Queen Elizabeth Park

Queen Elizabeth National Park is a protected area that also encompasses Kyambura Wildlife Reserve and Kigezi Wildlife Reserve. It runs from the foothills of the northern Rwenzori Mountains to Ishasha border gate in the south. So this massive park is just under 2,000 km². Thus we often stay in both the northern and southern sectors of the park.

Species Diversity in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Here, the grasslands of Uganda meet the eastern rainforest. Thus magical scenery combines with abundant wildlife, both predators and primates. This includes a vast concentration of hippo and the famous tree-climbing lion. Plus it is easy to combine with Bwindi National Park to the south and Kibale National Park to the north. And Kampala is not that far away.

The Kazinga Channel joins Lake George and Lake Edward. Take a boat cruise and watch for elephant, buffalo and Ugandan Kob on the shoreline as you glide along. Hippo, crocodile and water birds also frequent the banks. Plus bird-watching specials include malachites, pied kingfishers, great white and pink-backed pelicans and the open-billed stork.

Kyambura Wildlife Reserve

In the Kyambura Wildlife Reserve (pronounced Chambura) in the east of the park, large numbers of flamingos are attracted to a series of three saline crater lakes. Here guided walking safaris through the Kyambura gorge may result in sightings of wild chimpanzees. These are habituated to small numbers of visitors. And there are also caves where you can see thousands of bats, python and monitor lizard.

The Ishasha Wilderness Sector

In the more isolated Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park, you can find tree-climbing lions regularly, if improbably, perched on the boughs of ancient fig trees. The meandering Ishasha River runs through this area, with riparian forest on its river banks. This is also the only place in the park to see Topi.

Then to the southeast of Queen Elizabeth National Park, you can explore the Maramagambo forest on cool forest trails. This forest is a valuable sample of East African medium altitude semi-deciduous forest. Unfortunately, this is increasingly scarce. It’s also a good habitat for chimpanzees, enormous pythons and colonies of cave-dwelling fruit bats.

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