Queen Elizabeth National Park is located in Western Region of Uganda, spanning the districts of Kasese, Kamwenge, Rubirizi, and Rukungiri. Queen Elizabeth National Park covers an area of 1,978km2 (764 sq. mi) and it’s governed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority, it was established in 1952. Queen Elizabeth National Park is the second largest national park after Murchison falls National Park.
Attractions in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Wildlife.
Queen Elizabeth national park is well known for its abundant of wildlife, including the African elephant, African buffalo, Uganda kob, hippopotamus, topi, waterbuck, warthog, giant forest hog, Nile crocodile, leopard, spotted hyena, chimpanzee, lion, overall the park is a home to mammal species and are over 600 birds species.
Bird species.
Queen Elizabeth national park is a birding haven in that the park has over 600 bird species that are recorded due to a wide variety of habitats from savannah, forest then to wetlands. In the park the swamps in the Ishasha sector are good places to look for the elusive shoebill stork then the migratory birds are always present from November to April. Bird species in the park includes the Swamp Flycatcher, African Skimmer, Malachite and Pied Kingfishers, Grey-headed Kingfisher, Black-headed Gonolek, Verreaux’s Eagle-owl, Sedge Warbler, White-winged Terns, Grey-capped Warbler, Collared Pratincole, Martial Eagle, Gabon and Slender-tailed Nightjars to thrill while on Uganda Safaris.
Equator at Queen Elizabeth national park.
Equator at Queen Elizabeth national park is one of the major attractions in the park, it’s found at Kikorongoro, the equator is the most recognized land mark on the map of Uganda, and it’s a major latitude that divides the world into two equal hemispheres that is the northern and the southern hemisphere. The equator is perpendicular to the earth’s axis of rotation and it also contains the earth’s center of mass.
Kazinga Channel.
The Kazinga channel is awide, 32 kilometer (20 mile) long fresh water channel that links Lake Edward to its smaller neighbor, Lake George, the lakes are named after Queen Victoria’s son King Edward Vll, and his own successor, King George V. The shores of Kazinga channel attracts large mammals, birds as well as reptiles yea around.
Mweya Peninsula.
Mweya Peninsula is the heart of sightseeing activities with excellent accommodation in the park, the only way to enjoy your tour in the park is by touring with a ranger guide, the guide helps you to explore the park as well as the distant parts of the peninsula. The Mweya information center organizes all the activities that tourists may want to get involved in like The Katwe bay, Lake Edward and many more.
Lake Katwe.
Lake Katwe is a saline crater lake, it has no outlets and inlets which makes it salty, in the dry season the water becomes too concentrated thus forming the salt pans at the bottom and also crystalized salt forms on the surface. During your visit at Lake Katwe, you can visit the historical Germany salt factory and also find out why the factory stopped operating way back, as well you can enjoy the salt mining process and the narrative as told by the salt miners.
Kyambura escarpment.
Kyambura has a lot of interesting feature; Kyambura gorge is something that is not common, is a strip of rain forest in through the vast savanna grass land plains, the gorge was shaped by the Kyambura River, as told by the local folklore.
The Landscape.
Landscape of the park is breath taking cool and beautiful enough to give you the most amazing of the true pearly glamour of Uganda. The park has undulating hills that make it more beautiful scenery for the sight, the park is also located on the back drop of mountain Rwenzori, it gives you avery beautiful view if the Rwenzori ranges and during the sunny days, you can see mountain Rwenzori as touching the clouds; that’s the reason why it is called the mountains of the moon.
Tree climbing lions.
The tree climbing lion are a species of the lions that are so unique and really exclusive to the east Africa, they are found in Queen Elizabeth national park and Lake Manyara in Tanzania, however you can stand a better chance to view a number of the tree climbing lions in Ishasha sector south of Queen Elizabeth national park than in Tanzania.
Activities in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Cultural tours.
Cultural tours in the park are more especially in the fishing villages set in the adjacent the park, during the visit to the locals gives you to engage in their stories, entertainment, local dances and dramas, as well in their activities like cooking and many others.
Boat cruises.
The park, has the boat cruise which is done at Kazinga channel stretching to Lake Edward to Lake George which lasts about 2 to 3 hours thus offering the game viewing, bird watching. Boat cruise at Kazinga channel is offered twice a day that is in the morning and afternoon.
Chimpanzee tracking.
Chimpanzee tracking offers you the best encounter with chimpanzees which is an underground forests 100 meters below the Kichaba escarpment. Kyambura is a home of 10 primate like the chimpanzee, olive baboons and many others. Chimpanzee tracking experience in Queen Elizabeth national park experiences to enjoy while the chimpanzee are playing on trees, grooming each other while the tourists are taking pictures.
Bird watching.
The park is one of the birding destination thus offering bird watching safari. The park has over 600 bird species like the Spur-winged plovers, Long tailed cormorants, African Jacana, Yellow backed Weavers, Fish Eagle, lesser flamingos and many more, the most recognized area for bird watching are Kasenyi plains, Kazinga channel, Katunguru bridge, Mweya peninsula and many others.
Game viewing.
It offers the most loved activity which is game viewing, the park is a home of a large number of wildlife that are spotted during game viewing, the activity is mostly done in Kasenyi where large number of animals can be spotted like the Uganda kobs, lions, elephants, topis and many more. Game driving in the park is done in the morning, evenings that’s when the animals can be active.
Where to stay in Queen Elizabeth national park.
The park has accommodations ranging from the budget, Mid-range, luxuries such as the lodges, campsites, hotels that can accommodate the guests during their safari in the park. The accommodations in the park are as follows White house hotel, Pumba safari lodge, Mweya safari lodge, Kasenyi safari camp, Ishasha Wilderness camp Enganzi lodge, Park view lodge and many others.
Best time to visit Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Best time to visit Queen Elizabeth National Park is not specified as seasons change according and the park is an open place, however the best time to visit the Park for wildlife viewing is from January to February and June to July because it can be a dry season and animal species can gather as they are looking for drinking water.
Entrance fees of Queen Elizabeth National Park.
| Category | Foreign Non Residents(USD) | Foreign Residents(USD) | East Africa Citizens(UGX) |
| Adults | 40 | 30 | 20,000 |
| Children | 20 | 10 | 5000 |
| Ugandan Pupils/students(Groups) | 3000 | ||
| Tertiary Institutes/ Universities | 5000 | ||
| Uganda Wild life clubs | 2000 |
How to get to Queen Elizabeth national park.
Queen Elizabeth national park can be accessed by both Air and Road transport from Kampala to the park.
Road means.
The park is located on 389 kilometers from Kampala the capital city of Uganda, the park can be reached by 6 to 7 road hours through Masaka Road.
Air means.
The park can be reached by the use of charter flights from Entebbe international airport or Kajjansi airstrip to the various airstrips of the park like the Chobe, Pakuba, Mweya, Kasese, Ishasha, Kihihi airstrips.
With over 95 large mammal species and 600 avian species, Queen Elizabeth National Park is now the most biodiverse place where you can carry your safari in Uganda, it varies habitats such as grassland, woodland, moist tropical forest and wetlands, both fresh water rivers, lakes and saline lakes.
