Venture over the Ugandan plateaus to the remote and untrodden western haunch of the Rwenzori Mountains, to find the Semuliki National Park tucked up to the border with the DRC. Here, deciduous forests sprout from swaying grass plains, hosting some of the highest biodiversity on the whole continent. There are earthy Bamba farmer folk and hardy Bakonjo cattle-rearing tribes on the mountainsides.

The result is a region that's a doozy for any ecologists and nature lovers, culture buffs or adventurers. A safari with a Semuliki National Park tour guide isn't your usual bout of lion-spotting from a 4X4. Instead, it's about hitting wiggling boardwalk trails in pursuit of hornbills and capuchin babblers, the rare mona monkey and the elusive forest buffalo, all between visions of the steaming Sempaya Hot Springs and the snake-like outline of the muddy Semuliki River.

Encounters with the human communities of Semuliki are also an eye-opening experience. The Basua and Batwa will welcome with foot-stomping dances, while other indigenous groups have hidden villages in the woods, and enthralling animist-religious stories that help make sense of these fascinating landscapes in the Albertine Rift.