Aerolink is a leading company that has established itself to fill this void. For the most part, it does so by connecting tourists to the most famous attractions. In this article, I will detail the different routes that the company covers and share the prices that you should expect to be paying.
About Aerolink
Based at Entebbe International Airport, Aerolink operates daily flights both on schedule as well as through chartering. The destinations are; Kidepo Valley National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Murchison falls, Queen Elizabeth National Park, and Semuliki National Park.
The company connects from Jinja to Lake Mburo National park as well. Each of these is approximately one hour and fifteen minutes.
Professionalism and safety are paramount in all operations as evidenced by the fact that each plane is operated by two pilots. The crafts are also inspected regularly for maintenance purposes at Entebbe. Where there are major breakdowns, then repairing happens at a Nairobi facility whose standards have been approved by Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya.
Additionally, all passengers travelling with Aerolink as well as any other third parties impacted by their operations are insured by Marsh Limited in London.
Aerolink serves Uganda but it has affiliates in both Tanzania and Kenya (Regional Air Services and AirKenya Express respectively).
Fleet
The company operates Cessna Grand Caravans which are modern planes trusted across the globe for their groundbreaking technology. Their Garmin G1000 glass cockpit for instance, puts together sensor, primary flight, and engine data in one place for easier monitoring by the folks flying them thereby making it easier for them to respond quicker whenever something comes up.
Talking about engines, Aerolink planes are run by the Pratt Whitney turbo-prop which can travel as fast as 320km/hr for over 2,000km at a time.
The maximum capacity of these flying birds is 11 passengers. Still, they will not be congested with these numbers as there is enough leg room. The seats are leather so you will be comfortable all the way.
Kidepo Valley National Park
Price:
Entebbe to Kidepo, $490
Kidepo to Entebbe $490
Located near the Uganda-South Sudan border, Kidepo Valley National park is one of the most underrated places that Aerolink flies to. It sits on 1,442 square kilometers of the Narus valley.
Before one even thinks about the creatures there, the landscape alone is a marvel to look at. From the long savannah grasslands stretching miles at a time, to the forest that provides a contrast to tropical forests, what is not there to wonder over? Then there is the rocks and mountains too.
The national park inhabits over eighty animals and five hundred bird species. Most interestingly, these are the kind that majority of people love to see when they visit a park. Examples are; hyenas, giraffes, buffalos, leopards, cheetah, foxes, elephants, as well as zebras. That is quite the line-up.
Even more important, is that the national park serves as a sanctuary to some of the most endangered species.
Only approximately four hundred lions remain in existence worldwide for instance. This is such a small number especially considering the role that the giant carnivores play in different traditions as well as popular culture.
Kidepo faces a unique challenge when it comes to conservation and that is the tribal conflicts that have happened in its neighbourhood for ages now. And many at times, they spill over to the game park costing it several members. Efforts are on though alongside partners like the military and the Uganda Conservation Fund to minimize the impact.
There is more to do when you fly to Kidepo beyond nature though. You can check out the Ik tribe for instance, a minority group of roughly 10,000 people who live in the immediate neighbourhood.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Prices:
Entebbe to Kihihi, $283
Kihihi to Entebbe, $283
Entebbe to Kisoro, $353
Kisoro to Entebbe, $353
There are two routes which serve the area around Bwindi that Aerolink operates in as can be seen above.
Both land you off in South Western Uganda but one is going to be preferable over the other depending on what else you would like to explore.
Kihihi is best if you intend to check out the deepest lake in Uganda for example (i.e. Lake Bunyonyi). Doing so however, would mean that you have to travel a considerably lengthy journey from that point to the national park itself via road.
Bwindi impenetrable is home to over one hundred twenty mammals, three hundred fifty birds, and two hundred twenty insects. Most famously, it is home to over half of the world’s mountain gorillas. For the latter reason, it came to be named a UNESCO world heritage site.
Beyond observing nature, Bwindi is spectacular for folks who are into exploring the wilderness for its sake. I am talking here about activities such as biking and walking. Actually, there is a point at which one has to jump off vehicles and bikes in order to keep up with touring the park.
In the neighborhood, you may explore the Batwa culture which is one of the remaining few in the world that still adheres to a foraging lifestyle.
Aerolink operates return tickets for this route too and they are cheaper than the figures above. Children flying to Bwindi are also transported at a fairer price.
Murchison Falls National Park
Prices:
Entebbe to Bugungu, $262
Bugungu to Entebbe, $262
Entebbe to Pakuba, $262
Pakuba to Entebbe, $262
Entebbe to Chobe, $262
Chobe to Entebbe, $262
The park is located in Northern Uganda and it spans across several districts (Nwoya, Kiryandongo, Masindi etc.) thanks to it’s huge size; at least 3,840 square kilometers. This makes it the largest national park in the country and to this, it adds the fact that it was the first of its kind to be gazetted.
As you might tell already, “Murchison” is not a native name. It is taken from one of the most powerful water falls in the world found along the Nile which also happens to share the park’s vicinity and therefore, a bonus for one who wanted to know whether there is anything else to enjoy when you fly to this destination.
Murchison the person was the president of the Royal Geographical Society at the time that the British explorer Sir Samuel Baker was making his adventures around the Nile. The latter named the falls after him.
