Queen Elizabeth National Park , Uganda Wildlife Safaris & Tours

Queen Elizabeth National Park is truly a Medley of Wonders! Located in Kasese District of Uganda.The park has various ecosystems made up of sprawling savanna, shadowy, moist forests, lakes and fertile wetlands, which makes it a good home to various species of wildlife, primates and birds making it a haven for a key destination for Uganda wildlife tours, bird watching trips, and primate trekking adventures.

Queen Elizabeth National Park lies against the backdrop of the great Rwenzori Mountains with stunning and panoramic views that are made up of various crater lakes. These lakes are curved dramatically into the green rolling hills. When you visit, you will be rewarded with magical sights on a boat safari at Kazinga Channel.

This channel's shores are infested with hippopotamuses, elephants, and buffaloes. You will also see the Savannah plains of Ishasha, whose fig trees obscure tree-climbing lions that are ever ready to knock on herds of the famous Ugandan Kob. Just like the sights and attractions, Queen Elizabeth National Park does have a rich cultural background too. There are many scenarios and opportunities for tourists to meet up with the local communities and be part of amazing cultural activities like traditional dances, storytelling moments, listening to traditional music and more. You can further engage in community projects and leave a mark!

Named after Queen Elizabeth II, this park was previously named Kazinga National Park. The gazetting of Queen Elizabeth National Park has long ensured the conservation of its ecosystems for decades, which in turn benefits the surrounding communities. Some of the activities to carry out in this popular national park include wildlife viewing (primary activity) in Kasenyi, Mweya and Ishasha sectors, Chimpanzee tracking in the exhilarating Kyambura Gorge, Kalinzu forest or Maramagambo forest, Hot air ballooning and local community visits. Other interesting activities include hiking and nature walks, bird watching, launch cruises on the Kazinga Channel, lion tracking, a visit to the explosion crater and a visit to the Katwe salt works.

The park can be visited throught the year, but it is best to visit during the drier months of June to September and December to January. This wildlife park is not only among the best wildlife viewing destinations, but is also Uganda's most popular tourist destination. After your gorilla trekking in Bwindi, endeavor to add a visit to this lovely park as it is not far away from each Bwindi. It's also easier to connect QENP with Kibale Forest National Park, just in case you want to try the Chimpanzee trekking experience.

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Major Tourist Attractions in Queen Elizabeth National Park

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Tree climbing lions are also known as, cactus climbing lions.There are only two population of these mysterious tree climbing lions in the whole world; Ishasha sector in the southern part of Queen Elizabeth national park and Lake Manyara national park in the southern part of Tanzania. The fact that these are not climbing animals makes these big cats a major attraction for tourists who visit East Africa.

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Kazinga Channel is a wide 32km long water body that connects Lake Edward to Lake George in the south western part of Uganda. The water body is found in the Queen Elizabeth national park and is a habour for many wild animals. Kazinga channel shores are know for having wild life like Elephants, Hippos , Flamingoes and Nile Crocodiles. Its is a major attraction as tourists take a boat cruise across its shores to view the magnificent wildlife scenery.

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Mweya Peninsular is a piece of land that juts into the Lake Edward. Its a one of kind looking pieces of land and tourists come here to visit the land occasionally. Mweya peninsular comprises of the Kazinga channel track part of it being covered by candle stick thorns with the outlying impressive Savannah making it an excellent area for game viewing. This zone has got several game tracking points which must be followed during game drives.

Lake Katwe Craters
Lake Katwe Explosion Craters are located north of Mweya peninsular. They are the highest elevation within Queen Elizabeth national park in Western Uganda. You can get to see the Great Western Rift Valley of Africa and the escarpments during the drive. You will also see Lake George, a chance of Mountain Rwenzori ranges and Kazinga Channel that connects Lake Edward to Lake George.

Lake Katwe salt works
Lake Katwe Salt Works is a saltwater lake and Lake Katwe is located north of Mweya peninsular, in the south western part of Uganda within Queen Elizabeth National Park. It has been a source of rock salt for years and salt mining has been a major economic activity in the surroundings. Tourists visit this area to learn and look at the lake with a saline smell because of its sulphurous chemicals, which form the salt.

Kyambura Gorge
Kyambura Gorge is the magnificent valley of apes in the Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, situated in the Eastern part of the park. This is drained by River Kyambura. It was formed by the disorderly waters of River Kyambura. It’s about 100 metres deep. The sight of the landscape is so breathtaking and one of the best u can find in the world.

Maramagambo-Forest
Maragambo Forest Maramagambo forest is located in the Queen Elizabeth national park in south western part of Uganda bounded by "lake nyamadindiri” and "lake kyasanduka”. Tourists mostly love this forest for its bat caves and resident African rock pythons. Many come around to visit this wide vegetation.

Kasenyi-Plains
Kasenyi plains are found in the north Eastern part of and some times known as Mweya. The plains are also known as Kasenyi sector with endless views of Savannah dotted with roaming antelopes and Uganda Kob. The Kasenyi plains also habour numerous lions, leopards and many other cats.

Kyambura Wildlife Reserve
Kyambura Wildlife Reserve is one of the known areas of Queen Elizabeth national park with extraordinary views of wildlife, primates, butterflies and many other things to be included in ones travel list. It’s bordered by kyambura Gorge to the west kyambura is situated on the north Eastern side of Queen Elizabeth national park and also links to the Kazinga channel, forming it’s northern boundary villages and village plantations lie to the southern end of kyambura game reserve.


Lake George
Lake George is situated in the western part of the great African rift valley. It covers an area of about 250 kilometers squared and its depth is about 2.4 metres hence small and shallow.

Kalinzu Forest
Kalinzu Forest is located in the south Eastern edge of the Queen Elizabeth national park and is one of a must destinations in your list at the park with better chimpanzee tracking than in Kyambura George.

Tour Activities in Queen Elizabeth National Park

• Lion Tracking: Mainly tourists come to Queen Elizabeth National Park for lion Tracking and they get a chance to get an upclose session with the lions and get to study their behaviors.
• Game Viewing: During the game viewing activity one gets a chance to view various animals including giraffes, leopards, elephants, hippos, flamingoes, pelicans and many others including reptiles.
• Chimpanzee Tracking: During chimpanzee tracking, tourists get to go on with their guides to track chimpanzees in the forests and get to study and understand how they live.
• Hot Air Ballooning: This is an activity where the tourists together with their guides get a chance to take a flight I the hot air balloons so as to catch an aerial view of the park, the wild life, the riftvalley, lakes , etc .
• Birding: Some tourists come to queen Elizabeth national park to go bird watching and get a glimpse of the various bird species that the park has to offer.

Accomodation in Queen Elizabeth National Park

After a lond day exploring the park and the boat safari, you need a comfortable and charming place to relax and stay for the night to recharge. There are several accomodation facilities within, and around the park ranging from Luxury, to midrange, and budget lodges. With the help of a good tour company, you will be able to book the accomodation facility that suits your budget and taste.