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The herds are not on a timetable. They follow rain, and rain moves. July to October is the river crossing season on the Mara River, and February is calving on the southern Serengeti plains, which is the quieter and in many ways the better half of the same event. Booking the month is the decision; booking the exact camp is something we do closer to the date, when there is something real to go on.

Southern Bwindi and Volcanoes National Park are about three hours apart by road, across the Cyanika border. Trekking in both inside a week is entirely doable. The forests are different, the walking is different, and a permit costs USD 800 in Uganda against USD 1,500 in Rwanda, so one trek in each costs USD 700 less than two in Rwanda.

The standard chimpanzee trek in Kibale starts at 8:00 or 14:00 and gives you one hour with them. The habituation experience starts at 6:30 with the researchers and allows up to four hours. If primates are the reason you are coming, it is the one to ask for.

The launch runs about two hours upriver from Paraa to the foot of the falls, where the Nile bursts through the cliffs at the head of Fajao Gorge. On the northern bank, the Buligi Peninsula is the park's prime game-viewing area.

The Ndali-Kasenda field south of Fort Portal holds dozens of crater lakes, with flat walking between them. We walk the rims and trails and stay out of the water, because bilharzia has been recorded in crater lakes in western Uganda. Two unhurried nights here give a long driving route a rest in the middle.