Locally, the national park is known as Kabalega in memory of one of the Ugandan kings that resisted British rule. Murchison Falls National park is home to some eighty species of animals among them, crocodiles, hippopotamuses, buffalos, elephants, and giraffes. As for the birds, there are over four hundred fifty kinds.
There are a host of activities to indulge in when you go to this place apart from touring and they include; flying balloons, sport fishing, rafting, and cruising to the bottom of the waters.
There are three different points from which Aerolink connects to Murchison Falls national park as seen already and each of them include a subsidized price for children. Bugungu has a provision for purchasing return tickets.
Queen Elizabeth National Park
Price:
Entebbe to Kasese, $283
Kasese to Entebbe, $283
Entebbe to Mweya, $283
Mweya to Entebbe, $283
Queen Elizabeth is the most popular national park in the cuntry and you will soon know why. The game park was named after the late Queen of England following her visit to Uganda in 1954.
Located in the savannah, the park is home to over six hundred birds making it sixth when it comes to diversity anywhere in the world.
It also has up to ninety mammals namely; hippopotamuses, elephants, buffaloes, kobs etc. Also famous at Queen Elizabeth are the climbing lions.
There are only two variations of this sort of carts that you will ever find and one of them lives in this place.
Several locations within reach from Queen Elizabeth are stations for other animals that you want to checkout. Kyambula gorge and Kalinzu forest for example, have tribes of chimpanzees living there. Opportunities like these present a perfect contrast to what you will have seen at the national park there giving you nothing short of a whole some experience.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is also in the neighborhood of nuerous physical features. The lakes Edward and George thus conjoin in the middle of the park through Kazinga channel.
On this waterway, tourists get to ride boats and along the way watch sea creatures such as crocodiles.
Uganda’s highest mountain, Rwenzori is also within distance from Queen Elizabeth. In fact, while at Queen Elizabeth, you can clearly see it’s ranges stretching to the heavens.
Then there is Lake Katwe (a salt lake where mining goes on) and Kilembe mines of course (gold mines). There is actually more, but you get the point.
For both Entebbe-Kasese and Entebbe-Mweya routes, return tickets are available from Aerolink if that is the passenger’s preference. And if you are traveling with a child, their transport is lower than the sums above.
Semliki National Park
Price:
Entebbe to Semliki, $283
Semliki to Entebbe, $283
The park occupies 220 square kilometers of what is essentially an extension of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri forest. Ironically, while the forest is one of Africa’s oldest (believed to go back as far as the Pleistocene era), the game park itself is one of Uganda’s newest having only been gazetted in 1993.
This in real life has meant that not as many people visit the place but if you are a silver linings kind of person, then you will be glad to realize that that means that you will have a lot of room to yourself to explore the environment there if you choose to fly there.
The forests there are unique in that they are found in a valley. As such, they have attracted species of life that you won’t find elsewhere in East Africa except DRC perhaps.
This especially is the case for birds hence the game park has come to be known as a birds sanctuary among the tourism community in the country. If birds are your specialty, then look no further. Just grab your binoculars and head over to Semliki.
The unique birds at the game park include; Nkulengu Rail, Congo Serpent Eagle, Lyre-tailed Honey Guide, Long-tailed Hawk etc. These added together with the rest of the winged creatures make Semliki National Park home to a staggering 48% of the region’s species of birds.
But it is not just birds, there are a whole set of primate varieties for you to track at the location. Other animals to look forward to when you visit are elephants and buffalos.
Uniquely, the site encourages walking thereby making the experiences that tourists share there more intimate.
In order to benefit from this though, you should target the drier months of the year which in that area are December through February and June through August. Other things to do include boat riding on the river Semliki.
That is not all though because there is more of nature’s glory showcased near the park. These are; several hot springs, lake Albert, fault lines etc. If you love cultures then guides can help you dive into the local traditions associated with the forests e.g. when it comes to medicine.
On top of the ticket pricing above, Aerolink has provision for return tickets as well as child passengers and both are less costly.
Lake Mburo National Park
Price:
Entebbe to Mbarara: $230
Mbarara to Entebbe: $230
Sitting on 370 square kilometers, Lake Mburo national park is the smallest of its kind in Uganda. And yet, it is a pretty popular tourist destination not least because it is the closest game park from the country’s capital city. Additionally, it is only roughly 30km from the second biggest city (Mbarara).
Despite its size, the national park is host to over sixty nine species of mammals including; Impala, buffalos, pangolins, hyenas, leopards, porcupines, warthogs, zebras, hippopotamuses etc.
And as you may have established already, there is plenty of water at this wildlife hub. But it is not just from the lake from which it gets its name but also four small other lakes as well as swamps.
These features have been in part responsible for the three hundred plus bird species at Lake Mburo national park since they provide them with both shelter as well as fish for food. Examples of the birds include; marabou storks, cheeky bronze-tailed starlings, crested cranes, bee-eaters etc.
Lake Mburo touring is mostly on foot. You will be accompanied by an armed ranger while at it so it is safe. For the lakes, the park has adopted an even more traditional mode of exploring i.e. wooden canoes. With engine boats being prevalent everywhere you go, going back to the roots can be a fun way to explore.
In the immediate neighborhood of the national park, is Rubanga forest where you can visit to view figs, sapiums, palms etc.
Aerolink has return tickets for Mbarara flights and they are friendlier in cost.
I’m an aeronautical engineer (B1.1 License), a fan of travel, technology, and entrepreneurship. I’m also interested in writing and programming.