Queen Elizabeth national park along with Kyambura and Kigezi wildlife resource brings together the most diverse ecosystem in Africa. Thousands of hippos populate these water shores. Open savannah dotted with acacia and euphorbia trees provide habitat for, leopards, elephants, lions, Uganda Safari kobs, in addition to big herds of buffaloes. The park also harbors primate species, ten in number which include chimpanzees and monkeys. Waterbucks, giant forest hog, topi, hyenas, and crocodiles are among the many animals distinguished frequently in Queen Elizabeth national park. Provide grounds of game drive, boat ride and so many others as you will see when you book with us.
The 1978km2 Queen Elizabeth National Park enjoys a stunning location on the rift valley floor between Lakes Edward and George where a mosaic of habitats supports 95 mammal species and a remarkable 612 species of birds. Forty years ago, Douglas Willocks described the diverse features that led to its creation in 1952. There still exists no better introduction or a more enticing invitation to visit the park.
‘Scenically the area had everything. Thirty miles to the north, the blue Rwenzori exploded from the plain, a composite, jagged mass of mountains, sixty miles long and forty wide and looking in certain lights as if you could reach out and touch them. Across Lake Edward to the west, the Mitumbe hills stood sentinel on the Congo, blue too in the long sight but in the closer green, wooded, precipitous, unfriendly and epitomising darkest Africa. The eastern boundary of this possible park was marked by the calm green escarpment of the western Rift Valley. And between all the hills, mountains and lakes was endless savanna, its constantly repeated motif the branched cactus arms of the candelabra euphorbia tree.’
The park forms part of an extensive system of contiguous protected areas, namely the Kigezi (265km2) and Kyambura (154km2) Wildlife Reserves, Kalinzu Forest Reserve, Kibale National Park (766km2) and, in neighbouring DRC, the 2000km2 Virunga National Park. Rwenzori Mountains National Park lies a few kilometres north.
The dramatic scenery is largely due to mountains beyond the park boundary. The park itself lies on the rift valley floor where it rises 480m from 91 Om at the Kazinga Channel to 1390m in the Explosion Crater field. The low altitude and its location directly on the equator mean that temperatures can be warm, rising from a mean minimum of 18°C to a mean maximum of 28°C. The park receives up to 1250mm of rain, mostly during March – May and September – November.
HOW TO GET THERE
The park is easily accessible. The tarmac Mbarara – Kasese Fort Portal highway runs through its centre, passing just 22km from the main tourism hub at Mweya. From Kampala, the park can be approached from the south via Mbarara (420km) or the north passing through Fort Portal (410km). These routes can be combined to create an attractive circuit with short detours to visit Lake Mburo, Semuliki and Kibale national parks. The park can also be reached from the south from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Charter flights can be arranged to a choice of airstrips at Kasese, Mweya and Ishasha
SAFARI ACCOMODATION IN QUEEN ELIZABETH NP
Avariety of accommodation caters for all budgets. Mweya Safari Lodge, Jacana Safari Lodge and the Ishasha Wilderness Camp offer upmarket accommodation while the Mweya Hostel at Mweya and Ishasha bandas provide budget accommodation. Camping is possible at Mweya, Maramagambo and Ishasha. Convenient options just outside the park include Hippo Hill Camp close to Katwe and Kingfisher Camp on the lovely Kichwamba escarpment. A new lodge is under construction in the Kyambura Wildlife Reserve.
FLORA AND FAUNA
The park is home to 95 mammal species while the bird list is 612 species long. This diversity is the result of an impressive range of habitats. Fifty-seven vegetation types have been identified though these can be summarized as just five: forest; grassland; bushy grassland; Acacia woodland and lake shore/ swamp vegetation.
Residents of the park’s grasslands include elephant, Cape buffalo, Uganda kob, waterbuck, warthog, giant forest hog, lion, leopard and hyena. Topi are found in Ishasha, while forest primates are found in Kyambura Gorge and Maramagambo Forest.
In African protected areas, the park’s impressive bird list is exceeded only by the neighbouring (and far larger) Virunga National Park.
To name but a few key species: martial eagle, black-rumped buttonquail, African skimmer, Chapin’s flycatcher, pink-backed pelicans, white-winged warbler, papyrus gonolek, papyrus canary, corncrake, lesser and greater flamingo, and shoebill stork.
TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK
Mweya Peninsula
The peninsula is the hub for tourism activity and accommodation in the central section of the park. A nature walk with a ranger guide enables you to explore remoter parts of the peninsula. This and other activities can be arranged from the Mweya Information Centre. This facility overlooks the scenic Katwe Bay of Lake Edward and contains a souvenir shop and exhibits that describe the national park and its rift valley setting.
Kazinga Channel
The 40km-long channel that connects Lake George to Lake Edward provides the park’s prime wildlife spectacle. Its shoreline attracts large numbers of birds, mammals and reptiles year round. These can be seen from two covered launches, Topi and Simba, that cruise between Mweya Jetty and the channel’s entrance into Lake Edward. The launches run at 15.00 and 17.00. Additional voyages run at 11.00 and 13.00 subject to demand.
North Kazinga and Kasenyi
The plain north of the Kazinga Channel is the primary game viewing area. A network of tracks enables you to find elephant, buffalo and other animals in the mosaic of grassland thickets that covers the North Kazinga area near Mweya. However lion are most reliably sighted on the open Kasenyi plain east of the Kasese road where they prey on a large population of Uganda kobo Game are most rewarding in early morning and late afterne ranger guide is recommended to help you make the rr your experience.
Katwe
The Katwe Salt Lake is home to Uganda’s oldest industr has been extracted from the lake using evaporation bee the process is continued today.
Katwe Explosion Craters
This cluster of extinct volcanoes north of Mweya Safari I can be explored by the winding 27km Crater Drive be the Main and Equator Gates. This provides superb vieVl numerous craters, some filled by lovely lakes, as well as to the Rwenzori and across the rift valley floor.
The Equator and the Queen’s Pavilion
The spot where the equator crosses the Kasese road is rr by two concrete circles which provide a popular phot( The Queen’s Pavilion stands nearby at the northern en1 to the Crater Drive. A temporary shelter at this site r H.M. Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in a permanent pavilion was built in 1959 for a visit by ( Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. This was restored for a Sl visit by the Duke of Edinburgh in 2007. A new Information ( on the site includes internet facilities and a coffee shop.
Ishasha
A hundred Kilometres south of Mweya, the park’s remote southern Ishasha provides a true wilderness experience. Diverse hal including the Ishasha River, savanna woodland, and the rr Lake Edward Flats support a variety of wildlife incuding Ish, famous tree climbing lions, and the rare shoebill stork.
Kyambura Wildlife Reserve
This area, which protects the south-eastern banks ( Kazinga Channel, contains four crater lakes, in which thousands of flamingos periodically congregate.
Maramagambo Forest
The dark depths of Maramagambo forest contrast starkly with the sunny plains around the Kazinga channel. One of Uganda’s largest tracts of tropical forest, Maramagambo is notable for its primate and bird populations. Trails explore the forest around Lake Nyamusigire. Wildlife sightings vary from day to day, but guaranteed events include the bat caves (with a resident bat-hungry python) and the copper-rich Blue Lake.
Kyambura Gorge
Habituated chimpanzees live in the 100m deep gorge carved by the Kyambura River as it flows across the rift valley floor towards the Kazinga channel. Guided walks to search for them start at Kyambura’s fig tree Cmp at 08.00 and 14.00. The 3 km road to the gorge is clearly signposted from the main highway.