Attractions in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Attractions in Queen Elizabeth National Park are some of the key features that travelers come to this park to view and enjoy as they explore the wilderness. Queen Elizabeth national park is located in western Uganda in Kasese, Kamwenge, Rukungiri and Rubirizi districts. Queen Elizabeth national park is the 2nd largest national park in Uganda after Murchison Falls national park and it is one of the most popular destinations in Uganda. It was gazette in 1952 and was initially known as Kazinga national park but later in 1954 it was named Queen Elizabeth national park after the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth 11 visited the park. Queen Elizabeth national park is situated in the rift valley between Lake George and Lake Edward and covers a total land area of 1954 square kilometers. Queen Elizabeth national park is dominated with savannah vegetation and habitat of various wildlife species including animals like 4 of the Big 5 African mammals, primates, birds and the famous tree-climbing lions which are found in Ishasha sector southern part of Queen Elizabeth national park.

Attractions in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth national park has a wide range of fascinating attractions which can been seen on your safari in the park namely:

Big game: Queen Elizabeth national park is a home of about 95 mammal species including the big 4 out of the big 5 mammals namely Elephants, Leopards, Lions, and the Buffaloes. The park is a habitat of other animal species namely Waterbucks, Bushbucks, Warthogs, Oribi, Topi, Hippos, Crocodiles, Uganda kobs, Mongoose, Giant forest hog among others. These animals can be seen during the game drive in Kasenyi plains, Mweya peninsular or during the boat cruise along the Kazinga channel.
Big cats: Among the most sought attractions in Queen Elizabeth national park, are the Big cats. Queen Elizabeth national park harbors the big cat animals such as the Leopards, Lions and the tree climbing lions which are only found in the Ishasha sector in the southern part. There are other cats in the park including Civet, Genal and Serval cats which are commonly seen during the nocturnal game drive in Mweya peninsular.
Primates: Queen Elizabeth national park is one of the destinations that harbors primate species including the Chimpanzees, Black and White colobus monkeys, Baboons, Vervet monkeys, Red tailed monkeys, L’hoest monkeys, Blue monkeys, Pottos, Bushbaby among others. These primates are found in Kyambura gorge which is also known as the valley of Apes and Maramagambo forest.
Birds: Queen Elizabeth national park is a home of over 620 bird species where some are endemic and others migratory, the bird species in the park include Long-tailed cormorant, African jacana, African green pigeon, Black-headed batis, Dark capped yellow warbler, Black bee-eater, African Emerald Cuckoo, Purple headed starling, Speckled tinker bird, Yellow-backed weaver, Pied kingfisher, Open billed stork, Wattled plover among others. Queen Elizabeth national park is a birders paradise and bird watching can be carried out in Maramagambo forest, Kyambura forest, Mweya peninsular, Kasenyi plains and along the Kazinga channel.

