Queen Elizabeth national park is one of the top magic safaris destination that is greatly considered while choosing wildlife safaris in ‘The Pearl of Africa’ by number of travelers that come to Africa. Queen Elizabeth national park is situated in the south western park of Uganda in the districts of kasese, Rubirzi, kamwenge and Rukungiri.

The park is one of the oldest national park and it is the second largest after Murchison fall national park that is located in the north eastern part if uganda. Queen Elizabeth national park covers an area of 1978 kilometers and it is dominated by the open savannah grassland, savannah woodland vegetation as well as the tropical rainforests that is situated in the eastern part of the park.

Queen Elizabeth national park is ranked among the best safari destination in Uganda due to the fact it is rich in incredible abundance of unique wildlife features and great wonders of a true African jungle. Activities and attractions in queen Elizabeth national park is located in different sectors of the park that can be explored while on a game drive safari, hot air balloon safari as well as  on a boat cruise ride on kazinga channel.

Some of the sectors of queen Elizabeth that are highly explored on uganda wildlife safaris in the park include; the Ishasha sector is famous for the tree climbing lion and it has a high concentration of wildlife animals compared to other sectors such as the uganda kobs, African elephants, the caped buffaloes, zebras, sitatunga giraffes, bushbucks, waterbucks, Oribis, antelopes, among others.

Other sectors include Mweya peninsular, kazinga channel, the kyambura gorge, and Kasenyi sector and katwe sanctuary. The sectors can easily be explored while on a game drive safari or on a hot air balloon safaris in Queen Elizabeth national park.

How to get to Queen Elizabeth national park?

Queen Elizabeth national park can easily be accessed on both road transport and air transport from either Kampala city and Entebbe international airport, but accessibility can be depends on where the traveler is coming from.

On road transport

From Kampala city to Queen Elizabeth national park, travelers can take about 7-8 hours’ drive while covering a total distance of 390 kilometers including stopover points using a 4×4 Safari vehicle.

Travelers coming from Bwindi forest to Queen Elizabeth national park will take about 4-5 hours via kihihi from Buhoma sector then go through Ishasha sector and later to Mweya peninsular that is home to the park headquarters. From Bwindi impenetrable forest national park to Queen Elizabeth national park it is about 160 kilometers up to Mweya while as it is 64 kilometers to Ishasha sector.

Using road transport to get to Queen Elizabeth is extremely interesting and best option for budget travelers since it helps to save some dollars from air transport due to fact that air transport is expensive compared to road transport. Road transport gives travelers have enough time to explore the Pearl of Africa and interact with the indigenous people compared to air transport since before you reach Queen Elizabeth national park, travelers will go through different areas of Uganda before you reach the park.

On air transport

From Entebbe international airport to Queen Elizabeth national park, there are various airlines that operate Uganda safaris to different national park. Travelers going to Queen Elizabeth national park from kajjansi airstrip will land in Mweya airstrip that is situated within the park near Mweya safari lodge.  From Entebbe to Queen Elizabeth national park on air transport it will take only one hour to land in the park. Air transport is the best option for travelers who have difficulties of sitting in a vehicle for longer hours and long distances and travelers who have limited time to spend in Uganda but would like to enjoy Uganda wildlife safaris in Queen Elizabeth national park.

Activities in Queen Elizabeth national park

Boat cruise ride on kazinga channel, boat cruise ride in Queen Elizabeth national park gives you an opportunity to explore a lot wildlife animals and birds, view the fishing villages as well as fish men laying their nets preparing for the night catch. It exposes travelers to a lot of wildlife animals at kazinga channel banks that have come to drink water especially during the dry season such as the huge populations of elephants, the lonely and isolated old male buffaloes, the large number of hippos, crocodiles, water bucks, giraffes, zebras among others.

Boat in Queen Elizabeth national park is done into two phases, in the morning hours as well as the afternoon hours and there are two boat cruise rides which are operated by profession guides who are known as captains. There is the Uganda wildlife authority (UWA) boat as well as the Mweya safari lodge boat. The Mweya safari lodge boat can be hired any time travelers would like to enjoy the safari and it offers luxury services compared to that of UWA boat.

Game drive safaris, game drive is one of the key activities that travelers like to enjoy while on their visit to Queen Elizabeth national park. Game drive in Queen Elizabeth national park is done in the Kasenyi plains, in Ishasha sector and north kazinga plains.

Game drive in Queen Elizabeth national park gives travelers an opportunity to view abundance of wildlife such as leopards, the tree climbing lions, the warthogs, the African elephants, bushbucks, waterbucks, cape buffaloes, mongoose, as well as bird species such as open billed stork, yellow backed weavers, pied kingfisher, and white backed pelicans among others.

Chimpanzee trekking, this is one of the major key activities that is on high demand to all travelers that come to Queen Elizabeth national park.  Chimpanzee trekking in Queen Elizabeth national park is done in kyambura gorge which is a tropical rainforest that is located in the eastern part of the park. Chimpanzee trekking in kyambura gorge is such an awesome and amazing adventure that gives travelers a chance to encounter with other primate animals such as, white and black colobus monkey, the blue monkeys, grey checked monkeys, the bush babies, the olive baboons among others.

Lion tracking experience, this is the best and famous activity that almost every traveler who come to Africa would like to enjoy due to the fact that the tree climbing lions are rare find. Queen Elizabeth national park is famously and popularly known for the famous tree climbing lions that are found in Ishasha sector that has a high concentration of wildlife of which some it acts as food to the tree climbing lions such as the Uganda kobs, zebras among other. During the lion tracking adventure travelers will be allowed to spend enough time watching the tree climbing lion behaviors and feeding habits, how it does the hunting of the preys, and finally you will be able to discover why the lions in Ishasha sector climb trees. The activity is done together with an armed ranger guides and researchers and during the process travelers are allowed to go off track so that they can have a perfect experience of the lion tracking adventure.

 Other activities include nature walk in kyambura gorge and maramagambo forest that will give an opportunity travelers to explore the hidden treasures of the park such as the birds, the bats and pythons as well as wildlife animals. Nature in Queen Elizabeth national park can be combined together with bird watching experience that will expose you to various birds’ species in the park since Queen Elizabeth national park is n of the best spot destination bird lovers.

In conclusion, travelers are advised to book with tour operators such as adventure in the wild safaris who will assist them to get Queen Elizabeth national park by all means due to the fact that tour operators have experience in safari arrangement and they have experienced and professional driver guides who know the routes leading to the park. With travelers who are interested in flight service to Queen Elizabeth national park, they can as well book with tour operators in advance so as to assist them make arrangements with chartered aircrafts that operate safaris to different destinations of the park.