Queen Elizabeth National Park
A visitors guide to queen elizabeth national park in Uganda
A visitor's guide to Queen Elizabeth National Park | All you need to know
Queen Elizabeth national park is found in the southwestern region of Uganda, in the districts of; Kasese, Rukungiri, Bushenyi and Kamwenge. It is situated between Lake George and Lake Albert and having the Kazinga channel crossing through. This is the second largest of all the parks in Uganda with an immense area of 1,978 square kilometers.
The national park is approximately, 400 kilometers from Kampala, the capital city of Uganda and that is approximately a journey of 7 hours by road. Other people could opt to take a flight from Entebbe to international airport to the park.
This park is one of most popular of all the parks, hence a fact that it is the most visited in Uganda, originally, queen Elizabeth national park was called the kazinga channel national park, but its name was changed in 1954 to queen Elizabeth national park following a visit from the UK monarch Queen Elizabeth II as an honor of the British monarch.
Queen Elizabeth national park is an unforgettable wild life destination, boasting an astonishing array of species that call this park their home. It has diverse habitats for the wild life ranging from; savannas to forests, wetlands. Visitors are able to see incredible animals like; the incredible predators like lions, leopards and hyenas. As well as the herbivores like the buffalo, hippo and elephant
Wildlife in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Mammals
Giraffes: with their distinctive long neck and coats.
Cheetahs: these are rarely seen but are present in queen Elizabeth national park
Hyraxes: which are small mammals that look like rabbits also common in the park
Servals: small solitary cats which are nocturnal and rare to see
Zebra: both plains and gravy’s zebras are present
Birds
Flamingos: flocks of flamingos are seen on the lakes in the park
Pelicans: these are large water birds that are common in the park
Eagles : several of these species are also found in the park
Vultures: several of these are available in the park.
Reptiles
Crocodiles which are common in the lakes and parks of the rivers
Hippos: these spend most of their time in water despite being termed as mammals
Snakes: a variety of snakes species are found in the park
Other wildlife found in the park include; baboon, chimpanzees, warthogs, bush pigs and many more
Activities In Queen Elizabeth National park
Chimpanzee tracking
this is one of the most popular activities that queen Elizabeth national park is known for, like earlier said, each park provides a different thrill of experiences. With this national park, one of the various thrills of experience is the chimpanzee tracking at the kyambura gorge.
Before the tracking of these interesting creatures begins, a safari visitors attend a briefing session conducted at the parks information by the game rangers, during this season, the rangers provide guidelines to the visitors, tracking safety precautions, the behavior of the habitat and many more.
The thrill of chimpanzee tracking begins in the morning hours, the visitors are accompanied by experienced and armed game rangers. It involves quiet guided walks through the forests following the footprints of the chimpanzees.
Once the chimps are located, visitors are allowed to spend 1 hour with the chimps so as to study them carefully. Visitors are only allowed to study the chimps from a distance, taking note of their behaviors and their social life.
Spot tree climbing lions
queen Elizabeth is also most known because of the thrill of seeing climbing lions at the ishasha sector, which is near the ishasha river. The best time or season to the tree climbing lions at ishasha is when it’s the dry season when the trees are less dense and lions are more active i.e. June to august and December to February
Game drives
this is also one of the popular activities done in the national park done in comfortable 4×4 safari vehicles which gives visitors to see a variety of mammals i.e. 95 percent of the species. Game drives in Queen Elizabeth national park are done either very early in the morning, in the afternoon, or in the night. In the game drive you can be able to see wildlife like lions, elephants, buffaloes, leopards, Uganda kobs etc.
Bird Watching
the park has over 600 species of birds. Bird watching destinations in Queen Elizabeth national park include kasenyi area, mweya peninsula area, ishasha sector, Lake Kikorongo area, katwe area and the kazinga channel, Maramagambo forest, katunguru bridge area among others. During bird watching, the visitors are accompanied by experienced bird guides who help in the sporting of the different birds including; shoebill stork, African fish eagle, pink backed pelican, grey heron, black headed heron, African skimmer, Caspian plover Ruwenzori turaco etc.
Boat Cruise
boat cruise in queen Elizabeth is done on the kazinga channel which connects two lakes; Lake Albert and Lake George. The boat cruise on kazinga channel is done in two schedules; that is in the morning which starts at 9am and the afternoon which starts at 2pm with each schedule taking about 2 to 3 hours but may vary depending on the weather and wildlife
With the boat cruise, visitors can experience views of the surrounding landscapes, including mountain Rwenzori, wild life viewing which includes hippos, crocodiles, elephants and numerous bird species.
While on the boat cruise, life jackets are provided for safety, visitors travel with experienced travel guides, weather conditions are studied before the boat cruise can be done.
When to visit Queen Elizabeth National Park
The best season for visiting queen Elizabeth national park is the dry season, that is to say; January to February, and then from June to October. Good seasons include months of March, November and December and lastly mixed seasons include April and May.
Accommodation choices for Queen Elizabeth national park
The park offers a wide range of accommodations to suit various budgets and visitors references. The accommodation places are categorized under luxury lodges, midrange lodges and budget friendly options; the choice is fully yours depending on your budget.
Luxury lodges, mweya safari lodge- 5 star lodge with extremely comfortable rooms offering good views of the kazinga channel, ishasha wilderness camp- a luxury tented camp with good tents and a stunning clear view of the Ishasha River, kyambura gorge lodges-with elegant rooms and a beautiful view of the gorge
Midrange lodges, bush lodge-with beautiful and comfortable rooms with all the best hospitality, simba safari camp- with comfortable tents and good view of the channel, engazi lodge-with comfortable rooms and good hospitality.
Budget friendly lodges; for example, mweya hostel, queen Elizabeth wilderness camp, ishasha campsite, katara lodge.
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