Queen Elizabeth National Park

ACTIVITIES IN QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK

Queen Elizabeth national park stands as the prime wildlife protection center/ protected area in the western region of Uganda and still out stands as the best tourist destination for the visitors that visit the pearl of Africa (Uganda). The fact that it is near to bwindi national park/ bwindi impenetrable forest, visitors that visit bwindi for gorilla trekking find it interesting and easy to visit queen Elizabeth national park and enjoy the spectacular range of activities tailored just for visitors; game drives, kazinga boat cruise, lion tracking research, chimpanzee tracking in kyambura gorge, mongoose tracking on mweya peninsular, plus a lot of fantastic accommodation facilities that will relax you and give you a true African experience.

Queen Elizabeth national park is about 1978km² large with a unique selection of wildlife; the terrain is naturally endowed with eye catching undulating hills plus the view of the neighboring mountains of the moon- mountain rwenzori. The medley of all these features make Queen Elizabeth national park stunning and irresistible for the visitors that book any African safari to east Africa.

VISITOR ACTIVITIES

There is quite a lot of interesting activities that you can engage in when you visit Queen Elizabeth national park, plus, the cultural encounters will enlighten your understanding of the diversity of African culture.

KAZINGA BOAT CRUISE

Kazinga Boat Cruise / Launch cruise is some activity where you can have at most all the wildlife of Queen Elizabeth national park at a glimpse. A boat cruise along a 40km long Kazinga Channel is an awesome experience where you will learn a lot about African wildlife like the African elephants, the cape buffaloes, hippos, and crocodiles plus a variety of bird species. The boat cruise is conducted twice a day (three times on a high pick season day). You can either book the morning cruise that starts at 11am lasts for 2hrs to 1pm in the afternoon. And, the evening shift starts at 3pm in the afternoon and ends at 5pm in the evening. The bookings are done at mweya offices and you can book a shift according to your preference.

GAME DRIVES

The marvelous game drives are also something else you can engage in when u visit Queen Elizabeth national park. The best season for the game drive in Queen Elizabeth national park is the dry season between the months of June to September and January to February; during the dry season the tracks are dry, the grass is short, these reasons make game viewing clearer and better. On the game drive you will get the chance to see the tree climbing lions of ishasha, plus a do some lion tracking research in the kasenyi plains. You can see a lot of buffalo herds, the beautiful Uganda kobs, elephants, hippos (in the morning) and warthogs among the rest.

CHIMPANZEE TRACKING

Chimpanzee tracking is yet another interesting activity done in kyambura gorge of Queen Elizabeth national park.  The presence of these funny primates has baptized kyambura gorge new names like; the valley of apes and the valley of comedy among others. Kyambura gorge is indeed gorgeous; it is a strip of a rain forest cutting across a vast Savannah dominated area. The chimpanzees in kyambura gorge swing on trees, and they also walk on land too. They are adopt to the environment in kyambura gorge due the presence of the rain forest, plus the gorge is drained by kyambura river making it a world on its own.

BIRDING

Birding in Queen Elizabeth national park is at its best. Queen Elizabeth national park has over 619 species of birds and some also recognized internationally; Queen Elizabeth national park is recognize by the international birding association (IBA). The adaptability of the birds comes from the presence of a wide range of habitats from the Savannah woodland, the forests like, maramagambo, and kalinzu near Queen Elizabeth national park and wetlands. Most of the birds can be viewed along kazinga boat cruise; birds like, the comorants, the kingfishers the black Bee eaters, the fly catchers, and the majestic African fish eagle among the rest.

LION TRACKING

Lion tracking research is another interesting activity that is loved by many visitors. It involves tracking the lions with the radiator collar in kasenyi plains. It is a real research and conducted by professional researchers from the Uganda carnivore program (UCP). Lion tracking is mainly done in kasenyi plains and you can learn a lot about the African lions and also get a closer look at the king of the jungle himself, lucky, you might stop lions hunting a kob for the day’s meal. The lion tracking activity is done by a limited number of people to avoid interference with the natural balance of the wilderness,  allow deeper learning of the lion habits, and ,most of all is to give you a fabulous lion tracking experience.

CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS

Cultural encounters are a free scroll to the African culture. During this activity you will enjoy the local folklore from the elders of the communities in Queen Elizabeth national park. you can enjoy the kikongoro cultural dancers at the equator; kikongoro is a group of women who are deep rooted into African culture, they entertain visitors at the equator plus they make a lot of African crafts that you will love to take home as souvenirs from the wild Africa. The fishing villages along kazinga channel. And Lake George like businga village should be your choice if at all you are going to get involved in a community walk. You will enjiy a lot from businga community like fishing, boat racing, sport fishing, plus you can enjoy a fresh fish snack straight from the water among others.

HIKING AND NATURE WALKS

Hiking and nature walks are irresistible around the crater lakes in Queen Elizabeth national park. For example katwe crater drive of about 27km long will expose you to wide range of interesting things; the undulating hills, vast plains of savannah, view of the famous rwenzori mountains. Katwe crater salt works is yet another feature you should add on your queen Elizabeth itinerary. From katwe salt lake you will enjoy the whole process of salt mining, and the narrative about how these poor miners sacrifice to go and extract salt from the acidic lake, will catch your interest.

Hiking can also be done in maramagambo forest, kalinzu forest reserve and in kyambura gorge. There is a lot you can enjoy when you engage in these interesting hiking packages of queen Elizabeth national park; butterfly watching in kyambura gorge, scenic viewing during the crater hikes, you will learn a lot about trees in kalinzu forest among others. Maramagambo forest will give you a chance to see millions of bats hanging inside the caves. The bat cave was formerly closed after the Marburg incident, however a viewing shelter was created to avoid direst encounter with the caves.

Where to reside is never a worry in queen Elizabeth national park, the park is stained with a lot of accommodation facilities ranging from luxury to the most affordable ones and all accessible with standard services; ishasha safari camp, kasenyi safari lodge, jacana lodge, mweya safari lodge, mweya hostels, elephant lodge among the rest.

Queen Elizabeth national park is just a lot to do, but it is always interesting, you can never get enough when you visit queen Elizabeth national park and after your experience, you will confirm the fact that queen elizabeth national park east Africa’s best when it comes to biodiversity.