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Katonga Wildlife Reserve is a little-known, low-key destination about 270km/168 mi (5 to 6 hours' drive) west of the city of Kampala. Efforts to better protect the reserve against poaching are slowly restoring the animal population. Several antelope species are easily seen, including the Uganda kob. The rare, marsh-dwelling sitatunga antelope can sometimes be spotted as well, as can hippo and otter. There are no roads for vehicle safaris, so the park is best explored on foot.
Geographical Location
The reserve lies about 200 kilometers (120 miles) west of Kampala, Uganda’s capital city. It can be accessed via a dirt road from Kyegegwa, which is located on Fort Portal Road. The coordinates for Katonga Wildlife Reserve are approximately 00°02’N latitude and 30°25’E longitude.
Scenery
A variety of habitats can be explored in the reserve including rainforest, papyrus swamps, and savannah. The reserve is on the edge of the Katonga River valley.
Best Time To Visit
Katonga can be visited at any time of the year, but the best time for wildlife viewing is in the Dry seasons (December to February and June to July).
From: $275 to $726 pp/day
From: June to August and December to February
From: June to September (It's rarely crowded)
From: 210km² / 81mi²
Katonga doesn't support most of the large safari animals. Big cats are absent, and elephants and buffalo occur in small numbers only. But the reserve is one of the few places in East Africa that offers a chance to see the sitatunga antelope. Several other antelope species are present as well, including reedbuck, bushbuck, waterbuck, and Uganda kob. Baboons and black-and-white colobus are also regularly spotted. Several years ago, zebra and impala were translocated to the park from Lake Mburo National Park. The birding is great due to the variety of habitats.
The weather and climate of Katonga are comparable to that of Uganda in general. Straddling the equator, Uganda has little year-round fluctuation in temperature. The hottest months are January and February when the average daytime range is 24°C to 33°C (75°F to 91°F) with peaks of up to 40°C/104°F in the far north. The south has two Wet seasons: from mid-September to November and March to May, but it can really rain at any time. The north has one continuous Wet season from March to November and a more obvious Dry season from December to February.
Dry Seasons –June to August & December to February
Average temperatures hover around 27°C/81°F in the afternoon and 16°C/61°F in the morning. It will be colder at altitudes above 1,300m/4,265ft, including the gorilla parks.
Wet Seasons –March to May & September to November
Daytime temperatures average around 28°C/82°F and morning temperatures around 16°C/61°F. It will be colder in the gorilla parks at high altitudes and warmer in the north.
Katonga is the closest reserve to Kampala as the crow flies, but the drive still takes a good 5 to 6 hours*. It can be reached from the Fort Portal–Kampala road. Katonga can easily be incorporated into a standard Uganda itinerary but seldom is due to the lack of amenities and low wildlife densities. *Driving times are only a rough indication. You should always consider the possibility of significant delays.
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