Uganda is situated right on the Equator. With its 37 million inhabitants it is a large country of savannah grasslands dotted with lakes and papyrus marshes. Uganda is also the land of the Rwenzori Mountains, the famous “Mountains of the Moon” with their snow-capped peaks; of the Western branch of the Rift Valley with its sparkling lakes; of impenetrable forests of jungle vegetation; of hills that have been cultivated with care by meticulous local farmers, of vast stretches of grassland used by the proud nomadic herdsmen of the Banyankole tribe; of tea plantations whose endless green carpet stretches to the distant horizon. The National Parks scattered throughout the country are home to an unparalleled abundance and variety of wildlife. It is not, therefore, without good reason that it had so impressed Winston Churchill, who referred to Uganda as “the Pearl of Africa” in the heart of the British Empire.