Queen Elizabeth National Park Safari

About Queen Elizabeth National Park

Established in 1954 and designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1979, Queen Elizabeth National Park covers 1,978 square kilometres in the western arm of the Great Rift Valley, straddling the districts of Kasese, Kamwenge, Rubirizi, and Rukungiri. The park sits between two of the African Great Lakes — Lake George to the north-east and Lake Edward to the south-west — connected by the celebrated Kazinga Channel.

What makes Queen Elizabeth extraordinary is its ecological diversity. Within its boundaries you will find open savanna grassland where Uganda kob graze in their thousands, dense papyrus swamp teeming with specialist waterbirds, ancient tropical forest harboring chimpanzees and giant forest hog, and a landscape of volcanic craters — some dry, some filled with deep, alkaline lakes — that punctuate the northern sector with a geological drama found nowhere else in Uganda.

The park holds the Big Five minus the rhino: elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, and hippo are all present. Uganda removed rhinos from the wild in the 1980s due to poaching, but a rhino sanctuary at Ziwa, en route to Murchison Falls, now breeds white rhinos for eventual reintroduction. For the widest possible range of species in a single destination, QENP has no equal in Uganda.

The Kazinga Channel: Africa's Premier Boat Safari

The Kazinga Channel is a 40-kilometre natural waterway connecting Lakes George and Edward, and it forms the beating heart of the Queen Elizabeth ecosystem. No other body of water in Uganda concentrates quite so much life in so small a space. The standard two-hour boat safari, departing from the channel jetty near Mweya Safari Lodge, is one of the most rewarding wildlife experiences in all of East Africa.

The reason for this density is simple: the channel provides fresh water to an enormous surrounding area, and every living thing within range — from the largest hippo to the smallest kingfisher — needs it. Uganda Wildlife Authority estimates that the Kazinga Channel supports the largest concentration of hippos in any single protected area in Uganda. On a typical morning cruise you will encounter multiple pods of several dozen animals each, submerged to their eyes, grunting, snorting, and occasionally rearing up in territorial disputes.

Wildlife regularly encountered on the Kazinga Channel includes:

• Common hippopotamus — pods of 20 to 80 animals are typical; you may see young calves just days old resting on their mothers' backs
• Nile crocodile — enormous individuals bask motionless on the sandy banks, mouths open to regulate temperature
• Cape buffalo — herds of several hundred animals come to drink at the water's edge in the late afternoon
• African fish eagle — pairs perch on dead trees along the bank; their call is the definitive sound of African wilderness
• Pink-backed pelican and great white pelican — both species are common, often seen fishing in coordinated groups
• Pied kingfisher and giant kingfisher — the pied hovers and dives repeatedly over the shallows; the giant is Africa's largest kingfisher
• Marabou stork — gaunt, prehistoric-looking birds that wade the shallows scavenging alongside the crocodiles
• African spoonbill, yellow-billed stork, and open-billed stork — all regular sightings along the channel margins

Game drives along the channel bank are also rewarding, particularly at dawn and dusk when elephants and buffalo move to the water in large numbers. The channel road runs along the southern bank and offers excellent photography from the vehicle — the landscape is wide open and the light at golden hour is extraordinary.

Ishasha: The Tree-Climbing Lions of Southern QENP

In the far south of Queen Elizabeth National Park, reached by a long drive through wild, largely unvisited savanna, lies the Ishasha sector — home to one of Africa's most peculiar and captivating wildlife phenomena. The lions of Ishasha regularly climb into the branches of large fig trees and remain there for hours, resting on the upper limbs with their legs dangling down like enormous domestic cats.

This behaviour is highly unusual. Across most of Africa, lions are ground-dwellers. While isolated cases of tree-climbing have been recorded at Lake Manyara in Tanzania and in a handful of other locations, the Ishasha lions are the most reliably arboreal lion population on the continent. Sightings are not guaranteed on any given game drive, but the success rate here is significantly higher than anywhere else, and the experience of finding a pride — sometimes six to twelve individuals — draped across the horizontal branches of a great fig tree is unlike anything else you will witness on safari.

Various explanations have been proposed for the behaviour: escape from biting flies and heat at ground level, improved vantage points for spotting prey, or simply a learned habit passed down through generations of the local pride. The most likely answer is a combination of all three. Whatever the reason, it makes for photographs that most safari-goers never achieve anywhere else in Africa.

Beyond the lions, the Ishasha sector offers excellent general game viewing through landscape that feels genuinely untouched. Expect large herds of Uganda kob — the national antelope of Uganda — as well as topi, Defassa waterbuck, warthog, elephant, and African buffalo. Leopards are present throughout the park and occasionally spotted in the riverine forest along the Ishasha River, which forms the DRC border.

The drive from Mweya to Ishasha takes approximately 90 minutes on dirt tracks through undisturbed bush. Most TRVE itineraries build in a full night at an Ishasha-area lodge so that guests can do both an afternoon and a morning game drive, maximising the chance of a lion sighting.

North Sector: Open Savanna Game Drives

The northern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park — centred on the Kasenyi and Mweya peninsulas — is the park's primary game drive area and where the majority of visitors spend their time. The landscape here is open savanna broken by fig trees, euphorbia candelabra, and the distinctive dark-green gallery forest along seasonal drainage channels. Visibility is excellent, and on a clear morning you can see the glaciated peaks of the Rwenzori Mountains — Africa's third-highest range — rising above the western horizon.

