Queen Elizabeth National Park

About Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth National Park covers 1,978 km² of savannah, wetland and forest in western Uganda, below the Rwenzori Mountains, and it is the country's best all-round safari park: lion and elephant on open plains, a channel crowded with hippos, volcanic craters and chimpanzees in one protected area. It was gazetted in 1952 as Kazinga National Park and renamed two years later after a visit by Queen Elizabeth II. More than 95 mammal species and over 600 bird species have been recorded here. The drier months, June to August and December to February, are the easiest time to visit. Tracks are firm, the grass is lower and animals stay close to water. The rains of March to May and October to November bring greener country and fewer vehicles, but the road through the Ishasha sector in the south can become impassable after heavy rain. The park lies about 410 km west of Kampala, at least seven to eight hours by road. Scheduled and charter flights from Entebbe land at Kasese and at the Mweya airstrip, with Kihihi serving Ishasha. On a road trip it sits naturally between Kibale Forest to the north and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to the south. Two nights covers the northern half of the park; three lets you add Ishasha. Because Ishasha lies on the road south towards Bwindi, many itineraries stop there on the way to gorilla trekking, and we usually plan it that way too. A typical day starts early on the Kasenyi Plains, where Uganda kob gather in big numbers and lions hunt them. Late morning is quieter. In the afternoon most people take a boat on the Kazinga Channel, the 40 km waterway that links Lake George and Lake Edward. Cruises leave from the Mweya peninsula and run for about two hours along banks where hippos crowd the shallows, buffalo and elephant come down to drink, and pied kingfishers and pelicans work the water. Another morning can go to the Katwe explosion craters, where the park reaches its highest point at 1,350 m, or to chimpanzee tracking in the forest at the bottom of Kyambura Gorge. In Ishasha the draw is the lions, which rest in the branches of fig trees through the heat of the day; the males often have black manes. For the northern sector, Mweya Safari Lodge sits on the peninsula above the channel, a few minutes from the boat launch, with views towards Lake Edward and, on clear days, the Rwenzori. Jacana Lodge and Queen Elizabeth Bush Lodge are smaller alternatives elsewhere in the park.