Queen Elizabeth National Park: Why you should include it on your destinations in Uganda.
Queen Elizabeth national park is one of the 10 national parks and the second largest conservation area under the management of Uganda Wildlife Authority. The park does not only offer classic safari game viewing but also includes twists because of its various habitats of Swamps, lakes, acacia, savanna, and Forest.
It may have not been voted for or chosen by many to win accolades of Best Park in Africa like its counterparts of Kidepo valley and Murchison Falls national parks but it is rewarding. If you are planning a safari to Uganda, for some of these reasons you can include it.
Best predator sightings.
The areas of Kasenyi plains, Mweya Peninsular, and Ishasha offer good chances of sighting predators. These are some of the prime game viewing areas. They have bountiful wildlife and prey for the predators. Signing to do game drives with the Uganda Predator Project that is based at Mweya, will guarantee you sightings of Leopards, lions, and the hyenas as the project work with monitoring these meat-eaters. For Ishasha, the chances are of sighting the local pride hanging in the shady fig trees.
Easy to combine with prime primate parks
The biggest concentration of Uganda’s national parks is in the western Arm of the East African region commonly referred to as the Albertine Rift Valley. Queen Elizabeth, Kibale Forest, and Bwindi impenetrable national parks are all in this rift valley. It is strategically located near Kibale National park (famous for chimpanzees) just 150km in the north and 62km south of it, is Bwindi Impenetrable national park (Famous for mountain gorillas). This makes it easy to have a combined primate and wildlife safari to these three parks.
Home of the tree climbing lions.
Queen Elizabeth National park’s 95 mammals offer first-rate wildlife viewing. Of the 95 are the tree-climbing lions that occupy the southern sector of the park in Ishasha. QENP is among the few places in East Africa where you are guaranteed to encounter the tree-climbing lions.
Lions are not typically as skillful climbers as the leopards and they seldom make it a habit even when they have tried. But in QENP they are famous for this tendency. There is no specific explanation for this habit but some theories say they climb to escape tsetse flies, beat the heat, and even to have a perfect place to spot prey from heights.
Photographers’ dream.
The seismic scenery bookended by Lakes George and Edward, dotted with several explosion crater lakes with the Rwenzori Mountains in the backdrop will never disappoint for landscape and aerial photography. The clear and sunny skies, gorgeous sunrises and sunsets for nature against the sun photographs, and the different vegetation offer a mosaic you will not find elsewhere.
The Kazinga Channel Cruise.
The abundance of birdlife and the concentration of hippos at Kazinga channel will leave you mesmerized. A 2-hour boat cruise starts from the Jetty below Mweya Safari Lodge and is an oasis for the thirsty animals and those that want to beat the heat.