Where to travel for the holiday with your family

Capture memories in Uganda’s adventure capital
Jinja is one place that will leave you and your children with stories and memories. They have been taught about this town’s glory as an industrial town in the past. When they get there, they will appreciate its change of face and philosophy. It is now an adventure capital where tourists find reason to indulge in a number of activities that will get their adrenaline rushing.

White water rafting on the River Nile is one of the biggest attractions, where you experience the wild waters as you manoeuvre rocks and levels of water speed. Lifesavers are on the lookout for your safety. It does not matter whether you can swim or not. Rafting is as amazing as it gets. In Jinja, you will get to bungee jump, still on the Nile. Your teenager might want to try this too. The company that mans the adventure ensures safety. If you have drawn a bucket list and not included bungee jumping, consider it.
One of the most exciting exploration sports is quad biking. You can go riding with the little ones or teenagers in Jinja, you get to ride through the rural, where you will come face to face with village children and adults going about their lives. The quad trails include riding along the Nile which offers beautiful photography moments.

Identify with heritage, history
Fort Portal is as calm as its people come. For a different treat, you might want to do a road trip to the town which is home to some rich history. Part of the royal palace is open to the public and there are some historians and guides who are happy to share the heritage of Tooro kingdom, one of the five traditional kingdoms of Uganda.
You can make a trip to Amabere Ga Nyina Mwiru which is close-by. You need to carry a camera or use your phone camera to capture some beautiful moments under the misty rocks whose story is double sided; historical and scientific. Choose either.

Since it is a story taught in school, this might be exciting for the pupils or students to come face-to-face with social studies and history. Kibaale Forest should be part of your itinerary where you will experience one of the coolest places thanks to the tree canopies as you walk or drive into the forest. It is also home to the African Grey Parrot, the world’s most intelligent parrot. Fort Portal is also home to crater lakes and beautiful lodges that overlook osome of the crater lakes.

Home-away-from-home treats
Garuga offers a home-away-from home experience because the facilities there have been modelled around creating a family practice, for example you will find swimming pools that cater to needs of both the adults and children.
On menus you will find meals for both adults and children. There are activities that you can enjoy with your little ones or teenagers, for example horse riding, fishing, beach foot and volleyball.

At night, there is a fireplace over which you can share stories in a relaxed environment. Accommodation units can take a couple while others are specifically modelled for a family, with a master bedroom, children’s room, fitted with bathrooms and then a common room with kitchen and lounging area. TripAdvisor, an online travel blog, has reviews of a number of facilities. If you would like to take advantage of discounts, please visit online platforms of Jumia Travel Uganda, booking.com and expedia.com.

Take animal education tours
Animals are beautiful people and for the holiday season, you can choose to make a date with the wild friends at Uganda Wildlife Education Centre; Uganda’s biggest zoo, in Entebbe. They are caged and visitors are taken on guided tours throughout the education centre.
One of the activities you will enjoy as a family is feeding the giraffes which reach out to you with their extraordinary tongues to scoop a banana or fruit from the palms of your hands.

Hamukungu, the baby elephant enjoys being fed too and is friendly. There are monkeys, chimpanzees, lions, leopards, zebras, ostriches, cheetahs, peacock, shoebill stork, snakes, buffaloes, among other animals, birds and other wild residents, on top of plants and trees.
There is a special children play area, restaurant and accommodation facilities at the zoo, so you can make prior booking and stay there for a night or more, away from you home. The zoo is located at the shores of Lake Victoria.

benefit
If your family takes one vacation per year, this means over the course of a lifetime, you only have 15 chances to create precious vacation memories with your children. These are not opportunities to procrastinate.