Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of Africa’s most diverse and captivating wildlife destinations. Known for its unique mix of savannah plains, volcanic crater lakes, lush wetlands, and dense forests, this iconic park offers an unforgettable blend of adventure, wildlife encounters, and spectacular landscapes. Queen Elizabeth National Park is situated on the floor of the Albertine rift valley at the foot of the Rwenzori ranges that form mountains beyond park boundaries but also offers scenic beauty. The park is surrounded by the rift valley escarpments, Lake Edward and lake George. Queen Elizabeth National Park occupies an area of about 1987 square kilometers.
While in the Park some of the unmissable safari activities include game drive, birding, launch trips, chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura gorge, forest walks and others.
The range of safari activities in Queen Elizabeth National Park is attributed to its varied habitats including the 40 kilometers long Kazinga channel, acacia woodland, open Savannah, vast wet land, closed forest and others.
The Famous Tree-Climbing Lions of Ishasha
One of the most unique things to do in Queen Elizabeth National Park is visit the remote Ishasha sector, home to Africa’s famous tree-climbing lions. Unlike anywhere else, these lions are often found resting lazily in the branches of ancient fig trees, escaping the heat of the savannah below. Seeing these majestic cats draped across branches is a highlight for photographers and wildlife enthusiasts alike — a truly rare sight on any African safari.
Kazinga Channel Boat Cruise: Wildlife Up Close
The Kazinga Channel, a natural waterway linking Lake Edward and Lake George, is the park’s lifeblood, one of its top attractions and also the prime game viewing spot in Queen Elizabeth National Park as animals from across the plains in the park visit this spot to quench thirst and enjoy a bath to cool off the day’s heat. This 2 to 3 hours return trip on Kazinga channel starts from the Mweya peninsula to lake Edward.
From the launch you may spot on the shoreline a number of Nile crocodiles and multitudes hippos that call this channel home, a plethora of birds flock the channel daily including foreign migrants that fly from a far, herds of elephants, buffaloes, waterbucks, bushbucks and others are regular visitors here.
Game Drives: Classic African Safari Adventure
Queen Elizabeth National Park is a safe habitant to a number of wild animals some of which you may get chance to see during a game drive on the tracks of this park. By taking the Kasenyi grassland plains you may open better chance of finding prides of lions that prey on the Uganda kobs that are common residents of this area. The northern Kazinga channel area is one of the best game viewing spots in the park. During the game drives in Queen Elizabeth National Park some of the wild animals you may spot include, herds of elephants, buffaloes, waterbucks, bushbucks, hyenas, lions, leopards and others. A game drive in the southern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park may give you the opportunity to spot the tree climbing lions that love spending time in the large fig trees.
Visit the Edward flats in the southern part of Queen Elizabeth National Park may be that opportunity to see topis, during the hot seasons, you may find a number of animals wallowing in mud.
Bird Watching: A Paradise of Over 600 Species
More than 612 bird species have been identified as residents of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The chances of finding birds in this Park Range from easy water birds sightings while on the launch trip to those you may find in Maramagambo forest. Some of the birds in Queen Elizabeth National Park include saddle-billed stork, papyrus gonolek, African fish Eagles, shoebills, African skimmer, great blue Turaco, African fin foot, African eagles, Egyptian geese, greater and lesser flamingos and others. From the open plains to the forests of Maramagambo, every habitat adds to the park’s incredible avian diversity.
Crater Lakes and Scenic Landscapes
The park’s northern sector features stunning explosion crater lakes formed by ancient volcanic activity. The 27 kilometers long crater lakes drive winds through a scenic cluster of extinct volcanic craters. Some are dry craters while others are filled with water. Some of the outstanding craters of Queen Elizabeth National Park including lake Nyamunuka with a putrid smell of rotten eggs, blue copper lake close to Maramagambo forestland others. Sometimes flamingoes’ may be spotted around the craters adjacent to Kyambura Wildlife Reserve.
These deep blue lakes are surrounded by rolling green hills and offer panoramic views over the rift valley and beyond. Exploring this crater region is perfect for nature walks, photography, and quiet reflection.
Chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura gorge of Queen Elizabeth National Park
Kyambura Gorge is a result of the erosion of River Kyambura as it made its way towards Kazinga channel and this gorge is about 100 meters deep. The Chimpanze trekking in Kyambura gorge is quite strenuous where you have to hike in order to get to where these primates may be spending their day.
On the way, you may spot other primates that live in this forested area include olive baboons, vervet monkeys, grey cheeked mangabey, black and white colobus and others. A number of forest birds also find home in Kyambura Gorge forested area.
When is the best time to do a safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park?
The dry season is the best time to visit Queen Elizabeth National Park though the park is open all year. The vegetation of Queen Elizabeth National Park is lower in the dry season providing good visibility of the different wild animals and the park’s beauties.
The dry season as well is the high tourism season of Uganda that is June to October and December to February so more tourists normally visit the park. While on a game drive in this park, you get to meet other safari vehicles with tourists however the number are not overwhelmed to obstruct your visibility.
The wet season is not to be ignored when planning to do a Uganda safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park because it also has its highlights. The wet season which is normally March to May and November is not bad time to do a safari in the park as this may be the chance to witness a big number of infants as there is plenty of food to support the growing population. even the carnivore mothers find the wet season a comfortable season for giving birth since they can hide their infants in some of the covered locations.
