Queen Elizabeth National Park

Visit Scenic, Untouched Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth National Park lies in the valley separating Lake Edward and Lake George in western Uganda, between the Rwenzori highlands to the North and the Kyambura highlands to the southwest.

VARIED LANDSCAPES AND TERRAIN

Terrain around this area is varied and diverse: the southern parts of Queen Elizabeth are characterised by open grass savannahs doted with Acacia trees, then the thick deciduous Maramagambo Forest dominates the central parts, before it opens up into stunning grassy savannahs with Acacia trees again toward the northern parts. There are also some very scenic hillside areas around a collection of craters north of the Kazinga channel and toward Kyumbura gorge

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND EXPERIENCE

Queen Elizabeth National Park has very high biodiversity and used to have amongst the highest numbers and diversity of wildlife on the African continent, but sadly a fair amount of this was destroyed during the Uganda Civil War in the late 80s, continuing today with spillover effects from instability in the DRC. Supporting conservation in this area is critical - take a drive through this area to see a variety of savannah wildlife and species unique to this area such as the Ugandan Kob. Although not as plentiful, there are still some predator cats around.

Birdlife has fared slightly better and this area and this is one of our top pick birdwatcher paradises, with over 600 species of birds to be found here. We highly recommend a boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel, from which you can expect some close-ip viewings of the impressive number of hippos in this area, as well as large herds of Elephant and Buffalo. Birdwatching from the boat is second-to-none.

HOW WE USE QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK IN YOUR SAFARI

We see the main parts of Queen Elizabeth as mostly a drive-through national park rather than one that we would use as a standalone destination, and we focus on the Kazinga Channel and Kyamburga Gorge area, where the scenery is simply stunning and is not to be missed. The drive between here and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is a scenic 6 - 7 hour drive with a fantastic sense of adventure and exploration and a lot to see and learn along the way. We also venture into the park for game drives in certain sectors of the park, and often include a boat cruise on Kazinga channel for outstanding wildlife numbers and one of the best birding experiences we've seen anywhere in Africa. This area also fits in nicely between Kibali Forest or the Rwenzori and Bwindi.