Kabwoya Wildlife Reserve

Kabwoya Wildlife Reserve lies on the eastern shore of Lake Albert, in the Bunyoro region of western Uganda, about 82 km by road from Hoima town. It was gazetted in 2002 and covers 87 km2. Together with the neighbouring Kaiso-Tonya Community Wildlife Area it forms a protected area of about 194 km2, managed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).

Why go

Kabwoya is a shelf of open grassland and dry thicket between the steep Albertine Rift escarpment and the lake. UWA describes it as the only fairly intact savannah left along the roughly 200 km of Lake Albert shore between Toro-Semliki and Murchison Falls. You come for space and quiet: Uganda kob, oribi, bushbuck, warthogs and colobus monkeys, views across the water to DR Congo, and almost no other visitors. Chimpanzees live in the forest along the Hohwa River, but they are not used to people, so sightings are rare.

What you can do

• Guided walks and drives on the plains with UWA staff.
• Birding in the grassland, thicket and riverside forest.
• A walk down to the lake shore and a visit to a fishing village as the day’s catch comes in.
• On the way, heritage stops in Hoima, the seat of the Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom.

The people side

This is Bunyoro, one of the oldest kingdoms in the region. Near Hoima you can visit the Mparo Tombs, where Omukama Kabalega, the king who fought British rule, is buried. On the lake shore, fishing families at landing sites such as Kaiso and Tonya make their living from Lake Albert, in an area where people and wildlife share the land. The fishing village visit is arranged with the community and included in your trip, so what you pay goes to the families you meet.

Best time to visit

The drier months, December to February and June to August, are best for walks and drives. In the rains the escarpment road and the tracks can be slippery.

Getting there

Allow about 4 hours from Kampala to Hoima, then about 1.5 hours on the new tarmac road to the reserve: 5 to 6 hours in total, and about 1 hour more from Entebbe.

Good to know

Kabwoya is not a classic safari park. UWA does not yet list a regular visitor programme, there are few places to stay, and elephants and lions are not part of the picture. The new road was built for the oil industry, and oil development is under way in the Lake Albert region. We plan Kabwoya as a special trip for travellers who value quiet over big game, and arrange walks and drives with reserve staff in advance. Walking is easy to moderate, Level 2 to 3. UWA’s current prices are valid to 31 December 2026; new UWA prices start on 1 January 2027.