Ideally, someone would want to spend more than a day in Entebbe, because it’s a hugely interesting, rich, diverse city and there is so much to explore. But if for some reason you only have 12 hours at your disposal during your visit, you will want to make that day a memorable one. Perhaps you would have missed your flight, or waiting for someone, or maybe still have one free day on your schedule, Entebbe is the best city that can make you forget all about the otherworld because of its breathtaking attractions.
Entebbe city is located on Lake Victoria’s peninsular, this city once served as a seat of the colonial government, however, it remains widely known as the scene for the 1976 Israel rescue of hostages kidnapped by Palestinian and German plane hijackers. This city has the Uganda international airport and it’s not very far from the capital. Entebbe offers visitors a pleasant, comfortable base for exploring Africa’s largest lake. The city has a varsity of attractions that can take off your stress.
Apart from the president’s official residence (state house), most attractions in Entebbe are the beaches like Botanical beach, Lido beach and others, Uganda wildlife education center, Ngamba island chimp sanctuary,, birding, fishing trips, and boat cruises on Lake Victoria, the reptile village among others. However, visitors should not try to fix all those attractions over the course of one day; they would be unlikely to feel the fragrance of the beaches in Entebbe.
Putting apart all other attractions, the best excursion one can ever have in Entebbe city is the one to Ngamba island chimpanzee sanctuary and then the Uganda wildlife education center (UWEC). Paying a visit to these interesting places is never regrettable.
Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary.
Ngamba chimpanzee tracking after a boat cruise (sets off at 9 am) on Lake Victoria that takes approximately one and a half hours, you finally reach Ngamba Island, the peaceful home of chimps surrounded by waters of Lake Victoria, a home for 49 orphaned chimps rescued from all over Uganda. Here you get the opportunity to closely observe and interact with these fascinating great apes in the unique setting. You get the chance to view chimps feeding, birds, monitor lizards, and photography opportunities.
Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC).
Gorilla safaris adventure completion of a boat cruise back to the shores of Lake Victoria, you then visit the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (Zoo). Here you expect a rare and unforgettable experience. It’s a small but nice place that you can wander in for almost 2 hours. Meet the big cats, lions, serval, and leopards up close enough for amazing photo moments, including the Hyenas, buffaloes, Impalas, Hogs, and Bush backs. UWEC is a funfair, enjoy the donkey and camel rides, take a nature walk in the forest path and then cool yourself down at the natural beach with a swim.
After all that experience, you drive back comfortably with unforgettable memories at relatively cheap prices. A trip to Entebbe in only 12hours is despicable; you can never regret spending your day in Entebbe city.
Entebbe Botanical Gardens
Tours in Entebbe beautifully landscaped botanical gardens in Entebbe, established in 1901, lie on the shores of Africa’s greatest lake. They offer a superb introduction to Ugandan birds and are situated conveniently close to the international airport, Entebbe airport, main and only gateway to Uganda.
The gardens host a variety of open country and woodland species and you can easily spend a pleasant couple of hours here. The tall trees near the main entrance are the favorite day roost of a pair of Verreaux’s eagle owls.
The key birds of the gardens are orange tufted and red chested Sunbirds and orange weaver. The latter breed in the bushes on the shores of Lake Victoria along with slender-billed, Northern Brown-throated, yellow-backed, Jackson’s Golden-backed, Black-headed, and Vieillot’s black weavers.
On the lake and around the shore looks for long-tailed Cormorant, Common Squacco and black-headed herons, Hammerkop, African Open-billed Stork, yellow-billed duck, Grey-headed gull , various terns, giant and pied Kingfishers and swamp Flycatcher. Black-headed Gonolek and Red-chested Sunbird occur in the dense scrub covering the headland.