The American tourist who was kidnapped during a safari vacation in Uganda has spoken out about the ordeal three weeks after her abduction.

Kimberly Endicott and her safari driver were kidnapped by four men in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park on April 4.

They were released four days later after a $US500,000 ransom was paid.

Endicott told “CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King that she first thought the men were park rangers carrying guns, but soon realised they were not in uniform.

“They make us get out of the vehicle … they make us sit on the ground and that’s when things go very – I don’t know how to describe it – there’s really not a word to describe what that felt like. Pure fear. But that almost doesn’t do it justice,” Endicott said.

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An American tourist and her driver who were kidnapped in Uganda were rescued unharmed

She said that while the men ransacked their vehicle, she and her guide were told to sit on the ground, while an older couple on the tour were told to keep standing.

Then suddenly, Endicott said, she and the guide were whisked off by the men.

“It just really, when I think back about it, it felt like, ‘swoosh,’ and that’s it. We’re off,” she said.

The New York Times reported that the safari company Endicott and her guide were travelling with paid the ransom to have them released.

Her guide was identified as Congolese national Jean-Paul Mirenge Remezo, according to ABC News.

Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations.

It spreads over 760 square miles and is home to more than 95 mammal species and more than 600 bird species.

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