The park has a variety of Flora and Fauna and it’s acknowledged to be a habitat for over 95 mammal species with about 612 species of birds. The various species in this park have made it a unique park most liked by tourists. It has five levels of vegetation namely Bushy grassland, Acacia woodland, Swamp vegetation along with Forest grassland. The grasslands of the park inhabit wildlife such as Cape buffalo, Uganda kob, waterbuck, warthog, lion, leopard, hyena, giant forest hog as well as Elephants. Topis can only be discovered in Ishasha and Forest primates are found in Kyambura gorge in addition to Maramagambo forest.
East Africa has some protected areas; therefore the park’s remarkable bird list exceeds that of the neighboring Virunga National Park. Among these include African skimmer, Chapins flycatcher, Pink-backed pelicans, Papyrus canary, Shoebill stork, martial eagle, black-rumped buttonquail as well as the great flamingos. The peninsula is the heart of sightseeing activities with excellent accommodation in the park. The only way to enjoy your tour in this park is by touring with a ranger guide. The guide helps you to explore the park as well as the distant parts of the peninsula. Mweya information center organizes all the activities that tourists may want to get involved in. Kazinga channel.
Location: Kasese, Kamwenge, Bushenyi and Rukungiri Districts
Animals: Hippopotamuses, Elephants, Leopards, Lions & Chimpanzees
Activities: Game Viewing, Boat Rides, Guide walks, Birding
Distance from Kampala: 420km
Entrance: East African Citizens: Ush10,000(Adults), Ush5,000(Children). Foreign Residents in E.Africa US$25(Adults), US$10(children). Foreign non-residents US$35(Adults), US$20(Children). School children in groups Ush2,500(E.Africa Residents) Entrance permit is valid for 24 hours from time of entrance
The park is named after Queen Elizabeth II and was established in 1954. It occupies an estimated 1978 km².
This is a wonderful national park, sometimes dubbed ‘the Pearl of Africa or Switzerland of Africa’. Quite simply this fertile equatorial area is especially scenic, with two lakes; George in the northeast to Lake Edward in the southwest connected by the Kazinga Channel, a channel that is overlooked by a high peninsula. You will also find volcanic craters, grassy plains and tropical forest. As a result it has one of the highest biodiversity ratings in the world.
Location
The national park is located in western Uganda, spanning the districts of Kasese, Kamwenge, Bushenyi and Rukungiri. Its location is approximately 420 kilometres, by road, southwest of Kampala, Uganda’s capital and largest city. The town of Kasese lies just outside the northeastern edge of the park, while the town of Bushenyi, is situated just outside the park’s southeastern boundaries. The coordinates of the park are:00 12S, 30 00E (Latitude:0.2000; Longitude:30.0000).
Queen Elizabeth Specialties
- Sunset over the water
- Warthogs and hippos mowing the lawn at Mweya Lodge
- Boat ride on the Kasinga Channel
- Tree climbing lions
- Chimpanzees in Kyambura (Chambura) Gorge
- Beautifully positioned safari lodges
Services
Services in the park include a telecenter run by Conservation Through Public Heath and the Uganda Wildlife Authority, neighboring The Queen’s Pavilion, park lodges, game drives and scenic drives, and boat launches.
Safaris in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Take Free Help from our Experts in Planning your tour to Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. Tour operators can arrange travel for day trips, safaris, and complete itineraries. Contact us for more details on QENP tours.
Attractions and activities
Uganda is a well-known tourist destination and it has a diversity of bird species most of which are not easily found in any other part of the African continent. It’s some of these bird species that have actually made Queen Elizabeth National park a charming destination for visitors that love bird watching. Among the common species to look out for are the aquatic birds like White-faced Whistling, Spur- winged Plovers, White backed Pelicans, African jacana, Yellow backed Weavers, the Malachite, African skimmers, Martial Eagles, African spoonbills, papyrus Gonolek and the shoebill stork. The best time to spot these birds is early morning or late evenings.
The park has a variety of flora and fauna and it is acknowledged to be a habitat for over 95 mammal species with over 612 species of birds. More so the shores of the lake attract a large concentration of mammals, birds as well as reptiles all year around. Animals can be viewed well by the Nile cruise or probably at the entrance of Lake Edward. The boat cruise operates from 11:00am – 1:00pm and 3.00pm-5.00pm depending on the demand of the tourists. This creates a chance to view pods of hippos and large numbers of seagulls, cormorants and other water birds.
It’s acknowledged that the plains of channel are focal points for game viewing. This is the only way that will enable you see all the wildlife in its nature setting for example buffalo, elephants and other animals that dwell in the grassland thickets of the Northern Kazinga close to Mweya. The most accessible spot for lions is in the eastern part of Kasenyi plains and the Kasese road where they quarry on the big inhabitants of Uganda Kobs. The most favorable time for game drives is during morning and late afternoon hours. The work of the range guide is to help you get enough information about the park and still get the best memorable experience in Africa.
In addition to the above is the Ishasha, covering an area of about 100km south of Mweya. The Park’s distant southern segment gives a genuine Africa wilderness experience. Among the inhabitants in this place include savannah woodland, Ishasha River along with Lake Edward that has a diversity of wildlife such as the tree climbing lions, rare shoebill stork Antelopes such as Topi and Uganda Kobs. It is believed that these lions climb trees in order to protect themselves from biting tsetse flies on the ground. In most case, lions are normally seen lying up within the branches of the huge fig trees as they digest their food and staring down at the numerous kobs that graze in the open Ishasha plains.
More so, guided nature walks are carried out led by well-trained guides as they provide good services to the visitors by giving them first-hand information.
Animals and birds
The wide bio-diversity of habitats means that Queen Elizabeth National Park contains the most astonishing number of species – almost 100 types of mammal and 606 different birds! The Kasinga Channel alone is said to contain the world’s largest concentration of hippos, but interestingly enough not many crocodiles! Other wildlife includes warthogs, buffalo, rare aquatic sitatunga antelope, giant forest hog, beautifully horned Uganda kob, topi, waterbuck, elephant and leopard.
Kyambura (or Chambura) Gorge on the north-east boundary of the park, is real Tarzan territory with thick treetop canopies and vines dangling down to the soft forest floor. The terrain comes complete with chimpanzees who crash about and chatter high up in the branches. If they don’t feel like being seen, they just keep one step ahead of the out-of-breath terrestrial visitors.
The Maramagambo Forest, south of the Kasinga Channel is also home to large numbers of chimps, plus a number of other monkey species.
Some rare and odd birds inhabit this park and keen birders come from all over the world to clock up a sighting of the peculiar, pouting shoebill (or whale-headed) stork. This giant bird stands 4-foot high (more than 1 metre) and wears a rather timid expression. This and a myriad of other birds and animals are best viewed from a boat on the Kasinga Channel.
SEASONS
Dry Season: June to September is the driest time when most animals remain near water, but be prepared for afternoon thunderstorms at any time. The hot dry time is January to February and is a good time to visit. Dry season temperatures average 80°F (25°C).
Rainy Season: It rains anytime from October to December and March to May when many roads become impassible.
Accommodation
When you plan to have a safari trip, what you have to put in mind is where you will have to have meals and a relaxation after enjoying adventuring. There is no need to worry because the park has different accommodation facilities that will favor all types of visitors and it also caters for budget travelers. Mweya safari lodge and Jacana lodge have excellent services and ishasha wilderness camp with lavishness accommodation. Budget accommodation includes Mweya hotels and ishasha Bandas with standards that will make your stay memorable. The park has camping sites like Maramagambo, ishasha, kingfisher camp and Kitandara Hippo hill camp.