Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth National Park – If you have limited time and want to see great wildlife diversity in a beautiful ecosystem, you should be here.

Situated in Western Uganda, along the same road that leads to Bwindi National Park, Queen Elizabeth is a wonderland that has it all; gorges, huge valleys, mountain ranges, forests, and blue lakes. The cherry on the cake is 95mammal and 600 bird species.

The park is so big, and so is its variety of ecosystems—most of which can be seen during boat cruises, game drives and nature walks. You need at least three days to enjoy its diverse offerings. These include some of the world’s most beautiful crater lakes, Kazinga channel, Kyambura Gorge

Game drives

The morning and night game drives here are absolutely magical and the landscape so beautifully laid out. All the cars we have dedicated to game drives are customized with pop-up roofs so as to give you the pleasure of viewing elephants, cape buffalos, Uganda kobs, giant forest hogs, antelopes, bushbabies.

Of all encounters, the most unforgettable memory is watching charming cubs following their mother in the tall grass. If patient, you will witness them making their way into the branches of acacia trees to rest in the shade. All this while, they will be stalking prey roaming in the plains. At a perfect time when their target prey is distracted, they will descend down the tree and take them by surprise.

To stand better chances of spotting leopards during a game drive, pay close attention to brown vegetation. You might spot one standing so near that you can almost touch it. If you are first enough, you might get a photo of it before it dashes out of sight. Such close-up experiences will live with you even in your afterlife.

Kazinga Channel

Kazinga was formed by the emptying of Lake Albert into Lake George at the place where an ancient lake once sat prior to the ice age. This constant flow of water from Lake George to Lake Albert attracts a conglomerate of wildlife, providing lots of photographic opportunities. The tour provides an enjoyable way to experience an African sunset and its radiant fiery colors. The guides are passionate about their jobs and are always delighted to help, and share in your excitement of new discoveries.

If you love birds, you will see nearly 90% of the 600 species to which the park is home. Don’t be surprised to find all kinds of birds inclusive of fierce ones that eat the most deadly snakes like the black mamba. In addition, you might spot crocodiles clashing with hippos to protect their territories. Special bird sightings range from African skimmer, White-winged tern, Grey-winged robin-chat, African finfoot, Shoebill, Black-rumped buttonquail, Collared pratincole, Crab-plover, Pel’s fishing-owl, Palm-nut vulture

Chimp trekking in Kyambura Gorge, an underground forest

If you are big on primates, there is one place on earth you can’t afford to die without visiting. Kyambura gorge is what we call it, a pristine tropical underground forest with over 20 wild chimpanzees. Found in the North of the park, Kyambura is a paradise of sorts, with freshwater rivers and countless tree species that have been around even before Africa was colonized. It is full of birds with soothing calls and stunning plumage. As it is a sunken forest in a rift valley, Kyambura offers a tough climbing challenge.

Altogether, these strong points make trekking chimps, here an experience one can’t forget, even in their afterlife. It is such a delightful experience to finally spot the chimps after trekking for an average of two hours. They are quite used to human presence and thus go about their own business of eating and napping. They couldn’t care less about you being a few meters away.

You will spend a remarkable one hour with the chimps as you compare and contrast their human-like ways of life.

Tree climbing lions

There are less than five national parks in Africa with tree-climbing lions. Queen Elizabeth National Park is among them, with over 50 of these kings of the jungle. The best time of the year to see them is the wet season, especially around April. During this time, they spend much of their time in the trees as opposed to the ground, as it is wet. Besides, the grass is overgrown and obstructs them from seeing short prey that easy to catch, like antelopes. Trees offer the perfect vantage point to spot them thanks to their towering heights.

Crater Lakes

There may be many places physically closer to heaven, but none of which really captures the spirit of Queen Elizabeth. And one of the reasons why is the diversity of crater Lakes found here and yes, If you searched the internet for the most beautiful crater lakes in the world, chances are high that you will come across at least one found in this park.

Queen Elizabeth has close to 10 crater lakes, each with a fascinating shape, some in the shape of body organs like the kidney, heart, pancreas…  The view of the rainbows that curve over them is really one of a kind Words can’t describe the surreal feeling of rounding their edges. It is breathtaking to the eyes and easy on the muscles, allowing them to stretch back to normal.