Philip is a renowned Africa expert and author of many Bradt guidebooks to African destinations, including the guide to Uganda.
Philip is a renowned Africa expert and author of many Bradt guidebooks to African destinations, including the guide to Uganda.
Philip is a renowned Africa expert and author of the Bradt guidebook to Uganda.
Philip is the author of the Bradt guidebook to Uganda.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is Uganda’s most popular savannah reserve and has the widest variety of wildlife of any Ugandan park. The variety of habitats includes grassland savannah, forests, wetlands and lakes. This provides the setting for an extensive range of large mammals and primates. Four of the Big Five are present (rhino are absent) and chimp tracking is available.
This is the most reliable park in Uganda for lion, which is particularly common on the grassy Kasenyi Plains, but is more famous for its tree-climbing antics in the Ishasha sector. Huge herds of buffalo and elephant are found in the savannah areas of the park, and an amazing number of hippo inhabit the Kazinga Channel on which daily boat trips are conducted.
The park is set against a backdrop of the Rwenzori Mountains. Additional scenic points are Kazinga Channel between Lake Edward and Lake George and at least 10 crater lakes. The most accessible part of the park is open savannah, but large forest areas are open to the public. These include the forested Kyambura Gorge and the extensive Maramagambo forest in the southeast.
Weather & Climate
Queen Elizabeth National Park’s nearness to the equator ensures uniformly warm temperatures throughout the year. Heavy rain that makes some roads impassable is a feature of the region’s two Wet seasons (March to May and August to December). Although there’s no official Dry season, the rainfall decreases somewhat – though rarely entirely – from January to February and June to July.
Brief but drenching rainstorms often characterize the days of the Wet seasons (March to May and August to December), but this is also when the park’s environment is beautifully lush and you can greet migratory birds as they pass through. For chimpanzee trekking, though, visit when the park’s trails are more solid underfoot in the drier months.
Sue is an award-winning writer who specializes in African travel and conservation. She writes for national newspapers, magazines, Rough Guides and Lonely Planet.
An understated gem
3/5
Despite the diversity of its wildlife - ranging from hundreds, sometimes thousands, of Ugandan kob in the northern Kasenyi Plains, to chimps at Kyambura Gorge in the east, tree-climbing lions at Ishasha in the south, and over 600 species of...
The wildlife here was in lower numbers than many other parks I visited on this trip and in Tanzania. The river cruise did have some good birding opportunities. The daytime game drives didn't do as well we did see Ugandan Kob, Elephants, and...