Night Game drive in Uganda
Night game drives are one of the exciting and memorable activities to do while on a Uganda safari. We highly recommend this activity for visitors who are adventurous because most of cat family animals like the lions, leopards and hyenas hunt in the night. Uganda has 10 national parks and about three of these national parks offer night game drive safaris. Some of the best national parks to go for night game drive include; Murchison Falls national park, Queen Elizabeth national park, and Lake Mburo national park.
In Murchison falls National Park, night game drives take place in the northern bank of River Nile in the open savannah stretches. This area has the best views for the cat animals and nocturnal which normally hunt in the late evenings and also has great views of the moonlight. Murchison falls national park is one of the richest parks with wildlife safaris with more than 76 mammal species including lions, leopards, hyena, elephants, buffaloes, warthogs, Rothschild Giraffes, crocodiles, hippos, and antelopes like the Kobs, Oribi, waterbucks, bushbucks, Jackson hartebeest and many more animals. Some of the nocturnal animals that can be seen at dawn include; the Civets, bush babies, night jars, genets, porcupine, and numerous reptiles to mention a few. Night game drives usually start at 8 pm in the evening and can last for about 2 to 3 hours depending on the availability of the animals. Murchison falls national park is the largest national park in Uganda with a variety of animals that increases visitors’ chances of staying and seeing a good number of the nocturnal animals given numerous trials available for game drives.
In Queen Elizabeth national park, night game drives only take place in the Mweya Peninsular between the Kazinga channel and Lake Edward. This is so to minimise the stress on the animals since they flock Kasenyi sector during the day game drive. Thereafter, the best area for day time game drives is the Kasenyi area. The Ishasha sector also is good for night game drive given its nature of the landscape. Queen Elizabeth national park takes on to be the second largest national park and given its location, it has supported the existence of wildlife in the area given its bumpy grass cover with dense vegetation and thorny bushes that have a number of trails. Some of the nocturnal animals found in the Mweya peninsular include the side-stripped Jackal, white tailed mongoose, bush pigs just to mention a few. This area is also the best place to spot the leopards.
Lake Mburo national park is said to be the best destination for night game drives in Uganda because of its several and severally spotted nocturnal in the park. Night game drives happen in the park’s savannah stretches traversing the acacia woodland. While here visitors enjoy a wide range of nocturnal animals including the white-tailed mongoose, bush pigs, thick tailed Galogo, Hyena, jenet cat, Aarduack, side-stripped jackal, honey badger just to mention a few. Lake Mburo national park is the smallest national park however has the richest wildlife safari experiences. The park has less cat animals whereby the lions and leopards are rarely spotted while on a game drive. However, during night game drives, these cats are occasionally seen. Commonly seen animals in Lake Mburo national park include the Impala which are only found this park, the Zebras, waterbucks, they Uganda Kobs, Oribi and buffaloes. The giraffes were recently introduced in the park.
Night game drives can only be done in Uganda Wildlife Authority vehicle provided by the park or done in your tour company vehicle with your safari guide. However, it is a must requirement for anyone interested in a night game drive to take along an armed park ranger guide, have a spot light touch to enable you have clear views of the nocturnal in the night. Charges for a night game drive in any of the Uganda wildlife destination is 100$ inclusive fees for an armed ranger guide. Night game drives take places between 8 pm to 10 pm.
We best recommend that if you are doing a night game drive, have your accommodation booked inside the park. In Murchison falls national park, the best lodges to book must be located in the northern bank of the River and these include Paraa Safari lodge and Pakuba Safari lodge. In Queen Elizabeth national park, there are quite a number of lodges to stay including Mweya Safari lodge, Katara lodge, Parkview Safari lodge, just to mention a few. In Lake Mburo national park, lodges include; Mihingo lodge, Arcadia Lake Mburo lodge, Eagles’ Nest lodge, just to mention a few.
