Gately Inn Entebbe

All meals and snacks are served in the open-sided terrace/restaurant/coffee shop area. Breakfasts cater for all tastes, from smoothies and muesli to the Full English, and very good coffee! If you're on site, have a light lunch, or control your appetite until dinnertime, when the menu of continental, local, Asian (especially Thai) dishes will make the wait worthwhile. (We fell hard for the Kashmiri Butter Chicken.) There's a bar too, with a fine collection of beers and South African wines.

Accommodation ranges from the budget-friendly single/double room to the larger Comfort Room, a Family Suite (with a step-down bath, two bedrooms, a lounge, and a pretty, tucked-away position), and six cottages. All are individually styled by the owner, and are modern in that homely rustic-chic way, with all the amenities you need (TV, free wi-fi, aircon) and good en-suite bathrooms. The cottages each have a balcony and a particular take on the garden. You'll feel at home almost immediately.

Entebbe is a pleasant town carved from the jungle that carpets this area. Once the country's capital, the town is still busy, but has a green feeling that makes it a good place to relax. For most travellers, Entebbe is a stopover to and from Uganda's fabulous wild places. But it's worth spending a few days here, browsing the craft markets and shops, wandering the botanical gardens (good birding here), lounging lake-side, or cruising on Lake Victoria. Good eateries too.