Queen Elizabeth National Park

“A medley of wonders“

Size – 1978 square kilometers.

Overview:

Leopard seen at Kasenyi plains, QENP

This is Uganda’s second largest national park in Uganda, protecting about 95 mammal species and about 620 bird species have been recorded, including aquatic, forest and Savannah species. The lush Savannah park offers prime grazing to Water Buck, Bush Buck, Elephants, Buffaloes, Warthogs, Hippos, Giant Forest Hogs and Kobs (The national animal for Uganda) among others.

It also harbors about 620 bird species, probably the highest concentration of bird life as compared to any park in the World, given it’s size. It is majestically set in the shadow of Mountain Rwenzori and lays on the bottom of the Albertine rift valley; the western arm of the great African Rift Valley, franking lake Edward and George which are both connected by the Kazinga channel.

This park was also divided into two sectors by the three water bodies, Lake George, Lake Edward and Kazinga Channel. The northern sector where the Kasenyi plains are found and the southern sector where the Ishasha plains are found and this sector is famous for it’s localized tree-climbing Lions. The present day Queen Elizabeth national park was first protected in the 1920s as Lake George, Lake Edward and Kigezi game reserves.

It was later gazetted as a national park and named Kazinga national park in 1952. But only two years later, the British monarch paid us a visit and the Queen happened to reach this park on her honeymoon. So the name of the park was changed in her honor, to Queen Elizabeth national park and since then up to date the of the park has never changed. The local name for this Biosphere reserve though, is Kazinga national park and it is shared by Kasese, Rubirizi and Kanungu Districts.

Queen Elizabeth is known to be one of the most popular tourist destinations due to its diverse Eco-systems which include, sparkling savanna, lakes, wetlands, and shady, humid forests. The park also has magnificent vistas which include enormous craters caved dramatically into rolling green hills, breath taking views of kazinga Channel and the ishasha plains whose fig trees give ample time to the tree climbing lions.

Attractions in Queen Elizabeth national park.

The park has outstanding wildlife attractions like the big four mammals commonly known as the elephant, lion, leopard and buffaloes. Other mammals include topis, Uganda kob, water-buck, bush-buck, warthogs, hyena, jackals and the giant forest hogs among others. The park also is a haven for bird watchers due to it’s high concentration of bird life, spotted and recorded here. Mweya peninsular where the tourism information center sits and is the heart of sightseeing activities, with excellent views of the Kazinga channel and the fact that it overlooks katwe bay of lake Edward makes it an excellent tourist destination. It has a lodge (accommadation) with a souvenir shop where visitors can buy items that remind them about the park.

Boat Cruise on Kazinga Channel

The Kazinga channel:

This channel is about 37km long, from Lake Gorge to Lake Edward. It has the perfect view of the parks’ major wildlife, as they come to cool off at the bank of the channel. The shores of the channel attracts a large concentration of mammals, birds as well as reptiles all year around. The wildlife can be viewed well by the boat cruise that are conducted along the channel.

Kazinga channel has parts like the North Kazinga as well as Kisenyi. It’s acknowledged that these points of the channel are focal points for game viewing. Experiential lion tracking is one the ways that will enables tourists see the wildlife in it’s natural setting, especially the big cats like the lions. 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 the Kobs’ mating grounds. The most favorable time for game drives is during morning and late afternoon

The Equator and the Queen’s Pavilion:

The park is crossed by the Equator which provides a beautiful place for photo shooting, and also craft shops at the Queen’s Pavilion, where the northern entrance to the Crater Drive is. In 1954 Queen Elizabeth gave a provision shelter for this site until in 1959 when a permanent pavilion was constructed for the commemoration of the visit of Queen Elizabeth. Renovations were made by second visit of Duke of Edinburgh in 2007 with better facilities such as coffee shop and internet facilities.

Tree-climbing Lion in Queen Elizabeth NP.

Ishasha plains:

Ishasha covers an area of about 100km south of Mweya. Among the inhabitants in this place include savannah woodland, Ishasha River along with Lake Edward that has a diversity of wildlife such as climbing lions, rare shoebill stork and many others.

Games drives:

The park offers game drives through kasenyi, the north kazinga plains and the ishasha sector. These drive gives chance to visitors to view different wildlife like the buffalo, antelope, elephants, warthogs and baboons.

Launch cruise:

The kazinga channel is an oasis for many wildlife species in the park. Taking a boat cruise gives chance to visitors to cruise just meters from hundreds of hippos and buffalos that linger on the shore line.

Culture and nature walks:

Through taking nature walks in the park a visitor is able to see a variety of wildlife, plus cultural experiences that exposes you to the energetic dances of the kikorongo equator cultural performers, workers harvesting salt on katwe salt lake and a traditional banyaraguru hut.

Chimpanzee tracking:

This is one of the most exciting activities in this park. Discovering these chimps in their natural environment is a life time experience. Visitors are able to know the eco systems of kyambura gorge’s atmospheric underground rain forest including vegetation types, bird identification and behavior of the chimp and monkey ecology.

Tree-Climbing Lion at Ishasha, QENP.

Accessibility.

By road:

Queen Elizabeth national park can be accessed easily from Kampala through a tarmac road via Mbarara and Bushenyi towns leading to the center of the park. The drive takes7 hours from Kampala via Mbarara to the park, depending on the nature of the traffic. Approaching the park from the south via mbarara covers a distance of 420 kilometers while the north through fort portal covers a total of 410kilometre. The Park can also be accessed from the south from bwindi impenetrable national park.

By air:

Queen Elizabeth national park can also be accessed by air. Charter flights can be arranged to existing airstrips of kasese air field, mweya airstrip and ishasha airstrip.

Accommodation:

Queen Elizabeth has a wide variety of accommodations which caters everyone’s interest and budget. Accommodation ranges from luxury, mid-range, and budget with excellent facilities. These include: Mweya safari lodge, Park View safari lodge, QENP Bush lodge, Bufallo Safari Lodge, Kyambura Gorge lodge, Katara lodge, Ishasha Wilderness Camp, Ishasha Topi Lodge, Ishasha Jungle lodge and Kitandara hippo hill camp among others.

Climate:

The climate is tropical with two rainfall peak seasons, from March to May and September to November, with total annual rainfall of up to 2390mm. Altitude is 910m at Lake Edward to 1,390m in the crater area. Temperatures also range between 18 C and 35 C. Queen Elizabeth is chilly in the morning, warm during day time and at night with average temperature. The coldest period in Queen Elizabeth is September to November, during the wet season.

Book your wildlife safari to Murchison Falls Today:

Here are some of our tours; Queen Elizabeth Wildlife Safari, Bird Watching Tours, Ishasha Tree-Climbing Lions, Kazinga Channel Boat Cruise.

Also contact us for Uganda Birding Tours, Rwanda Birding Tours, Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes Forest, Uganda Gorilla Trekking Tours, Karamoja Cultural Tours.

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