Activities in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Activities in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Activities in Queen Elizabeth National Park ; Queen Elizabeth National Park is the second largest and one of the most visited national parks in Uganda, located in the southwestern region in Kasese, Kamwenge, Rubirizi and Rukungiri districts.

Queen Elizabeth National Park is a habitat of various wildlife, including 95 animals such as elephants, leopards, buffaloes, hippos, waterbucks, bushbucks, Uganda kobs, warthogs, giant forest hogs, crocodiles, and tree-climbing lions in the Ishasha sector; primates like chimpanzees, baboons, red-tailed monkeys, and black-and-white colobus monkeys; and over 600 bird species such as pied kingfishers, African fish eagles, squacco herons, open-billed storks, and wattled plovers, among others.

Boat cruise

Boat cruise trips in Queen Elizabeth National Park are carried out on Kazinga Channel, a 40 km long water channel that connects Lake Edward and Lake George. A boat cruise in Queen Elizabeth National Park is conducted by the Uganda Wildlife Authority and Mweya safari lodge and they are done in two sessions: the morning session, which starts at 9:00am and the afternoon session, which starts at 2:00pm at the landing site near Mweya Safari Lodge.

During the boat cruise at Kazinga Channel, you will be able to cruise meters away from animals such as elephants, buffaloes, warthogs, and antelopes, which will be seen along the water banks drinking water, and large herds of hippos and crocodiles in the water, among others.

The Kazinga Channel is also known as one of the best birding destinations in that it’s a habitat of various bird species such as long-tailed cormorant, open-billed stork, black crake, pied kingfisher, pink-backed pelican, yellow-billed stork, African jacana, African skimmer, swamp flycatcher, red-capped lark, grey-capped lark, slender-tailed nightjar, and African mourning dove, among others.

You will also be able to view local fishing villages around Kazinga Channel, where the fishermen will be laying their fishing gear for the night to catch fish when the hippos are grazing on land.

Cost of boat cruise in Queen Elizabeth National Park

There are two scheduled sessions of boat cruise trips in the park the morning and the afternoon, though most visitors go for the afternoon session because it’s more rewarding and they usually do a game drive around Kasenyi Plains in the morning. The boat cruise at Kazinga Channel costs $30 for foreign nonresidents and foreign residents and UGX 30,000 for East African citizens and lasts for 2 hours.

When to go for a boat cruise safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Boat cruises in the park can be done anytime throughout the year, though the best periods are during the dry season in the months of June to September and December to February. During this time there is less rainfall; therefore, Kazinga Channel becomes an oasis for the animals, as they gather around to cool off their bodies and to drink water, which gives you an opportunity to view animals at a close range and take plenty of pictures of the animals like elephants, waterbucks, lions, buffaloes, and warthogs, among others.

Game drive: This is one of the popular and most done activities in the park. The game drive can either be done in the morning or afternoon in the Kasenyi plains or Ishasha sector or at night in the Mweya peninsula. During the game drive, you can look out for animals like waterbucks, tree-climbing lions, leopards, giant forest hogs, buffaloes, elephants, Uganda kobs, bushbucks, warthogs, and birds like African white-backed vultures, martial eagles, black-bellied bustards, palm-nut vultures, crowned plovers, black-headed gonoleks, and grey-capped warblers, among others.

Lion tracking experience: this is one of the interesting activities in the park where visitors get an opportunity to track lions with radio collars. During lion research tracking, you will get close to the lions and spend more time with them, learning about their behaviors, habits among others.

Birding in Queen Elizabeth National Park is a home of over 600 bird species, which makes it a birding paradise in Uganda. Birding in the park can be done in different areas such as Kasenyi Plains, Ishasha Sector, Mweya Peninsular, Kazinga Channel, Maramagambo Forest, and Katwe area among others and you will be able to view birds like wattled plover, open-billed stork, pied kingfisher, long-tailed cormorant, spur-winged plover, pink-backed pelican, African fish eagle, and yellow-backed weaver among others.

Chimpanzee trekking is an interesting and second-best activity done in Uganda after gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Chimpanzee trekking in the park is carried out in Kyambura Gorge, which is also known as the valley of apes. Kyambura Gorge is located in the eastern part of Queen Elizabeth National Park and is a habitat of primates like chimpanzees, monkeys, baboons, and birds, among others.

Chimpanzee trekking is done in two sessions the morning and the afternoon session and takes about 2 to 4 hours trekking in the jungle or even more depending on the location of the chimpanzees because they like to move deep into the forest in search of food. Once the chimpanzee family has been found, visitors will spend one hour in their presence, taking pictures, learning more about their behaviors, habits among others.

Nature walk: This is an adventurous activity where visitors explore the park on foot while feeling a cool breeze with great scenic views of birds, animals among others. A nature walk in Queen Elizabeth National Park can be done in Maramagambo Forest, where you will view primates like chimpanzees, black and white monkeys, L’hoest monkeys, and red-tailed monkeys; on the Mweya Peninsula, where you will view the Kazinga Channel; and along the Ishasha River.

How to get to Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth national park is located in southwestern Uganda and can be accessed by both road and air transport means

Road transport: When using road transport to the park, there are two routes you can use. For example, the route where you will drive from Kampala via Masaka, Mbarara, and Bushenyi and then to the park and the route from Kampala via Mubende, Fort Portal, and Kasese and then to the park headquarters takes about a 6- to 7-hour drive.

The park can also be accessed from Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in southwestern Uganda, where you will drive via the Ishasha sector in the southern part of Queen Elizabeth National Park and view the famous tree-climbing lions. You can also use public means of transport to the park by boarding a bus from Kampala to Kasese and then hiring a private taxi to the park.

Air transport: There are domestic airlines like Aerolink Uganda Limited and Eagle Air, which operate scheduled and charter flights from Entebbe Airport or Kajansi Airfield to Mweya Airstrip or Kasese airstrip and the flight takes about one hour.

A boat cruise in Queen Elizabeth National Park is a must-do activity in that it offers breathtaking views of animal species, vegetation types, and bird species, and it can also be combined with other activities like a game drive in the Kasenyi plains, a nature walk, mongoose tracking, lion research tracking, birding, and chimpanzee trekking, among others, which make your safari interesting and unforgettable.