Boat cruise in Queen Elizabeth National Park
The boat cruise in Queen Elizabeth National Park takes place along the Kazinga Channel. The boat rides take place at different times of day, such as in the morning and in the evening and are a spectacular way to explore this national park.
During the boat cruises along the Kazinga Channel, tourists see a variety of wildlife species such as water bucks, sitatungas, hippos, buffalos, elephants and many bird species such as cormorants, herons, hammerkops, kingfishers, starlings and many others.
Boat rides on Kazinga Channel take about 2 hours as tourists enjoy viewing the beautiful scenery and other attractions around the national park.
Kazinga channel
Kazinga Channel is a wide channel located within Queen Elizabeth national park connecting Lake George and Lake Edward. This channel is described as a hippo paradise with Lake George in the eastern direction and Lake Edward in the western direction.
Lake Edward is a deep rift valley lake that is connected to the Kazinga Channel and is shared by Uganda and Congo. This lake is also called Lake Rutanzige and is found in the Albertine rift. Lake Edward was named after the prince of Wales. This lake also consists of oil deposits.
Another lake connected by the Kazinga Channel is Lake George, which is a shallow rift valley lake compared to Lake Edward. This lake also consists of islands such as Kankuranga, Iranqara and Akika. The channel was formed as a result of the separation of Lake George and Lake Edward by lava, leaving the channel as the evidence of the connection between the two lakes.
Attractions seen during boat rides
A variety of wildlife species can be seen during boat rides along the Kazinga Channel, which is known for the numerous hippos, which can be seen swimming in the channel and moving along the water shores. Other wildlife species that can be seen in the grassland thickets in the northern part of this channel include lions, Uganda kobs, buffaloes, elephants, antelopes, the Nile crocodile, waterbucks, leopards among others.
The Mweya peninsular is found in the northern part of Kazinga channel and it provides the best views of the surroundings of the channel, such as the Rwenzori Mountains. This peninsula is also a starting point for the famously carried-out boat cruises along the channel.
Activities that take place along the Kazinga Channel apart from the boat rides include fishing and the boats can be seen docked along the shores of the channel as well as a variety of bird species such as cormorants and saddlebills, yellow-billed storks, hammerkops, herons, martial eagles, African skimmers, white malachite kingfishers, and many other species.
About Queen Elizabeth national park
Queen Elizabeth National Park, where the Kazinga Channel is located in southwestern Uganda, has various ecosystems such as savannah plains and wetlands and is home to the tree-climbing lions, which can be seen in the Ishasha sector.
Other activities in Queen Elizabeth National Park apart from boat rides include game drives, lion tracking, bird watching, and chimpanzee tracking.
Attractions that can be seen in Queen Elizabeth National Park include tree-climbing lions, the Mweya Peninsula, the Lake Katwe explosion crater, the Lake Katwe salt works, Kyambura Gorge, Maramagambo Forest, the Kasenyi Plains, the Kyambura Forest Reserve, Kalinzu Forest, and Lake George.
How to get to Queen Elizabeth national park
Queen Elizabeth National Park can be accessed by both road and air means.
By road, Queen Elizabeth National Park can be accessed from the Kampala-Mbarara-Masaka route. The different attraction sites that can be seen along this route include Mpambire drum makers, the equator, Lake Mburo National Park, and tea plantations.
Queen Elizabeth National Park can also be accessed by road from the Kampala-Mityana-Fort Portal-Kasese route. Another option for road access to this national park is driving from Bwindi National Park to Queen Elizabeth National Park through the Ishasha sector.
Flights to Queen Elizabeth National Park can be made to airstrips in the national park such as Mweya airstrip and Kasese airstrip. Domestic and charter flights are available for tourists visiting the national park.
Visit Queen Elizabeth National Park and experience the amazing boat rides along the Kazinga Channel and enjoy the beautiful views of scenery, wildlife and bird species as well as other attractions in the national park.