Planning to go for a Uganda safari tour to Queen Elizabeth National Park Uganda with your family?. Queen Elizabeth National Park is a good choice! It is the second most popular and second-biggest safari park in Uganda after Uganda’s biggest, Murchison Falls National park because of the many attractions and activities in the park. The park offers a lot more than expected because it has variety of Uganda safari activities including children. Some of these include; Uganda wildlife safari tours, Uganda birding safaris, Uganda chimpanzee trekking safaris, nature walks, research among others. In this article, we unleash for you facts that will make you want to visit Queen Elizabeth National Park. For a memorable safari in Uganda, make an itinerary that will enable you have time or spend time in Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Facts That Will Make You Want to Visit Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth Park is also among the largest protected areas in Uganda known internationally and in Uganda, it is rated as the second oldest national park in Uganda after Murchison Falls National Park Uganda. Queen Elizabeth National park covers an area of about 1978 sq. km large. This area is home to a unique selection of mammals; about 95 species, 619 species of birds, hippo, crocodiles, different types of antelopes, butterflies among the rest. All these Uganda safari attractions in Queen Elizabeth National Park together offer one of the best Uganda wildlife tours or Uganda wildlife safaris in Uganda while on your Africa safari.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is the national park with the largest number of hippos in East Africa totalling to about 5000. It also has over 3000 elephants and 1000 buffaloes. Other animals that live in large numbers in this park include; Queen has quite a number of antelope types like the Duikers, Reed Buck, Topis and the Sitatunga antelopes. The Sitatunga antelope can be seen along the Kazinga channel in the shrubs.
Queen Elizabeth National Park Uganda has the biggest number of Kobs in Uganda; Kasenyi plains are the breeding grounds for the Uganda Kob. Kazinga channel of Queen Elizabeth national park has the most wildlife; it is the main water source and attracts a lot of animals and these can be witnessed during a boat cruise safari in Uganda along the Kazinga channel. Kazinga channel is a river that connects Lake Edward to Lake George.
Queen Elizabeth national park has the biggest number of bird species in Uganda including the most sought shoebill stork hence making it suitable for travellers interested in Uganda birding safaris or just a bird watching tour in Uganda. Because it is abundantly endowed with bird species, it is ranked the 2nd best areas for birding safari areas in Africa and stands in the 6th position of the world’s birding safari destinations. The various birds in the national park are supported by the various ecological habitats that make a number of birds adapt to the environment in Queen Elizabeth national park. This park was also internationally recognized by the international birding as an important birding area.
Queen Elizabeth Park is located in the western rift valley arm of Africa and lies on the rift valley floor which runs from Uganda to Malawi. Queen Elizabeth is gifted with several rift valley lakes that give a fascinating and largely endemic fish fauna such as the Bagrus, Docmac, Sarothenodon Nitocticous and Sarothenodon Leacosticous among the rest. Enjoy all this on a short Uganda safari to Queen Elizabeth National Park by booking a short Uganda wildlife safari package like a 2 days Queen Elizabeth National Park safari, 4 Days Uganda wildlife safari.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is was formerly known as the Kazinga national park, however, later after the visit of the Queen of England; Queen Elizabeth II in 1952, the park was renamed its name to commemorate her visit. Perhaps it is the attribute to its current fame worldwide and because of this, a number of tourists have booked Uganda wildlife safaris to this park during their holidays.
Queen Elizabeth National Park Uganda is also a twin park to Queen Elizabeth Country Park in England. These two protected areas are twinned in a cultural exchange project, natural support; the main concern for this union is to promote and support conservation through empowering and working closely together with the local communities; the ones that implement the conservation plan.
It is said that Queen Elizabeth national park, had no crocodiles 10000years back, however, these enormous reptiles had to vacate Kazinga channel during the volcanic active period in the western rift valley that filled Lake Edward with the volcanic ash making its water toxic for life to exist, leading to the disappearing of the crocodiles from these water bodies. The crocodiles later came back to the later water body through River Mubuku, and they are currently an incredible attraction enjoyed by travellers on wildlife safaris in Uganda.
Formerly Queen Elizabeth national park was grazing land for an indigenous African Pastoralist tribe known as the “Basongora”. Later on, the Basongola left Queen Elizabeth due to frequent cattle raiding by people that came from the Buganda and Bunyoro Kingdom. The remaining Basongola were forced to resort to fishing from the lakes; lake Edward, lake gorge and Kazinga channel, hence forming the queen Elizabeth national park fishing villages of Busonga, Kasenyi, Katunguru among others.
The first European nation to set a foot in Queen Elizabeth national park was Sir Henry Marton Stanley, he was an English explorer who visited Uganda in 1889, and by the time he came to Queen Elizabeth national park, he did not find it as a human settlement but just a vast vacant land. And probably he has time to do a self-driven adventure through the plains of Queen Elizabeth national park. At the moment, there is lots of accommodation in Queen Elizabeth National Park Uganda or facilities where to stay in Queen Elizabeth National Park Uganda.

