evidence: He further describes the views of the valley nearly 50 years after this expedition, in 1924, the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George V and Queen Elizabeth) embarked on a 4-month safari in East Africa. Starting in Kenya they hunted lion, rhino, antelope and zebra for several weeks… and then moved across to Uganda where they made their first camp in the Semliki Valley. [...] This little patch of Western Uganda must have truly held fascination for the Royal couple, and a special place in their hearts, for it was here in the Semliki Valley that – for the first time on the entire East African journey – they spotted elephant. Herds of elephant. The Duke shot a large bull with trophy tusks. Nearly ten years after the Royal Safari, the Semliki Valley was officially gazetted as the Toro Game Reserve, one of Uganda’s very first protected areas. (The Semliki National Park was not gazetted until 1993, elevated from Forest Reserve status). [...] Despite the fact that the Semliki Valley captivated explorers and travellers for generations, nearly a hundred years after the hugely successful Royal Safari, the area has fallen into obscurity, a little-known place that hardly gets a mention in the promotional materials for Uganda’s tourism industry.