TOP TOURIST ACTIVITIES DONE IN QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK

Top tourist activities done in Queen Elizabeth national park : Queen Elizabeth national park is one of the best savanna park to visit while on a Uganda safari with the major activity being game viewing to the kasenyi plains, Boat cruise in the Kazinga channel, Chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura gorge and many more.

Chimpanzee trekking in Kalinzu forest

Game drive : Game drive is always the top tourist activity enjoyed while on a Uganda safari to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Most of the game drives in Queen are conducted in Kasenyi plains which is the best savanna apart of the park that rewards tourists with stunning views of several fauna and flora species. The major game drives enjoyed within this Kasenyi plains are the early morning game drives that reward you with a memorable encounter with the nocturnal animals, hunters, and early risers among others.

Game drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Game drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Apart from Kasenyi plains, one can as well enjoy a game drive in the Mweya peninsula and in Ishasha sector. Ishasha sector is famous for harboring the tree climbing lions whose other population is found in Lake Manyara national park in Tanzania. Amongst animals seen while on a game drive in Queen Elizabeth national park include Lions, Leopards, Hippos, Buffaloes, Elephants, Uganda kob, Waterbucks, Warthogs, forest hogs and many more. You may choose to enjoy morning game drive, afternoon game drive, and evening game drive.

Boat cruise: The boat cruise safaris in Queen Elizabeth national park are conducted along the Mighty Kazinga channel that connects Lake Edward to Lake George.  Taking on a cruise along this channel enables tourists to watch a huge school of Hippos. In fact, Queen Elizabeth national park harbors the largest population of Hippos. There are both Morning and afternoon boat cruise on Kazinga channel each lasting about 2-3 hours.

There are both UWA boats and private boats all conducting the boat ride safari on Kazinga channel. There is also an opportunity of viewing Crocodiles as they bask along the shores of the Kazinga channel, and many other animals like Elephants, Buffaloes, and many more that are seen visiting the kazinga channel to quench their thirst. There are also lots of Water birds on the kazinga channel including Cormorants, Billed storks, African jacana and many more.

Nature walks: Queen Elizabeth national park is as well a good destination to visit for nature walks. There are various trails used for the nature walk in the park leading to various destinations including a forest walk to Maramagambo forest, Kyambura gorge, salt mines and many more. During the walk, look out for lots of primate species like Chimpanzees, and several monkeys, mammals like Elephants, Buffaloes and several species of birds among others.

Nature walks in Queen Elizabeth national park
Nature walks in Queen Elizabeth national park

Birding/ bird watching: With over 600 species of birds, birding is one of the top tourist activity enjoyed in Queen Elizabeth national park. The best birding spots in the park include along Maramagambo forest, Kyambura gorge and along the savanna apart of the park. Some of the bird species to look out for during birding in Queen Elizabeth national park include African fin foot, bee-eater, kingfisher cuckoo, Pygmy kingfisher, nightjar, palm nut vulture, snake eagle and many more. All you need is a pair of binoculars thus the Top Tourist Activities done in Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Chimpanzee trekking: In Queen Elizabeth national park, Chimpanzee trekking is conducted in Kyambura gorge which is a forested part of the park famously known as the valley of Apes. This adventure lasts for about 3 hours and there is an opportunity of encountering with other several primates since this is the valley of Apes. Be ready to spot some other primates including L’Hoest’s monkey, Baboons, Colobus monkeys and many more plus some animals and bird species. However, there is yet another forest in Queen Elizabeth national park where Chimpanzee trekking can be conducted and that is none other than Kalinzu forest which as well harbors habituated Chimpanzees.

Lion Tracking Experience: This is the best activity you could ever enjoy while in Queen Elizabeth national park. Lion tracking experience is the most interesting activity that enables tourists to get closer to the lions in their natural habitats. This activity was introduced as a result of reduction in population of lions in the park making it sometimes impossible to spot lions thus with introduction of lion tracking experience, tourists are on a sure deal of encountering these lions closely. This activity is managed by the Uganda Carnivore project alongside the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

Lion Tracking Experience
Lion Tracking Experience

Cultural Encounters and community tours: Queen Elizabeth national park is one of the parks in Uganda where the community lives alongside the wildlife thus taking part in Cultural and community tour is such a fascinating experience as you meet the local Bakonzo people that occupy the biggest part of Kasese district.

Conclusion;

A visit to different parts of Queen Elizabeth national park rewards you will a whole adventure as you encounter with different fauna and flora species that call this park their home. Queen Elizabeth national park can as well be combined with other nearby destinations in western part of Uganda like Bwindi impenetrable national park, Mgahinga gorilla national park, Kibale forest national park, Semliki national park and Lake Bunyonyi among others.

book a gorilla safari