Banded Mongoose Tracking in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Tracking banded mongooses in Queen Elizabeth National Park: Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of Uganda’s finest national parks. The park was made a national park in 1952, thus becoming the oldest and, after Murchison Falls National Park, the second biggest. The park is in the southwest of Uganda, in the districts of Kasese, Kamwenge, Rubirizi, and Rukungiri. It is a total of 1978 square kilometres in size. Queen Elizabeth National Park is known for the tree-climbing lions that live in the Ishasha sector in the southern part of the park. The park also has elephants, leopards, buffaloes, waterbucks, bushbucks, giant forest hog, warthogs, hippos, Uganda Kobs, crocodiles, primates like chimpanzees, red-tailed monkeys, L’Hoest’s monkeys, and vervet monkeys and among others that can be seen on Uganda safari.
Banded mongoose tracking.
Banded mongooses are small, agile animals with a big head, small ears, and a tail that is as long as the rest of its body. They have strong claws that they use to dig burrows and protect themselves, greyish-brown fur, and clear bands on the back. Mongooses are small animals about the size of a small cat. An adult mongoose weighs between 1.5 and 2.25 kg and lives in groups of about 20 individuals. Each group sleeps together every night in a shared underground den and moves it every 3 to 5 days. Banded mongoose tracking is a beautiful safari activity to do in Queen Elizabeth National Park. It is done on the Mweya peninsular, which looks out over Kazinga Channel, with a guide and experts. A total of over 400 banded mongoose living on Mweya peninsular and are divided into twelve groups and enables a maximum of 4 people to engage in the safari activity with a team of researchers as they move along the trails tracking the banded mongoose using a locator device.
During banded mongoose tracking safari, you will go off track with the researchers to learn more about the mongoose, watch their behaviors, surroundings, and habits, learn how to tell the difference between males and females, record their weight, record the weather and location, and other attractions. Your observations will be added to the researchers’ database. Banded mongoose tracking safari is limited to a small number of people so that the mongoose doesn’t get too stressed out and the visitors have a better time.
Tracking a banded mongoose can be done as early as 7:00 a.m. or as late as 5:00 p.m., but its best time to do it in the morning when the mongooses are busier. It takes about 1-3 hours. At Mweya peninsular, you can see the Kazinga Channel, which is a body of water that connects Lake Edward and Lake George. You can also see elephants, lions, buffaloes, waterbucks, and different types of birds, among other animals.
Cost of Banded Mongoose Tracking in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Banded mongoose tracking safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park requires $30 for foreign non-residents and foreign residents and UGX 30,000 for East African citizens. Banded mongoose tracking can be booked at the Visitors Information Centre in Mweya, and people who want to do it can inquire to add it to their Queen Elizabeth national park safari itinerary.
Banded mongoose tracking is an exciting safari activity and unique game. Visitors to Queen Elizabeth national park can combine it with additional enjoyable safari activities to do, such as;
Boat cruise.
Boat cruise is an interesting safari activity to do at Kazinga channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park. You can take a boat cruise at set times in the morning or afternoon, and you’ll get to see some great sights. Animals like lions, elephants, waterbucks, warthogs, and buffaloes, among others, gather along the water’s edge to drink, especially during the dry season. You’ll also see large groups of hippos and Nile crocodiles in the water and watching bird species like Hammerkops, African fish eagle, Yellow-bellied stork, African Jacana and among others.
Game drive.
One of the most popular safari activities to do in the park is to go on a game drive, where people can see leopards, warthogs, elephants, buffaloes, waterbucks, Uganda Kobs, bushbucks, tree-climbing lions in the Ishasha area, and many different kinds of birds in an open roofed safari vehicle.
Night game drive.
A night game drive is a thrilling safari activity to do on the Mweya peninsular. During the night game drive, you may see nighttime animals and predators in the park, such as hyenas, serval cats, hyenas, civets, leopards, and lions.
Guided Nature walk.
Guided Nature walk is a safari activity which gives visitors the chance to discover the park on foot. In Queen Elizabeth National Park, you can go on a nature walk in places like Mweya peninsular and Maramagambo forest, among others. During the nature walk, you can see beautiful scenery, landscape, animals like elephants and buffaloes, primates like chimpanzees, black and white colobus monkeys, L’Hoest’s monkeys, and bird species, among others.
Bird watching.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of the greatest safari destinations for bird watching in Uganda because it is home to more than 600 different kinds of birds. There are various birding spots such as Kasenyi plains, Kazinga channel, Maramagambo forest, Mweya peninsular, Katwe salt lake, Katunguru bridge among others and visitors who carry out birding should look out for bird species like Black kite, Cattle egret, African jacana, pink backed pelican, papyrus Gonolek, saddle billed stork, black crake, sacred ibis, African skimmer, martial eagle, double toothed barbet, African crake, Marabou stork, striped kingfisher, grey backed fiscal among others.
Chimpanzee trekking.
Queen Elizabeth national park is one of the safari destinations where chimpanzee trekking activity can be carried out. In the east of the park, in a place called the valley of apes or Kyambura Gorge, you can find chimpanzees. Chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura Gorge takes about 2 to 4 hours. Once you find the chimpanzee family, you will spend an hour with them in their natural habitat, learning about their habits and homes and taking lots of photos and movies.
How to get to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is in the southwestern part of Uganda. Tourists who want to go there can get there by vehicle or plane.
There are a few local airlines in Uganda, such as Aero link Uganda Limited, that fly from Entebbe airport or Kajjansi airfield to Mweya or Kasese airfield on a regular basis or on a charter basis.
Road transport, when going to Queen Elizabeth national park you may drive from Kampala via Masaka, Mbarara, Bushenyi and then to the park headquarters or use another path from Kampala via Mubende, Fort Portal, Kasese and then to the park headquarters which takes about 6 to 7 hours’ drive.
Queen Elizabeth national park can also be reached using public transport means where you may take a bus from Kampala to Kasese and then hire a private taxi to the park headquarters.
Banded mongoose tracking is an exciting safari activity because you will be able to see and watch the interesting and playful mongooses. This will give you amazing and once-in-a-lifetime experiences on your safari in Queen Elizabeth national park with unforgettable safari memories.
