Queen Elizabeth National Park
THE WORLD’S MEDLEY OF WONDERS AND REMARKABLY, UGANDA’S MOST FAMOUS SAVANNA PARK
Queen Elizabeth National Park Overview
Queen Elizabeth National Park – is truly the world’s medley of wonders and remarkably, Uganda’s most famous savanna park. This park is most popular for its huge concentration of wildlife making it visitors’ bucket-list destination for game viewing and boat cruise excursions. In 1952, the present Queen Elizabeth National Park was gazetted as Kazinga National Park. In 1954, this park was named after Queen Elizabeth the Second, the former queen of England and this was in commemoration of her visit to this protected area.
Location
Queen Elizabeth National Park is situated in the Western part of Uganda, with its boundaries stretching to cover the surrounding districts of Rukungiri, Kasese, Kamwenge, and Rubirizi. The park lies on the African Rift Valley floor, with elevations of 884m and 1337m. From the heart of Kampala to Queen Elizabeth National Park, it takes travellers between 6 and 7 hours to drive depending on the route taken.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is ranked the second largest park in Uganda with a land area coverage of 1978 sq.km. The park boasts of its diverse habitats, rich in wildlife of visitor interest on Uganda safaris. The important habitats that make up Queen Elizabeth National Park include wetlands, Lakes, savanna grassland, rainforests and others. In each of these habitats, there exist abundant floral and faunal species ranging from mammals, reptiles, and colourful butterflies to avifaunal species.
This protected area adjoins other protected areas including Kyambura Wildlife Reserve to the East and this also adjoins Kigezi Wildlife Reserve and Maramagambo Forest; and to the northeast, there is Kibale National Park. Adjacent to Queen Elizabeth National Park is the Virunga National Park of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C). To the northwest, Queen Elizabeth National Park is bordered by the Rwenzori Mountains National Park.
On the Uganda safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park, the main areas of interest include Kyambura Gorge, Kazinga channel, Maramagambo Forest, Ishasha, Mweya Peninsula, and Kasenyi sector. This park is a recognized biosphere reserve and national park and lies astride the Equator crossing.
Wildlife of Queen Elizabeth Park
If you are looking for a place to encounter a huge concentration of wildlife, then you have every reason to go on a Uganda wildlife tour in Queen Elizabeth National Park. This park is famous for its abundant wildlife species: African cape buffaloes, African elephants, hippopotami, warthogs, Nile crocodiles, jackals, spotted hyenas, leopards, chimpanzees, olive baboons, l’hoest monkeys, colobus monkeys, lions (inclusive of tree climbing lions), and a huge concentration of antelope families –topis, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, bushbucks and others. In general, the park holds over 95 species of mammals, 620 bird species
Bird species
Over 620 bird species are contained in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, including endemic and migratory species. The birds to identify in this park include the martial eagles, blue-napped mouse bird, hooded vultures, African wattled plovers, flamingos, papyrus canary, pink-backed pelicans, scarlet chested sunbirds, pygmy kingfishers, white-tailed lark, black-bellied bustards, grey kestrel, slender tailed nightjars, jack snipe, red chested sunbird, black-crowned tchagra, verreaux’s eagle owls, white-winged warblers, yellow-throated cuckoos, open billed stork, Sedge warblers, yellow wagtails, Northern pochard, African harrier hawks, greenshanks, long-tailed cormorants, African skimmers, white-faced whistling, saddle-billed storks, bar-tailed Godwit, black-headed gonoleks, African jacanas, mourning doves, shoebill stork, swamp flycatchers, and many bee-eaters.
When to visit
Queen Elizabeth National Park enjoys favorable weather conditions all year-round which makes it visitors’ most preferred wildlife destination. But it is excellently explored during the dry season that is June, July, August, December, January and February.
Activities in Queen Elizabeth Park
Queen Elizabeth National Park is without doubt the most famous tourist destination, known to receive one of the highest number of tourists each year. The popular activities to do on Uganda tour in this park include;
Queen Elizabeth Park offers excellent game viewing experiences in the morning and afternoon. The most popular game tracks that guarantee ultimate game encounters in this protected area include Ishasha sector in the South where tree climbing lions live, Kasenyi track in the Northern side where plenty of antelopes, and huge concentration of large mammals can be spotted. A normal day guided game drive lasts from 2 to 3 hours.
This park is also popular for its rewarding birding expeditions, with rich bird habitats ranging from Kazinga channel, Maramagambo Forest, Mweya to Kyambura Gorge. In this protected area alone, there exist 620 species of birds including shoebill storks, skimmers, slender tailed mourning doves, papyrus canary, pink-backed pelicans, black bellied bustards, and more.
Boat cruise are enjoyable along the Kazinga channel and visitors require 2 to 3 hours. This channel links two lakes –Lake George and Edward, and on a launch cruise, huge numbers of aquatic life can be spotted, especially the Nile crocodiles, hippos and aquatic birds.
Chimpanzee trekking in this park is excellently done in Kyambura Gorge; however, there are chimpanzee communities in Maramagambo Forest although they haven’t undergone habituation. Aside from chimp encounters, Kyambura Gorge also contains other important primates including blue monkeys, vervet monkeys, red tailed monkeys, and others.
Hot air balloon excursions offer excellent aerial game viewing. Tourists can go for the morning or afternoon session, each guaranteeing remarkable aerial view of the park’s huge animal concentrations.
Nature walking or forest walks in Queen Elizabeth Park are excellently conducted in Maramagambo Forest. A nature/forest walk through Maramagambo forest gets you exposed to diverse primates such as bush babies, red tailed monkeys, l’hoest monkeys, baboons, vervet monkeys, and more.
Other memorable experiences to enjoy while in this park include mongoose tracking, lion tracking; explore Lake Katwe salt mines, hippo census and cultural tours.
Accommodation
Luxury accommodation options to consider for a night stay in this park include Katara Lodge, Mweya Safari Lodge, Jacana Safari Lodge, Kasenyi Safari Camp, and Ishasha Wilderness Camp. Standard/midrange options include Elephant Plains, Bush Lodge, Enganzi Game Lodge, Buffalo Safari Lodge and others.
How to get to the park
By road: journeys can start from Entebbe or Kampala, take Masaka-Mbarara route which is 7 to 8 hours or drive via Mityana-Mubende-Fort Portal-Kasese about 6-7 hours’ drive. By air, be part of chartered/scheduled flights that set off from Entebbe airport/Kajjansi airfield to Mweya/Kasese airstrip.
