What to see in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park
What to see in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park: Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of the most visited national parks in the country, and it is the second largest national park in Uganda, with a total land area of 1978 kilometers, after Murchison Falls National Park, which is the largest. Queen Elizabeth National Park was founded in 1952 and is located in the districts of Kasese, Kamwenge, Rubirizi, and Rukungiri in western Uganda. The Queen Elizabeth National Park is home to a variety of natural species, including vegetation types, forests, animal species, reptiles, and bird species.
What to see in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Wildlife
Queen Elizabeth National Park is home to a variety of wildlife species, including hippos, elephants, buffaloes, waterbucks, bushbucks, warthogs, Uganda kobs, giant forest hogs, and Topi, among others, which can be seen during a game drive in Kasenyi plains, Mweya peninsula, and along the water banks on Kazinga channel during a boat cruise.
Big Cats
Lions, leopards, civets, Serval and Genal cats are among the big cats found in Queen Elizabeth National Park. These cats are frequently observed during the nocturnal game drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park, and the park is also famed for its tree climbing lions, which may be seen during the game drive in Ishasha sector.
Primates
The Queen Elizabeth National Park is home to ten primate species, including red-tailed monkeys, chimps, black and white colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, and baboons. Primates may be found at Queen Elizabeth National Park in Kyambura Gorge, popularly known as the Valley of Apes, in the park’s eastern region, as well as in Maramagambo woodland.
Birds
Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park is also renowned as a birder’s paradise since it is home to the most bird species, which totals over 612 species. Among the many bird species found in Queen Elizabeth National Park are the hooded vulture, African crake, black bellied bustard, crowned plover, long crested eagle, martial eagle, Rufous napped lark, black headed Gonolek, yellow backed weaver, black cuckoo, yellow bill, common greenshank, southern red bishop, palm-nut vulture, papyrus Gonolek, yellow wag Bird viewing is a popular pastime in Queen Elizabeth National Park, particularly in the Kazinga Channel, where you may see a variety of aquatic species, Lake Katwe, the Ishasha River, the Maramagambo woodland, the Kyambura Gorge, the Mweya Peninsula, and the Kasenyi Plains, among other areas making your birding experience an exciting one.
Explore the Mweya Peninsular
Mweya peninsula, located on the north eastern beaches of Queen Elizabeth National Park, overlooks Katwe Bay, where the Kazinga channel enters the lake. Mweya Peninsula is an excellent site for game drives where you may see many animal species like as elephants, waterbucks, warthogs, huge forest pigs, buffaloes, leopards, and mongoose tracking, among other things. You may also take a boat trip on the Kazinga channel to see diverse wildlife on the water’s edge, especially during the dry season, such as enormous herds of hippos and bird species such as malachite king fishers, black bee-eaters, and eagle owls.
Mweya Peninsula features a souvenir shop that sells handcrafted things as well as nice lodging. Mweya Safari Lodge has stunning views of the Kazinga Channel and the Rwenzori Mountains.
The Kazinga Channel
The Kazinga channel is a 40-kilometer-long natural canal that links Lake Edward and Lake George, with Lake Edward in the western section of the park and Lake George in the eastern part. Boat rides are the most popular activity on the Kazinga channel, with boats leaving four times a day on a set schedule, although you may charter a small boat from Mweya safari lodge if you prefer to cruise at your own pace.
The Kazinga channel boat ride may be done in the morning or afternoon, however most guests prefer the afternoon boat excursion. During the boat ride on the Kazinga channel, you will be able to see vast herds of hippos in the water, as well as elephants, buffaloes, Nile crocodiles, and antelopes on the river’s edge.
Bird watchers will be able to see several bird species such as spur winged plover, yellow backed weaver, fish eagle, pink backed pelican, long tailed cormorant, African jacana, Squaco heron, pied kingfisher, Wattled plover, yellow backed weaver, and others along Kazinga channel. During the afternoon boat trip, you will also observe fishermen from surrounding fishing communities on Kazinga channel heading out in their little boats for night fishing because there will be no hippos to disturb them because they will be grazing on the land.
Track Tree Climbing Lions
The Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park is located in the southern portion of the park and is home to tree climbing lions, which may be seen casually resting and relaxing in the fig tree branches. The tree climbing lions in the Ishasha sector climb trees to escape the heat of the ground, to avoid bug bites, and to have a better view of their food, the antelopes that graze in the open savannah forest thus What to see in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park.
The tree climbing lions are the main attractions in the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park, and they can be seen during game drives in the area, which also has other animal species such as Uganda kobs, elephants, and buffaloes, as well as different bird species such as Senegal plover, striped kingfisher, martial eagle, white headed barbet, hooded vulture, and African crowned eagle. Ishasha sector is a must-see site in Uganda because you can see the unique tree climbing lions that are not found anywhere else in Uganda.
Explore Crater Lakes in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
The Queen Elizabeth National Park has ten crater lakes, one of which being Lake Katwe, a historic salt mining lake located on the northern side of the Mweya peninsula that was produced by a volcanic eruption many years ago. Lake Katwe is a salt lake where Kasese residents harvest rock salt and dry it for sale. During your journey to Lake Katwe, you will get the opportunity to engage with salt miners as they discuss their mining experience and the method of mining salt. Lake Munyanyange, a seasonal lake located 2 kilometers from Lake Katwe, will be visited from Lake Katwe.
Birds such as the Black headed Gonolek, Long tailed starling, African hoopoes, White browed robin chit, Sea gulls, Black terns, Black winged stilt, pied avocet, Flamingos, and migratory birds from Kenya and Canada may be seen in Lake Munyanyange. Other crater lakes in Queen Elizabeth National Park include Lake Nyamunuka and Lake Munyampaka on the Kasenyi plains, among others, and each Crater Lake has a unique historical tale to tell that is worth hearing.
How to Get to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
The Queen Elizabeth National Park is situated in the western region of Uganda and may be accessible by road or air.
Air transportation
When flying to Queen Elizabeth National Park, you will arrange scheduled and chartered flights from Entebbe International Airport or Kajjansi Airfield to Kasese or Mweya airstrips within the park.
Transfer via road
By road, you will travel from Kampala to Queen Elizabeth National Park through Masaka, Mbarara, Fort Portal, Kasese, and finally to the park, which will take around 6 to 7 hours. You may also reach the park via Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in south western Uganda through the Ishasha sector, which takes around 3 to 4 hours.