Activities in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Game drive: Queen Elizabeth national park is a home of various animals and bird species that are best viewed during the game drive in the park. It offers 2 game drives that is the early morning and the afternoon game drive which is carried out in Kasenyi plains, Mweya peninsular and Ishasha sector. During the game drive in Queen Elizabeth national park you will be able to spot various attractions in Queen Elizabeth National Park like animals such as the Elephants, Buffaloes, Uganda kobs, Waterbucks, Bushbucks, Oribi, Topi, Warthogs, Giant forest hogs, Leopards, Lions and Tree climbing lions which will be viewed relaxing up in the fig tree in Ishasha sector looking down on the antelopes grazing. During the game drives you will also be able to view different bird species the black-bellied bustard, brown-backed scrub robin, long-crested eagle, red throat spurfowl, grey crowned crane, white-backed vulture, palm but vulture, grey-backed fiscal among others.
Night game drive, Queen Elizabeth national park is among the destinations in Uganda that offer night game drives where visitors will move in vehicles with an armed ranger guide and spotlights for clear viewing of the animals. Nocturnal game drives in Queen Elizabeth national park are carried out in Mweya peninsular and you will be able to view nocturnal animals such as Genal, Civet, Lions, Leopards, Hyenas, Serval cats and some animals which u will have missed during the morning game drive.
Boat cruise: Boat cruise in Queen Elizabeth national park is carried out at Kazinga channel a water body that joins Lake Edward and Lake George. The boat cruise at Kazinga channel takes about 2 hours and starts near Mweya peninsular and is scheduled for the morning and afternoon ride. The afternoon is the best boat ride in Queen Elizabeth national park in that you will be able to cruise near the amazing attractions like animals such as the Elephants, Buffaloes, Waterbucks, Uganda kobs, Bushbucks, Crocodiles, Monitor lizards which will be seen along the water banks and big numbers of Hippos in water because Kazinga channel harbors large numbers of hippos in Africa. During the boat cruise you will also be able to view different bird species such as the African shoebill, Black crake, African skimmer, Pink-backed pelican, Yellow-billed stork, Malachite kingfisher, Long-tailed cormorant, Pied kingfisher, Martial eagle, African jacana, Yellow-backed weaver, Black bee-eater, Papyrus gonolek, Fish eagle among others. You will also view the fishing grounds on the banks with fishermen preparing their nets for night fishing.
Lion Research Tracking: This is an interesting activity in Queen Elizabeth national park where visitors track lions with tracking devices in Kasenyi plains. Lion tracking can either be done in the morning or in the afternoon during the game drive, lion tracking experience in Queen Elizabeth national park gives you an opportunity to view the lions at a close range and also spend time with them as you learn about their habits, behaviors, how they feed among others. You will also be able to view other animals like Elephants, Buffaloes, Uganda kobs, Waterbucks among others.
Mongoose tracking: Mongoose tracking is another unique activity that is carried out at Mweya peninsular with the guides and visitors as they track the banded mongoose. Mongoose tracking allows visitors and guides to move on foot using the locaters to track the banded mongoose which gives them an opportunity to learn about their behaviors, habits, feeding, weather, Environment among others. Mongoose tracking in Queen Elizabeth national park takes about 2 to 3 hours and will give you an exceptional experience on your safari in Uganda.
Bird watching: Queen Elizabeth national park is the best birding destination in Uganda in that it harbors over 620 bird species hence one of the top birding destinations in Africa, some of the bird species are migratory while others are endemic to only Queen Elizabeth national park. Birds are some of the most interesting attractions in Queen since they exist in plenty. Bird watching in Queen Elizabeth national park is best done in the morning is birding destinations such as Maramagambo forest, Kyambura Gorge, Kasenyi plains, Mweya peninsular, Ishasha sector, Kazinga Channel among others. During bird watching in Queen Elizabeth national park you will be able to view different bird species such as White-faced whistling, Squacco heron, Open billed stork, Pied kingfisher, Black crake, Wattled Plover, Black bee-eater, Papyrus Gonolek, Grey-headed kingfisher, Papyrus canary, Thin tailed nightjars, Grey Woodpecker, Hairy breasted barbet, Purple headed starling, African Emerald Cuckoo, African skimmer, swamp fly-catcher, Verreaux’s eagle owl, Spur-winged plover, White-faced whistling among others. Bird watching in Queen Elizabeth national park will give you a great experience that will give you unforgettable memories on your safari in Uganda.
Chimpanzee trekking: Chimpanzee trekking is the most popular activity in Uganda after gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and Mgahinga gorilla national park. Chimpanzee trekking is an interesting activity where visitors into the forest in search of the habituated gorilla families. Chimpanzee trekking in Queen Elizabeth national park can either be done in the morning or in the afternoon and its carried out in Kyambura Gorge which is also known as the valley of Apes. Chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura gorge will give you great experiences as you spend one hour with the chimpanzees in their natural habitat, you will also be able to view other primates such as Vervet monkeys, Black and white monkeys, Red tailed monkeys and different bird species including African fish eagle, African kingfisher, blue-headed bee-eater, falcons, herons among others hence having lifetime memories on your safari in Uganda.
Nature walk/ Hiking: Nature walk is an exciting and interesting activity where visitors move on foot to explore Queen Elizabeth national park as you enjoy the cool air and biodiversity. Hiking in Queen Elizabeth national park is carried out in different areas namely Maramagambo forest where you will be able to view different bird species, primates, bat caves and some animals species like antelopes, giant forest hogs, bush pigs, elephants among others, Kyambura gorge where you will be able to view different bird species, primates, Mweya peninsular where you will have great views of Kazinga channel, animals like Leopards, Mongoose, Elephants, Buffaloes, Waterbucks, Warthogs, Giant forest hogs among others.
Lake Katwe salt lake: Lake Katwe is a salt lake where rock salt is extracted by the local people in the community. Salt mining on Lake Katwe is done by use of Ambutch trees which are used to float on the lake and also to transport the mined salt to the landing site where it will be sold from. There are three extracted salt types in Lake Katwe namely the edible salt, unwashed slat and the crude salt which is leaked by animals. During your visit to Lake Katwe, you will be able to interact with the salt miners as you learn about their experience in extracting rock salt and how salt is extracted from the lake.

When to visit Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth national park can be visited anytime throughout the year though its best visited during the dry season in the months of June, July, August, December, January and February. During the dry season the park receives less rainfall therefore many activities such as chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura gorge, nature walks, boat cruise will be successful because during chimpanzee trekking and nature walks the trails will be passable and during the boat cruise large herds of mammals will gather near the water body to drink water which gives you an opportunity to view many animal species during the boat cruise on Kazinga channel.

Queen Elizabeth national park can as well be visited during the rainy season in the months of March to May and September to November because all the park activities will still proceed regardless of the rain and the rainy season is good for bird watching in that there will be plenty of food and fruits which attract many birds some migratory like flamingos.

How to get to Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth national park is located is western Uganda and can be reached by either road or air transport means.

Road transport: When traveling to Queen Elizabeth national park you will drive from Kampala City via Masaka, Mbarara, Bushenyi, Kasese and then to the park which takes about 6 to 7 hours’ drive or via Kampala Mubende, fort portal, Kasese route. There are also public means of transport where you will board a bus from Kampala via Mubende, Fort Portal to Kasese and then hire a private vehicle to the park headquarters.
Air transport: Queen Elizabeth national park can be accessed by air transport whereby you will book domestic flights such as Aero link airline from Entebbe airport or Kajjansi airfield to Kasese airstrip or Mweya airstrip which is situated inside the park which takes about 2 hours.

There are several packages like 3 days Queen Elizabeth national park safari, 4 days Queen Elizabeth and chimpanzee trekking which you can book so as to help you to explore the park which is famously known for tree-climbing lions with top activities like Boat cruise on Kazinga channel, Bird watching, Chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura Gorge among others hence making your safari in Uganda rewarding and unforgettable.