QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK
Queen Elizabeth National Park was founded in 1952 as Kazinga National Park and renamed two years later to commemorate a visit by Queen Elizabeth II of England. It covers 1978sqkm.
Queen Elizabeth National Park spans the equator line; monuments on either side of the road marking the exact spot where it crosses latitude 00.
The park is home to over 95 mammal species and over 600 bird species.
The Katwe explosion craters mark the park’s highest point at 1,350m above sea level, while the lowest point is at 910m, at Lake Edward.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is understandably Uganda’s most popular tourist destination. The park’s diverse ecosystems, which include sprawling savanna, shady, humid forests, sparkling lakes, and fertile wetlands, make it the ideal habitat for a classic big game, ten primate species including chimpanzees, and over 600 species of birds.
Set against the backdrop of the jagged Rwenzori Mountains, the park’s magnificent vistas include dozens of enormous craters carved dramatically into rolling green hills, panoramic views of the Kazinga Channel with its banks lined with hippos, buffalo, and elephants, and the endless Ishasha plains, whose fig trees hide lions ready to pounce on herds of unsuspecting Uganda kob.
Most of Queen Elizabeth comprises open grassland and savannah which tends to be moist and woody in the west than the eastern part, Thorny Acacia dominates this savannah habitant with the high concentration of candelabra shrub a cactus that grows along the Kazinga channel and on the Kasenyi plains.
Queen Elizabeth supports at least 95 species of mammals, it boasts of 20 carnivores like the Lion, Leopards, side stripped jackal and spotted hyena among others.
In Queen Elizabeth National Park, a number of activities can be done which include:
Game drive: Game drive is one of the major activities in Queen Elizabeth national park which gives tourists an opportunity to explore the park in a comfortable pop up safari vehicle with a professional driver guide who help to spot different wildlife species.
Boat cruises: Boat cruise trips in Queen Elisabeth National Park are carried out on Kazinga Channel, a 40km long water channel that connects Lake Edward and Lake George. During the Boat cruise at Kazinga Channel, the tourist is able to cruise meters away from animals such as elephants, buffaloes, warthogs, antelopes which will be seen along the water banks drinking water, large herds of hippos and crocodiles in water among others.
Birding: Birding is one of the interesting and breathtaking activities carried in Queen Elisabeth National Park. This park is home of over 612 bird species including aquatic birds, forest dwellersn woodland birds, migratory birds among others which make this national park the best birding destination in Uganda. Kazinga channel, Mweya peninsular, Maramagambo forest, Kasenyi plains, Ishasha sector, Katwe salt lake, lake Kikorongo, Katunguru bridge are the bests spots for birding.
Lion Tracking: Queen Elizabeth National Park is a lion conservation unit and hence lions are a key attraction in the park. The park has over 250 of the large cats in both the northern and southern sector. Apart from the normal lions, Queen Elizabeth National Park is most famous for having the largest population of tree climbing lion in the world. The tree climbing lions are found in the Ishasha sector of the park which is located in the southern sector of the park. On a normal afternoon game drive in Ishasha, tourists can sport the lions lazily hanging on large fig trees.
Community visits: This is an activity that the tourist can do to get familiar with the cultural values of this region.
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