Reasons why you should visit Queen Elizabeth National Park; It’s because Queen Elizabeth National Park is home to biodiversity of wildlife species with over 96 mammal species and over 600 bird species which can be spotted on birding safaris or nature walk here. Still the park popular as the most visited national park in East Africa because of the rare tree climbing lions which can be seen in only two countries Uganda and Tanzania can be seen in Lake Manyara. More so, Queen Elizabeth inhabits high concentrate of hippos with more than 5,000 individuals, along with 3,000 elephants and around 10,000 buffaloes. A Uganda safari to Queen Elizabeth National Park is quite owe- inspiring to visit.
The park is also known as Uganda’s most visited game part and is often paired with Gorilla trekking in Bwindi or Chimpanzee tracking in Kibale Forest. Queen Elizabeth is also famous for its big cats, such as tree climbing lions and leopards.
The park can be visited throughout the year though it may not specify as season changes accordingly and the park is 24 open for visitors coming in to explore its beauty. However, the best time to visit for wildlife viewing without disruption of heavy rainfall which starts from January to February and June to July because they receive less rainfall.
Things do that attracts a lot of tourists to visit Queen Elizabeth National Park as reason to why you must visit the park in your free time;
Game drive
The best game drive experience is one of the most done activity in the park which can be done in two sessions morning and afternoon. Morning game drive starts early before break at 6am or after break be driven to Ishasha sector. Note the park has two game viewing sector that is Ishasha and Kasenyi sector. Driving to Ishasha sector a home to rare tree climbing lions ,you will be surprised of seeing these lions hanging up on fig tree species as they wait to hang on the heads of the prey ‘’kobs’’ and other animals ,birds to see in this sector includes shoebill ,grey kestrel ,African green pigeon ,cisticola ,martial eagle ,African wattle plover ,African crowned eagles .Then visiting Kasenyi sector you can be able to see large numbers of animals in an open savannah grassland ,acacia trees such as elephants ,buffaloes ,kobs ,leopards ,lions ,warthogs ,waterbucks among others .Birds to see here includes black belied , flapped lark ,white tailed lark ,palm species , long created eagle ,croaking cisticola ,hooded vulture ,white backed vulture ,brown backed scrub Robin among others .
Boat cruise
You can do boat cruise which is done along Kazinga channel, this is the second done activity in the park where you a likely to get amazed of water species as you sail slowly on water with rewardable sights-seeing of water birds as well as seeing animals along the water bank. Animals to see include; hippos, crocodiles, buffaloes, elephants among other, water birds to sees includes Knob billed duch, African jacana, Yellow wagtail, Sacred ibis, black crake, shoebill and saddle billed stork many more.
Chimpanzee Tracking
This is among the most visited Uganda safari activity since it allows you to take a step into the world to observe our close related cousins primates whom we share 98% DNA to human. Chimpanzee tracking can be done in the morning or afternoon. Where eight people are permitted to track these species in their nature inhabits, once are allocated one hour is given to watch them and be able to enjoy their interesting life style. Before embarking for chimpanzee tracking, you will be required to book your chimpanzee tracking permit in advance before your tracking date, most especially in peak season, which happens from June to September and December to February, Reasons Why You Should Visit Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Birdlife
Queen Elizabeth National Park is truly a birding destination that hosts over 600 bird species and some of the species to encounter includes ; Grey-winged robin-chat ,Great blue turaco ,Crab-plover ,Collared pratincole , Broad-billed roller , Black-rumped buttonquail , Black bee-eater ,African skimmer ,African hobby ,African finfoot ,Shoebill ,spotted redshank ,papyrus gonolek ,Palm-nut vulture , Yellow-bellied wattle-eye ,Yellow-throated cuckoo , Spotted redshank among others .Migratory birds can be seen from November to April .Birding watching can be done all year round.
Location ; Queen Elizabeth national park is located in western region of Uganda ,estimating 5 to 6 hours’ drive to reach the main destination. The park is the second largest national park after Murchison Falls National park with an area covering about 1,978 square kilometers and was established in 1952 as a Kazinga national park and it was renamed two years later to commemorate a visit by Queen Elizabeth 11, governed by Uganda Wildlife Authority a body that is responsible for all Uganda’s National Park. Wildlife you expect to explore on safari to Queen Elizabeth national park includes; African elephants, African buffalos, Ugandan kobs, hippopotamus, waterbuck, warthog, giant forest hog, Nile crocodiles, leopards, spotted hyena, chimpanzees among others, Reasons Why You Should Visit Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Best car to enjoy game drive activity; Use 4×4 wheel drive designed with a pop-up roof, hire a guide from the park headquarters to go with you who will give you historical background of the park and its species.
Getting there; Most people on their safari to Queen Elizabeth arrive in Uganda at ‘’EBB’’ Entebbe International Airport in the capital city of Kampala. By Road transport it takes about 5 to 6 hours to access the main visited destination. Alternatively, you can reach the park by air transport from Entebbe Airport or Kajjansi Airfield, use a domestic flight ‘’Aero Link’ ’you can decide to use a charter flight or schedule flight which flies within 1:15 hours.
Travelers to Uganda may be from the U. S or UK, it can take about two days of travel. For that case, I recommend you to spend a night or two in Kampala to first rest up before you take off the long drive to the national park.
Get started planning now for your incredible and memorable safari to Uganda’s most visited safari destination known as Queen Elizabeth National Park
