Queen Elizabeth National Park

Traditionally overshadowed by the more famous grassland parks of Kenya and Tanzania, Uganda’s savannah parks are unique among safari destinations on the African continent.

Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP, or Queens) is Uganda's most visited national park and is often paired with Gorilla trekking in Bwindi and/or Chimp trekking in Kibale Forest. The park is famous for its big cats, including tree-climbing lions and leopards. Game drives in will reveal the parks range of big game including elephants, buffalos, antelopes and warthogs. 

Boat safaris take you across the Kazinga Channel that links Lakes Edward and George. Here you'll find buffalo and elephant coming down to the shore, pelicans rafting together in the sunshine, and plenty of hippos. 

There are over 600 species of recorded birds in Queens, and you can even pair a game drive or boat safari with chimp trekking in the mystical forests of Kyambura Gorge.

Queens is attractive for its big cats and beautiful landscapes. It is important not to conflate the ecosystem at Queens with wildlife reserves in such countries as South Africa, Tanzania or Kenya. Queens is not just a wilderness destination, there is a significant human population living in the park and their needs must be managed alongside that of the wildlife. 

While Queens has a large big game population, it's the big cats that leave the biggest impression on most travellers. You won't find zebras, rhinos, or giraffes in Queens (but you can find them elsewhere in Uganda including Murchison Falls and Lake Mburo national parks). 

Queens has approximately 5,000 hippo, 2,500 elephants and 10,000 buffalo. There are no rhinos, but there is no historical evidence that they ever existed south of the Nile river and north of the Kagera river.

The mammals are found across the plains, woodlands and shorelines, this means you will enjoy great sightings in multiple locations. Photo opportunities will be numerous, but so will the chance to just sit and observe these very special animals in their natural habitat.

Other frequently seen herbivores are warthog, waterbuck, Ugandan kob, topi and the sitatunga antelope of the wetlands around Lake George.

For the big cat lovers, there is also plenty to appreciate. Lion are found throughout the park (with the lion research programme providing great access in the Mweya Peninsula area), but they are most famous in the southern Ishasha sector where the population has learnt to climb fig trees to escape the flies.

There are also leopard, civet, genet and serval present. These are all much more elusive, many nocturnal, which makes a sighting all the more special.

The combination of big cats alongside classic big game is part of what makes Queens such a wonderful safari destination. These animals appear before backdrops of immense beauty; the stunning landscapes the perfect theatre for a unique safari experience. 

In the trees - and foraging in the undergrowth in some cases - reside 10 species of primate. The largest of these are the chimpanzees, found in the hidden forests of Kyambura and the expanse of Maramagambo, and the olive baboons (make sure they don’t try to steal your lunch).

Just as intriguing and worth looking for are the supporting cast of black and white colobus, red colobus, red-tailed monkey, L’Hoest’s monkey, blue monkey, grey-cheeked crested mangabey (Uganda’s only indigenous primate) and the vervet monkey.

When any protected area includes a significant range of habitats, you know the birding is going to be incredible. Queens won’t let you down in this respect.

There are over 600 species waiting to be spotted and recorded. While the famous species like the Shoebill stork, pelican and flamingo grab the attention, each habitat is home to a myriad of other superstars - large and small. 

The game drive is the quintessential savannah safari experience. Travelling in four-wheel drive vehicles adapted to provide great visibility through hatch roofs and sliding windows, you will patrol the grasslands with your guide for about 3 hours in the early morning or late afternoon when the animals are at their most active.

Each species has its own ecological niche, or home, and behaviour patterns. When the guide understands these, they can introduce you to the story of the savannah, bringing you closer to its wonderful animals. The bull elephant dosing in the shade of an acacia; the grumpy buffalo, mud encrusted, wallowing in puddles; the lethal lion heading out to hunt as the shadows lengthen.

There is something very special about watching wildlife from the water. It is peaceful. The sunlight reflecting from the broken surface of the water; the changing expression of the animals as they watch you and consider how to react. With the wind in the right direction, you can often get far closer to larger groups than you can in a vehicle on land.

Boat cruises take place twice a day on the Kazinga Channel, which links Lake Edward and Lake George. Different sized boats are available, but all safaris drift along the shore to Pelican Point. You can expect to see elephant, hippo, buffalo, antelope and a wonderful range of aquatic bird life.

Over the centuries, the Kyambura River has cut a deep gorge into the Kichwamba Escarpment. With sides too steep for large herbivores to exploit, dense forest clads the gorge sides providing the perfect habitat for large primates, particularly chimpanzees.

Habituated to human contact, one of Queens’ greatest attractions is spending a few hours tracking our closest relatives through the forest led by a Ugandan Wildlife Authority guide. It really feels like you have entered another world. This is not a ‘zoo experience’: the chances of seeing the chimps are about 60%. It is a real forest quest and a sighting is all the more special because of that.

For birders and those who love walking far from the normal trails, the Maramagambo Forest is the perfect place to spend half or even a full day.

