Queen Elizabeth National Park Activities

Queen Elizabeth National Park Activities are the venture in which travelers can get engaged in when they visit the park for their Uganda wildlife safaris. Queen Elizabeth National park is the second largest national park located in the western part of Uganda. The park is known for its tree-climbing lions which are found in the Ishasha sector southern part of the park. Queen Elizabeth national park harbors various attractions including vegetation types, forests like Maramagambo Forest and Tropical rain forest in Kyambura Gorge, Crater lakes like Lake Katwe, 95 animal species including 4 of the big 5 African animals namely elephants, lions, leopards and buffaloes plus other animals such as warthogs, waterbucks, bushbucks, Uganda kobs, giant forest hog, hyenas among others. Queen Elizabeth national park is also a birding paradise with over 612 bird species including the Pink backed pelicans, White winged warbler, Papyrus canary, Papyrus gonolek among others and a home of primate species such as the chimpanzees, red tailed monkeys, baboons which are found in Kyambura Gorge. Queen Elizabeth national park is one of the most visited national parks in Uganda due to various activities that visitors can engage in to make the safari fascinating and memorable.

Game Drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Activities carried out

Game drive: This is the most done activity in the park where you drive around the park in a comfortable open roof vehicle for clear viewing of various wildlife species. Game drive in Queen Elizabeth National park is best done early in the morning where you will be able to spot various animal species. The game drives are commonly done in Kasenyi plains because it’s a home of many animals such as the elephants, buffaloes, leopards, warthogs, waterbucks, bushbucks, Uganda kobs among others. Game drives can also be done around Mweya peninsular where you will be able to view the banded mongoose and in the southern part of the park Ishasha where you will be able to view the tree climbing lions relaxing on the fig tree branches looking down on the antelopes as they graze in the savannah grassland. During the game drive, you will also be able to view some bird species including purple heron, Abyssinian ground hornbill, African jacana, black-bellied bustard, crowned plover, western yellow wagtail among others hence making your safari in Uganda memorable.
Night game drive: Night game drive is an activity where visitors drive within the park in safari vehicles with spotlight torches to spot nocturnal animals. Queen Elizabeth national park is one of the national parks that offer nocturnal game drive. The night game drive in Queen Elizabeth national park starts after dinner with a park guide who will help you spot the nocturnal animals with the use of strong spotlight torches for clear viewing of the animals. Night game drive is only done at Mweya peninsular and Katunguru main gate and not allowed in Kasenyi plains because the Kasenyi plains receive a lot of people during the day game drive, therefore, the night game drive is prohibited so as not to stress the animals. During the night game drive in queen Elizabeth national park you will be able to view hippos grazing, buffaloes lying down, elephant antelopes, bushbucks, waterbucks and nocturnal animals such as Lions, Leopards, Civet, Genal cats, Serval cats among others.
Lion Tracking Research Experience: This is a unique activity that is done together with a team of researchers to track lions with tracking devices attached to their necks with a locator device. Lion tracking research experience in Queen Elizabeth national park can be carried out twice a day that is either in the morning or in the evening. Visitors interested in lion tracking experience should book in advance via the Visitor Information Centre at Mweya peninsular. Lion tracking experience in Queen Elizabeth national park takes about 3 hours and visitors will get an opportunity to view the lions and also be able to learn about their habitat, behaviors among others. Lion tracking experience in Queen Elizabeth national park allows a limited number of visitors so as not to stress the animals and it’s a must-do activity because it provides you with great experiences while on a safari in Uganda.
Bird watching: Queen Elizabeth national park is known as a birders paradise in that it harbors over 612 bird species which can be found in various areas in the park such as the Kasenyi plains, Maramagambo forest, Mweya peninsular, around Lake Katwe salt lake, Kazinga Channel during the boat cruise among others. Bird watching in Queen Elizabeth national park is best done early in the morning especially during the wet season in the months of March to May and September to November because during this time the birds are nesting and breeding, therefore, you will get an opportunity to view different bird species and also the migratory birds like the flamingos. During bird watching in Queen Elizabeth national park, you will be able to view various bird species including Papyrus gonolek, Black bee-eaters, Martial eagle, Pink-backed pelican, White-winged Warbler, Papyrus canary, White-backed vulture, African skimmer, Wattled plover, Black-bellied bustard, Chapin’s flycatcher among others.
Boat cruise on Kazinga Channel: Boat cruise is an interesting activity in Queen Elizabeth national park that is carried out on Kazinga Channel a water body that joins Lake Edward and Lake George. Boat cruise in Queen Elizabeth national park is carried out twice in a day that is in the morning and in the afternoon and the best time you can go for a boat cruise is in the afternoon at 2 pm. During your boat cruise on Kazinga Channel, you will be able to view various animals such as large herds of Hippos because Kazinga Channel is known for harboring the highest number of Hippos in the whole world. You will also view Elephants, Antelopes, Monitor lizards, Nile crocodiles among others on the shores of the channel and different bird species such as long-tailed cormorants, pink backed pelican, yellow billed stork, open billed stork, African skimmer, king fishers, falcons, saddle bill stork, black crake, African shoebill stork among others. Boat cruise on Kazinga Channel takes about 2 hours and is an interesting and exciting activity in that you will get an opportunity to view various plant species, vegetation types, bird species and also cruise near the animals on the water banks.