Queen Elizabeth holds Uganda's densest elephant population outside Murchison Falls. Herds of twenty to sixty animals are common sightings, and the park's elephants have become notably relaxed around safari vehicles over the decades, allowing close approaches that deliver exceptional photography. The elephants here tend to be larger than those seen in Murchison, and old bulls with impressive tusks are occasionally encountered on the Kasenyi plains.

Other key species in the northern sector include:

• African buffalo — herds of several hundred are a near-daily sighting; old solitary bulls are called "dagga boys" by guides and can be dangerous if approached on foot
• Spotted hyena — the Kasenyi area has a healthy hyena population; dawn and dusk are the best times to find them active
• Uganda kob — the national antelope of Uganda appears on the national coat of arms; males compete in traditional lekking grounds where each male defends a small territory and females choose their mates
• Topi — elegant, reddish-brown antelope with distinctive dark patches; often seen standing on termite mounds to survey their surroundings
• Oribi — a small, delicate antelope that prefers short grassland; less common but regularly seen in the Kasenyi area
• Warthog — ubiquitous and entertaining; families trot away with tails raised vertically like radio antennae
• Leopard — present throughout the park and occasionally spotted in trees or moving through long grass, but genuinely elusive and a sighting is a highlight of any visit

The volcanic craters of the northern sector — particularly the Katwe crater lakes with their pink-tinged, salt-saturated water — are worth a visit in their own right. Flamingos sometimes gather on the more saline lakes, and the crater rims provide elevated viewpoints across the entire rift valley landscape.

Maramagambo Forest: Chimpanzees and the Bat Cave

On the eastern edge of Queen Elizabeth National Park, a tongue of dense tropical forest extends southward from the Kibale-Maramagambo forest corridor — one of the longest intact forest corridors in East Africa. Maramagambo Forest is home to a partially habituated chimpanzee community, offering a primate experience that many visitors do not expect to find alongside their savanna game drives.

Chimpanzee tracking in Maramagambo is conducted in a similar manner to Kibale: small groups of up to six visitors are led by Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers into the forest, with a one-hour rule in effect once the chimps are found. Sightings are less consistent here than in Kibale — the chimps have a much larger home range and the forest is denser — but the setting is dramatic and the experience of hearing chimpanzees call in the canopy before catching a glimpse of movement above you is genuinely thrilling.

Also within Maramagambo is one of Uganda's most unusual attractions: the python bat cave. This is a dark, humid cave system home to thousands of fruit bats, and Maramagambo's rock pythons have learned to hunt them. The pythons hang from the cave ceiling or lie in wait at the entrance, snatching bats from the air as they enter and exit. It is a remarkable spectacle of predator and prey in a confined space. Guided walks to the cave are offered daily from the forest headquarters.

Other wildlife regularly encountered in Maramagambo includes black-and-white Colobus monkey — large troops move through the canopy with spectacular leaps — giant forest hog (the largest member of the pig family, weighing up to 275kg), African civet, and an outstanding selection of forest birds including the rarely seen African green broadbill.

Birding in Queen Elizabeth National Park

With over 600 recorded bird species, Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of the premier birding destinations in East Africa and ranks among the top ten birding sites on the entire African continent. The diversity of habitats — savanna, wetland, papyrus swamp, tropical forest, crater lake, and riverine woodland — creates a mosaic that supports an extraordinarily wide range of species.

The shoebill — arguably Uganda's most sought-after bird, a prehistoric-looking grey giant that stands over a metre tall and hunts lungfish in papyrus swamp — is present in the park's wetland margins, particularly around the Katunguru area near the channel inlet from Lake George. Sightings are not guaranteed but are more achievable here than almost anywhere else in Uganda outside of Murchison Falls. TRVE's guides know the most reliable locations and can build in dedicated shoebill searches on full-day excursions.

The African skimmer is another iconic species found on the Kazinga Channel: a striking black-and-white bird that flies low over the water dragging its elongated lower mandible through the surface to catch fish. It is one of Uganda's most photogenic birds, and the Kazinga Channel is one of only a handful of reliable sites for it in the country.

Best Time to Visit Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth National Park can be visited year-round, and each season offers something distinct. Here is what to expect across the calendar:

• January – February (Dry): Excellent game drives; grasses are short and animals concentrate around water. Roads in good condition throughout the park, including the Ishasha sector. This is the optimal time for lion sightings and elephant watching on the Kasenyi plains.
• March – May (Long Rains): Prices drop by up to 30% at most lodges. The park is lush and green. Birding is superb as migratory species are present. Game drives remain productive but some tracks in Ishasha may become difficult after heavy rain. Fewer visitors mean a more exclusive feeling in the park.
• June – August (Dry): The peak season. Long dry conditions mean animals are highly concentrated around the Kazinga Channel. Perfect for game drives and the boat safari. This is the most reliable time for tree-climbing lion sightings in Ishasha as the lions are forced to move less and tend to stay in familiar territories. Book lodges and permits well in advance.
• September – October (Short Rains): Light, intermittent rains. Still a good time to visit; animals remain concentrated. Some of the lush landscapes of the long rains without the heavy rainfall. A good compromise between quality and value.
• November – December (Short Dry then Rains): November can bring heavier rain. December sees drier conditions returning by mid-month. The festive season sees lodges fill up quickly; book early if travelling in late December.

The Kazinga Channel boat safari is excellent in every season — the hippo population does not vary with rainfall, and the channel banks are productive for wildlife viewing regardless of time of year.