MOST VISITED DESTINATION IN UGANDA
Vibrant Holiday Safaris takes you through the most popular and visited tourist destination in Uganda which is Queen Elizabeth National park. This is because of its diversity and the park has different wildlife habitats like forests, savannah grasslands, and lakes. Below are the interesting things you can do when you go to Queen Elizabeth National park.
Wildlife viewing and game drive
Visiting Queen Elizabeth national park will give you the fulfillment of what you have been yearning to see in Uganda since it is blessed with very many animals. Queen Elizabeth national park has over 90 mammal species, reptiles, and over 600 bird species including insect species. The park has over 2500 African Elephants, and 5000 hippos over 10,000 Buffalos and is also blessed with tree-climbing lions which are found in the Ishasha sector on the south side of the park. The lions climb the trees to spot their prey and keep away from the tsetse flies, the hot temperatures make them climb the trees to take a nap.
The game drives are conducted around the Kasenyi area and the Ishasha sector for the tree-climbing lions, you will also see the African elephants, buffaloes, warthogs, hippos, giant forest hogs, Nile crocodiles, leopards, spotted hyenas and Chimpanzees.
Boat Cruise along the Kazinga Channel
The Kazinga Channel is 40 meters long connecting the 2 lakes of Edward and George. The Kazinga Channel also has a lot of wild animals that you can see while on a boat cruise for example the hippos, buffalos, lions, and crocodiles drinking water, hunting for food, and the best place to watch the different types of birds.
Chimpanzee tracking in Kyambura Gorge and Kalinzu Forest
This is a rain forest in the savannah grassland plains shaped by the Kyambura River where you want to go for Chimpanzee trekking in Queen Elizabeth national park, Kyambura Gorge and Kalinzu forest reserve are the best destinations but you can go for a forest walk in Maramgambo forest which is a bat cave.
Lake Katwe salt works
Lake Katwe is located in the Northern part of the Mweya Peninsular, northwest of Queen Elizabeth national park. Lake Katwe is a saline crater lake that in the dry season forms the salt pans on the bottom that concentrate making a hyper solution that forms salt during the tour you can participate in the salt mining process with the locals while interacting with them. You can also visit the historical German salt factory that was operated by the Germans who later stopped and went back to their country.
Bird watching
The park has more than 600 bird species recorded making it a place worth visiting since some of the birds found there are endemic while others migrate from Europe and Asia during the dry season in Uganda. Birds that are mostly spotted in Queen Elizabeth National park include the lesser flamingos, Malachite kingfisher, sacred ibis, African fish eagle, pied kingfisher, spur-winged plover, Egyptian goose, the rare shoe bill stock, Great Blue Turaco, Gray-Crowned Crane, Long-Crested Eagle, Black and White Casqued Hornbill.
Exploration Crater Lakes
The crater lakes are located in the western valley of East Africa and Queen Elizabeth National Park has over 10 crater lakes which include Katwe crater lake, Bunyaruguru Kichwamba crater fields, Ndali-Kasenda crater field these famous crater drive takes approximately 24km between the volcanic craters and they are filled with lakes, savannah grassland and the rain forests where you can find many different bird species.
The queen’s Pavilion
The Pavilion was constructed in 1952 to host the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth when she visited the park and later renovated it in 1954 for royal guests from England. The pavilion has the best views of the park where you have the best view for taking photographs.
The Landscape
Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of the parks in Uganda with beautiful landscapes since the park has golden brown savannah grassland vegetation that is breathtaking when seen from a far distance. The park is near Mountain Rwenzori which gives you a chance to see the Rwenzori Mountain ranges touching the sky and the landscape is so beautiful for a photograph with the mountain ranges acting as your background.
Local community visits
Queen Elizabeth national park has various communities you can visit and have a true feeling of being in Uganda these communities have different cultural experiences from the others and these communities include
Leopard village (Muhoya village)
This is the village within a Community Resource Center, the leopard village is a clear example of a community co-existing with wildlife since it is known as a village that has infinite tolerance towards the leopards that have kept on preying on their domestic livestock. You can visit the small library for the village children, and the replicas of traditional huts of the Basongora, Banyabindi, and Bakonzo.
Kikongo women community
This community organizes cultural dances and entertainment where they can teach you how to make traditional crafts like making paper, beads, and banana fiber bowls among others.
Busonga fishing village
This village is found on the shores of Lake Gorge where you can do a boat cruise with the locals, fishing, cultural performances, and storytelling.
Nyanzi’ibiri cave community
This is where you have the view of the crater lakes, you can also paddle a canoe known as the Kamunzuku. The community also offers campsite accommodations called DAVE THE CAVE.
Omwani coffee plantation
This is a women’s cooperative dedicated to producing organic Arabic and Robuster coffee which they sell to the local market and export to other countries. These women make sure that they don’t add any chemical manure to the plantations with the aim of producing organic coffee. Many women have benefited from the initiative since they have been able to take their children to school, feed them and also help with the financial needs of their homes.
MOST VISITED DESTINATION IN UGANDA