Popular Uganda Safari Attractions in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Wildlife at the park is breathtaking with about 95 mammal species and some of the most popular ones include, African leopard, African buffalo, Ugandan kob, African bush elephant, Nile crocodile, the lion, the hippopotamus, the waterbuck, and chimpanzees.
The big games are about 5000 hippos, approximately 2500 elephants and over 10,000 buffaloes! The primates are about 10 species including the chimpanzees, vervet and the black and white colobus monkey but the most daring of them all is the bold baboon.
The big cats like the interesting tree-climbing lions, the nocturnal and fiendishly well-camouflaged leopard, the civet, genal and several other creatures of the wild are part of the thrilling wildlife encountered on a Uganda wildlife tour.
A lot of wild game will excite the tourist but the tree climbing lions reluctantly enjoying the calmness of the tree branches at Ishasha in Rukungiri district will captivate lifetime memories. All these animals within one area and the place is still so calm, wow! this attests that the park is that haven for your wildlife safaris in Uganda as you enjoy to watch some of the great Ugandan beauty.

Bird species in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Birds in the diverse ecosystem are approximately about 600 species, a phenomenal number for such a small area.
The confluence of the savanna and forest linking to the expansive forest of the Democratic Republic of Congo which allows the tourist to have a glance at both the East and Central African bird species offer unrivalled Uganda birding safaris in just one destination.
There numerous water birds too with key species including the African skimmer, African Broadbill, Martial Eagle, Black-rumped Buttonquail, Chapin’s flycatcher, Verreaux’s Eagle-owl, Black Bee-eater, White-tailed lark and White Winged Warbler.

The Katwe explosion crater

The katwe explosion crater is one of the volcanic features with volcanic cones, deep craters with birds whirling above and salt is extracted from the salty waters. The water in these craters rotates in an amazing way.

Flora in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Flora in the lush sprawling savannah, fertile land, flowering plants and sparkling lakes accompanied by the humid temperatures gives the best scenic view for tourists on Uganda safari tours. The Maramagambo forest is the major forest at the park that contributes to the niceness of the park.

The Kazinga channel

Water bodies to sit within the park-like the Kazinga channel where aquatic mammals like the hippos and Nile crocodiles are seen in the waters especially in the morning.

Culture

The culture of the people within the parking area is so interesting for instance the historic cave and cultural museum which is very well preserved. Banyaruguru hut has a lot of valued artefacts that were formerly used as tools for daily survival.
In the kichwamba escarpment is a human-animal conflict where the communities use beehives to divert destructive elephants from their farms.
The Kikorongo (which means too much sunshine in the local Lukonzo language) women community has the cultural performers who entertain guests in the lodges and hotels, teach the tourists how to weave and therefore the culture will all be expressed before you at your comfort.

Affordable Uganda wildlife safari Packages

Search This Blog

PRIME SAFARIS AND TOURS AFRICA