Queen Elizabeth national park
As the sound of its name, the Queen Elizabeth national park is a perfect angelic destination vibrant and full of life, the biodiverse ecosystem is situated in the western part of Uganda straddling adjacent to the Equator with a backdrop of the Rwenzori mountains, it was initially named as the Kazinga national park until the visit of Queen Elizabeth the second of England visited the conservation area which changed its name to be after the Queen, it is famous for tree climbing lions to the south of the park in the Ishasha sector, it also contains most of Uganda’s birds the 1030species in the country 600 have been recorded here. The park was gazette in 1952 stretching along the floor of the great Albertine rift valley region covering an area space of 1978 square kilometers in the Kasese district, the Katwe Salt Lake region marks the highest point of elevation of the national park situated at 1350m above sea level and the lowest being at Lake Edward at 910m.
Queen Elizabeth national park is one of the most popular savannah park its angelic biodiversity comprises of a vast savannah grassy land dotted with many crater lakes, gorges, salt lakes, and humid forested area, these protect many animal species including the big 4 of the wilderness (lions, elephants, African buffaloes, leopards), other present mammals are chimpanzee in the Kyambura gorge, antelopes of different species, warthogs, hippos, the Kazinga channel boasts with the highest population of hippos around the world it is an epic point mostly in the dry season as animals mostly gather here to drink and eat on greener pastures, the hug fig trees in the south of the jungle hide the famous tree climbing lions the route is one place to connect through to the western part of Uganda between the Kibale forest national park as well as the Bwindi impenetrable national park.
Things to do while here include game drives conducted in sessions, in the early morning, afternoon, and evening time, it is also one of the few places where doing night game drives is allowed with the guidance of an Uganda wildlife game ranger, drives last between 2-3 hours through the well distributed game tracks of the national park in search of the many animal species, to the north is the Kasenyi Plains which is a best to view wildlife, the drives are done using 4*4 wheel car drives with open roof tops to enhance the view of animals and photography. Boat cruise along the Kazinga channel, this is a long meter stream connecting the 2 rift valley lakes of Edward and George, the cruise showcases many animals present in the national park.
Chimpanzee tracking in the Kyambura gorge these have been scientifically proven to share up to 98% of the human DNA, they are loud with their charter sound, communicable, and are social primates, the apes seem as though they have been trapped here, with nowhere else to go, the gorge can easily be missed as it is sort of a hidden treasure of the national park. tracking permits can be attained from the Uganda wildlife authority through your tour operator, one ought to pay park entrance fees to the same entity, a foreign nonresident fee of $40, foreign residents, $30, and East African citizens 20,000 shillings only. It is an ideal destination to go birding, many species have been recorded here including endemics of the great Albertine rift valley region. Guided nature walks through the national park mostly in the Maramogambo forest for more primates and experiential lion tracking, this will give higher chances of meeting the king of the jungle with much ease
Queen Elizabeth national park can be visited all throughout the year but best during the dry season between June-mid September and December -January, the grasses tend to be shorter and routes ,less slippery, it can be accessed by road taking approximately +/-7 hours drive to arrive at the destination charter and scheduled flights can be arranged to land at the Kasese airstrip and a ground transfer to the respectable hotel facilities, it is an amazing destination with available accommodation ranging from the best budget to Luxury, example facilities include ishasha wilderness camp, buffaloes safari lodge to mention a few.