Queen Elizabeth National Park Activities — Some of the species you will see along the Kazinga Channel Boat Cruise include pools of Hippos & Buffaloes along the banks of the river.

Chimpanzee Trekking in Queen Elizabeth National Park: Chimpanzee trekking is another interesting activity that is mostly done in Uganda after gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Chimpanzee trekking in an activity where visitors move into the forests in search of the habituated chimpanzee families and once found spend one hour with them in their natural habitat. Chimpanzee trekking in Queen Elizabeth national park is carried out in Kyambura gorge also known as the Valley of Apes. Chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura Gorge is best done in the morning where you start with a briefing at the headquarters, grouped into 6 people to trek each chimpanzee family and then allocated a guide who will show you the trails to follow, provide you with information about the chimpanzees and also answer your questions related to chimpanzees. During chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura Gorge, you will also be able to view other primates such as red tailed monkeys, baboons, black and white colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys and different bird species such as white napped pigeons, blue-headed bee-eater, flycatchers, falcons among others.
Mongoose Tracking: This is an exceptional activity in Queen Elizabeth national park which gives visitors an opportunity to view the banded Mongoose. Banded Mongoose tracking in queen national park is carried out around Mweya peninsular which harbors over 400 Mongoose living in 12 social groups. Mongoose tracking is done using locator devices just like lion tracking, takes about 1 to 4 hours and allows a maximum of 4 visitors so as not to stress the Mongoose and will be accompanied by researchers. There are 10 species of Mongoose in Queen Elizabeth national park and during Mongoose tracking in Queen Elizabeth national park, you will be able to gain mongoose knowledge of habituation calls, learn about their behaviors and surrounding, monitor the weather in the environment, register their weight among others hence gaining a lot of experience when on a safari in Queen Elizabeth national park.
Nature walks in Queen Elizabeth National Park: This is an adventurous activity that gives visitors an opportunity to move around the park on foot with an armed park ranger. Nature walks in Queen Elizabeth national park are commonly done in Kyambura Gorge where they will be able to view habituated chimpanzee families, other primates like vervet and red tailed monkeys, bird species among others. Nature walk is also done in Maramagambo forest which offers three different trails with different experiences such as the straight walk trail which leads you to the shores of Lake Kyasanduka, famous walk trail which leads you to cave with views of the bats and birds and the last trail is the walking trail to lake Nyamasingiri which is a great destination for birders. Nature walks in Queen Elizabeth national park can also be done around Mweya peninsular where you will be able to have great scenic views of the savannah landscapes, Kazinga Channel, Banded Mongoose, some animal species such as warthogs, elephants among others. Ishasha River is another best destination for nature walks in Queen Elizabeth national park in that you will be able to view large herds of hippos and various bird species.

Queen Elizabeth National Park offers you a wide range of interesting and adventurous activities where you will be able to explore the part with great views of unique animals like the tree-climbing lions, the big 4 mammals, chimpanzees hence giving you unforgettable experiences on your Uganda Safaris tours.