Of all Uganda’s national parks, Queen Elizabeth is the most visited. It is one of Uganda’s most beautiful safari destinations and can be described as a place full of wonders. It is the second-largest park in Uganda, covering an area of about 1,978 square kilometers, and is mainly a protected savanna grassland.
The park is home to a variety of animals that live in its vast savanna, green woodlands, and productive wetlands.
Queen Elizabeth National Park, which Andrew Roberts refers to as “Uganda’s Great Rift Valley,” is the second-largest park in Uganda, covering about 1,978 square kilometers.
It is divided into two sections, the North and the South, and is bordered to the west by Lake Edward and to the north by the Rwenzori Mountains.
A high peninsula overlooks this fertile equatorial region, which features two lakes connected by a river and tropical rainforests.
The landscape, with its wide grasslands, woodlands, rivers, lakes, and cacti, is simply breathtaking.
This park is home to more than 620 bird species, ten monkey species, including chimpanzees, and four of the “Big Five” animals. Most of these can be easily seen during a safari.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of the oldest parks in Uganda, having been established in 1952. If you are looking for a truly wild and natural place to visit, this is the perfect choice.
The park is surrounded by the districts of Kasese, Bushenyi, and Bundibugyo in western Uganda.
How to Get There
The park is easy to reach. It is about 389 kilometers from Kampala, which takes around five to six hours by car. A paved road from Mbarara to Kasese and Fort Portal passes through the park, just 22 kilometers from Mweya, the main tourist area.
The park can be accessed from Kampala via Mbarara (420 km) in the south or Fort Portal (410 km) in the north. These routes can also be combined into a scenic travel loop with stops at Lake Mburo, Semuliki, and Kibale National Parks.
Another way to reach the park is from the south through Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Charter flights are available at airports in Kasese, Mweya, and Ishasha.
Things to See in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Visitors can see a variety of animals, including over 5,000 hippos, 3,000 African elephants, more than 10,000 buffaloes, waterbucks, Uganda kobs, topis, warthogs, and more than 620 bird species.
The park is also home to chimpanzees, black and white colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, baboons, and other primates.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is the most visited tourist destination and the most popular national park for wildlife safaris in Uganda. Its diverse ecosystems, including lakes, wetlands, open savannas, and humid forests, support a wide range of wildlife, including chimpanzees and more than 600 bird species.
The park offers stunning views of the Kazinga Channel, where visitors can see hippos, buffaloes, and elephants along the shore. It also has large craters that have suddenly collapsed into rolling green hills.
In the Ishasha plains, fig trees provide shade for lions that climb trees.