Sheltered from the hot sun by the dense canopy, you can explore the shadows, discovering species not seen on the open plains, stumble across hidden crater lakes and marvel at the sheer mass of life found within a bat cave.

Don’t go too close: snakes wait in the rocks of the cave floor to catch the bats that fall from their perches, dislodged by stronger, more frantic, neighbours.

Human history is fascinating, but wilderness is compelling, pulling at something deep within us. If you feel that pull, then stay in the Ishasha sector. But don’t climb the fig trees: you may be jostling with a lion or two for the best branches.

Ishasha is an area of open woodland in the south-west of the park on the way to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. It is explored by game drives and, even though a couple of lodges have recently opened in the sector, it receives relatively few visitors. This makes for delightfully private game drives and sundowners to remember.

There are 72 craters of different sizes scattered throughout the park, evidence of the areas tumultuous volcanic history. Many of these are clustered in the north of the park making for a fascinating half day drive when the view and geologic record is the focus rather than the wildlife.

It's humbling to think back to the formation of these craters, dozens of impressions on the Earth's crust, becoming enveloped by flora and fauna over the ensuing millions of years. The violent and fiery past of the craters abruptly contrast to the green, forested oasis of life that exists there now. 

To understand the human history of the park, visit the salt pans at Katwe. You will marvel at the fortitude of the people who work in this most astringent of environments. They practice a trade with deep historical roots that once formed the wealth of a powerful kingdom.

Wander around the pans, observing the traditional techniques applied in the shadow of an abandoned processing plant that proved unable to handle the high levels of salinity found at Katwe. It is hot here. The sun’s glare is harsh. You won’t stay long, but it is well worth the visit.

The whole concept of ‘the best time to visit’ doesn’t really apply to Uganda. The country is equatorial and so receives rainfall much of the year through. Plus, weather patterns seem to be changing, making rigid seasonality outdated. So pack a waterproof and get ready for anything.

Having said that, it is generally drier from June to early October and again in December through to early March. Higher rainfall is normally experienced in October and November and March through to the end of May. The heaviest rainfall occurring in April, traditionally May as well, but this has been relatively dry in recent years.

The escarpment to the northeast of the park provides panoramic views of the grassland across to Lake George and easy access to the Mweya Peninsula; it is home to Elephant Plains Lodge, one of the newest properties in the park.

Elephant Plains has a bar and lounge overlooking a pool and private cottages dispersed around the main compound, the views over the park are stunning and you can often spot wildlife wandering through the plains from your cottage veranda. 

The ridge leads round to Kyambura Gorge, a natural rent in the otherwise flat plains, cut by water and thickly forested. The elegant Kyambura Gorge Lodge is the closest property to the gorge and so is perfectly located to provide a luxurious base for chimp trekking, plus game drives and boat safaris in the heart of the park.

Stunning views of the savannah plains and the gorge, great food and drink selection, and exceptional service. Kyambura Gorge is consolidating itself as one of the best lodging options in Uganda. 

In the south-west of the park, the Ishasha sector is the place for those who value the wilderness experience. Although new lodges are being constructed, it is still the quietest area where the human footprint is slight.

The established favourite here is Ishasha Wilderness Camp, a superbly comfortable, subtly developed, camp on the banks of the Ishasha River, the natural border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ishasha Wilderness Camp is one of the few true tented camp experiences in Uganda. 

The Mweya Peninsula juts into the Kazinga Channel. The views from here are epic as the distant grasslands seem to merge into the lakes stretching beyond. Mweya Safari Lodge occupies prime position here.

A large hotel, it is a heritage property that began life as a government property over 30 years ago. A stay here is not as intimate as at other smaller properties, but you can’t beat the central location. Perfect for access to Kazinga Channel boat cruises.

The Rift Valley Escarpment extends to the south-east of the park. There, on a ridge rising dramatically above the plains, 16 kilometres from the Katunguru Gate of the park, you will find a number of other small lodges all situated to take advantage of the views and the wonderful sunsets.

Katara Lodge is one of our favourites here. The lodge feels borne from the wilderness it sits in, with bamboo architecture and wooden beams holding up the thatched roofs under which you can gaze endlessly at the sweeping savannah in front of you. 

The history of Queen Elizabeth National Park is very different to the majority of African protected areas in that human habitation can be traced back on the Mweya Peninsula over 50,000 years. Even up until the beginning of the 20th century, the area was used for cattle production by first the WaSongora people and then the WaGanda people.

This changed when first rinderpest and then trypanosomiasis hit the area, devastating livestock and forcing an evacuation of the area from 1913-14. Although people returned throughout the ‘20s, trypanosomiasis levels rose, forcing a second evacuation and keeping human population levels low as the century progressed. Into this void came the wildlife.

By the 1960s, the new park had one of the highest large mammal population densities in Africa. This suffered in the 1970s and 1980s due to systematic poaching by the army and civil war. However, significant numbers of animals were able to cross into the neighbouring Congo, which was at that time peaceful. So when order returned to Uganda, the populations of large mammals were able to re-establish swiftly.

It is thought now that numbers are back close to the levels seen in the 1960s.