Family holidays as a teenager on safari in Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia first ignited my passion for sub-Saharan Africa. There, I discovered the true escapism you feel out in the bush, which is still something I experience to this day, whenever I go out on a game drive.
These memories would go on to inspire my return to the continent post university, when I decided to spend a year working and living out in East and Southern Africa. This, unsurprisingly, went on for longer than first anticipated. From beginning with volunteering at a female empowerment charity in Kampala, to interning at a lodge in KwaZulu Natal in South Africa, I then went on to work in the luxury hospitality industry in East Africa, which proved to be quite the adventure.
Living in Uganda provided me with a perfect base to explore the continent, and Tanzania in particular, left a lasting impression. The rich variety of landscapes across the national parks, the white sands of their beaches, and the relaxed nature and warmth of the people I was fortunate enough to meet, means it will be a country I will be always wanting to go back to again and again.
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Q&A with Sarah
What’s your most vivid travel moment?
I was working in a lodge in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, and one particular day I was in the main building of the lodge, when one of my colleagues ran up to me and insisted I followed them immediately. I was then rushed to one of the guest cottages. There I found a group of tourists hunched down on the ground watching a family of mountain gorillas playing on the stairs to the room. Usually you trek from two to six hours to find the gorillas, but in this instance they were right on my doorstep.
Where would you love to travel next?
The island of Madagascar is home to over 110 species of lemur and the only place on the planet where they can be found in the wild. When it comes to seeing wildlife in Africa most people will think of safari or the mountain gorillas, and having been lucky enough to experience both, seeing the lemurs in the rainforests of Madagascar seems like the natural next step to exploring this wonderful continent.
Which book, film or artwork captures Uganda the most?
Hafsa Zyyan’s debut novel ‘We are all Birds of Uganda’ highlights the lasting and widespread trauma of Idi Amin’s regime in the 1960s, through the accounts of two different generations and across two continents. The vivid descriptions she provides, particularly of Kampala, not only perfectly describe city in all its chaos but also captures the soul and vibrancy of the country and all the reasons I myself decided to spend some time living out there.