Queen Elizabeth national park
Queen Elizabeth national park is located in the western part of uganda between lakes George and albert alongside kazinga channel with an area cover of 1,978 square kilometers. The national park is one of the oldest and popular game parks for a Uganda safari which was named after the majesty queen of England’s visit to the park in 1954. The national park is a home to 95 primates, wildlife and 612 bird species. Wildlife such as cape buffalo, giant forest hog, elephants, warthog, waterbuck, hyena, leopard and climbing lions in ishasha sector.
ATTRACTIONS IN QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK
PRIMATES
Queen Elizabeth is a home to over 95 primates and these include olive baboons, blue monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, red tailed monkeys, vervet monkeys and chimpanzees among others. Tourists can enjoy the primates mostly in kyambura gorge which is sometimes called the valley of apes.
BIRDS
Queen Elizabeth is a home to over 612 bird species within the park which make the national park good at birding safari destination. Bird species such as spur winged lapwing, African spoonbill, sacred ibis, water thick knee, swamp night jar, cattle egret, black breasted snake, double toothed barbet, African fish eagle, brown snake, little bee-eater, malachite kingfisher among others.
KAZINGA CHANNEL
The kazinga channel connects lake Edward and George. At the channel is where the boat cruise safaris in the national park is conducted and this gives the tourists a chance for them to view a number of hippopotamuses, buffaloes, elephants, crocodiles alongside water birds
THE MWEYA PENINSULAR
The mweya peninsular is located in the north east part of the park where kazinga channel connects Edward and George. The peninsular is amazing to watch the mongoose, nature walks and game drives where one is able to view the leopards and other wildlife.
KYAMBURA GORGE
The gorge is one of the most visited areas within the national park and it’s located in the eastern part of the park and harbors a variety of primate species that includes chimpanzees, baboons, red tailed monkeys, black and white colobus monkey among others.
CRATER LAKES
Within Queen Elizabeth there over 10 crater lakes which includes lake Katwe which is a salt mining lake which was formed by volcanic eruption. The lake is also located in the north side of mweya peninsular and the locals extract rock salt from it for commercial and home use. Other crater lakes include lake nyamunuka, munyampaka which are located in kasenyi plains, lake munyanyange and its best at birding safaris among others.
TREE CLIMBING LIONS
The tree climbing lions of Queen Elizabeth national park are found in the ishasha sector and its one of the major attractions within the park. Ishasha is found in the southern part of Queen Elizabeth and the lions can be spotted lying up in the acacia, fig trees looking at the other species grazing in the savannah plains. The wild cats can be viewed while on the game drives
Tree Climbing lions in Queen
ACTIVITIES IN QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK
CHIMPANZEE TREKKING
The chimpanzee trekking activity is an activity that is greatly done within the kyambura gorge in queen Elizabeth national park. The gorge is also known as the valley of apes. The chimpanzees that are within the gorge are habituated and this means that they are ready to be trekked by tourists
Besides chimpanzees one can spot other animals such as baboons, red-tailed monkeys, butterflies and various bird species.
GAME DRIVES
A game drive is one of the great activities on a Uganda safari that one needs to experience. The game drive is best in the kaseyi plains. Besides the kasenyi drive circuit there are other circuits within the park these include ishasha game drive circuit, channel drive circuit and crater drive circuit. The game drives are done in the morning hours, afternoon and night. The game drives are rewarding because during day they are active while in the evening they are looking out for their resting places.
BIRD WATCHING
Queen Elizabeth is one of the top birding spots in uganda. It’s a home to over 600 bird species which makes the bird lover to have an amazing and memorable safari. Bird species such as papyrus canary, martial eagle, pink backed pelican, yellow throated cuckoo, pink backed pelican and verreaux’s eagle owl all in which live within the expensive grasslands, forests and wetlands. While flamingos are found at the Katwe and bunyampaba salt lakes.
BOAT CRUISE
Most of the boat cruise take place on the kazinga channel which connect lake Edward and George which is an amazing event for the tourist at the national park. While on the cruise the tourists tend to enjoy sights and sounds of the aquatic life. Besides the pied kingfisher grabbing a meal, the crocodiles lying on the channel banks and the hippopotamuses dipping themselves in the fresh waters is what the tourists will experience while on the boat cruise not forgetting the birds on the shores of the channel.
THE TREE CLIMBING LIONS OF ISHASHA
The ishasha sector is one of the places where one can find these amazing lions. This is because not every lion that you find can climb a tree, unless in ishasha. In the sector the lions are seen on the acacia and fig trees which is so amazing and adorable to watch. It’s a better place to view the lions as they hunt their prey such as the kob. The lions tend to climb the trees as they escape the bites from the tsetse fly, the cool breeze in the trees is why the lion’s idea of climbing trees remain an amazing mystery. Besides the climbing lions the sector is a home to other animals such as buffaloes, elephants, warthogs and antelopes which all make the Uganda safari a memorable one.
