Kyambura Gorge Lodge

Kyambura Gorge Lodge is small and quiet, and it sits right on the edge of things. Its eight suites sit on the lip of a forested gorge in Queen Elizabeth National Park, with the savannah running away on the other side. It is the open-country part of a journey that otherwise lives in the forest.

We bring you here for two nights and one afternoon in particular. A private boat takes you along the Kazinga Channel, which carries more hippo and crocodile than almost any stretch of water in Africa. Elephant and buffalo come down to the banks to drink while you drift past, close enough to hear them. It is easy, unhurried game viewing, and a good contrast to the chimp tracking before it and the gorilla treks to come.

The second day is for the park. Then, when you leave, you leave by road on purpose: your guide drives you south through the Ishasha sector, where the lions climb into the fig trees near the Congo border, and on to Bwindi. Lions in a tree are a rare sight, and Ishasha is one of very few places you will see it.

The lodge suits couples and small groups who like a place with character and a small number of guests.

You arrive by helicopter from Kyaninga, a short flight south over the crater lakes.

Good to know

• The road from here to Bwindi is a full game drive, not a transfer. Plan on a long, rewarding day.
• Uganda is driest from June to September and December to February.
• Take advice on malaria prophylaxis for Uganda.

Country: Uganda