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 and the best hotspot for all Uganda widlife Safaris, 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.
Elephant and buffalo are very common, and lion are surprisingly easy to spot. There are many interesting antelope species, such as Uganda kob, topi and bushbuck. Hippo and crocodile are common in Kazinga Channel. A troop of chimpanzee has been habituated for tracking and nine other primate species are found, including the black-and-white colobus monkey. Giraffe and zebra are absent.
Queen Elizabeth National 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.
Best Time To Visit to the Park
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.