Queen Elizabeth is the best tourist destination in Uganda. Since it is also near Bwindi impenetrable National Park, the visitors that go to Bwindi for gorilla trekking find it easy to add activities in Queen Elizabeth National Park to their list of destinations. This is also the second largest park after Murchison falls National Park. Sitting on up to 1978square kilometers of land, harboring lots of wildlife and flora. It consisting plenty of eye catching physical features. All of which not only attract the visitors to the park but also provide stepping stones to the various activities that take place in the park like, bird watching and boat cruises on the Kazinga channel, chimpanzee trekking in the forests, lion tracking in Ishasha forest among others.
There are a lot of activities to engage in as a visitor at the park among which include the following
KAZINGA BOAT CRUISE
An exhilarating activity launched from the eye-catching Kazinga channel. Boat cruises happen twice daily, at 1100hrsand 1500hrs and lasts two hours. You not only enjoy the water view as you cruise. You get to see the hippos, crocodiles and elephants at the shore.
GAME DRIVES
Game drives are some of the activities in Queen Elizabeth that occur at any time of the day at the convenience of the tourist and are a splendid way of interacting with wildlife at the expose one to birds, antelopes, lions and many more. The best season for this activity is in the dry season. It is easier for the tracks to move along the demarcated paths for the activity. Also, the grass is short for easy spotting of game.
CHIMPANZEE TRACKING
This is an absorbing activity where tourists walk on foot to track the fascinating apes. In Queen Elizabeth National Park, these apes are in plenty in Kyambura gorge, hence its nickname; “the valley of apes”. This activity is therefore carried out here. There is a habituation experience for tourists who want to spend more time with the apes.
BIRDING
The presence of a wide range of habitats from the vast savannah, the thick forests to the swampy areas all make the birds adaptable to Queen Elizabeth National Park. The Park is home to over 600 bird species, making birding the best activity to carry out here. The Park is also recognized internationally for its vast bird species. Some of the biggest highlights are: African Crake, Western Black-headed Batis, Short-tailed Pipit, the Black-bellied Bustard, eight White Stork getting ready to migrate, White-tailed Lark, Angolan Swallow, Grey-rumped Swallow, Senegal Lapwing, Temminck’s Courser (top bird of the day), Red-throated Bee-eater, Swamp Flycatcher, Brown-backed Scrub Robin, Long-billed Pipit, Holub’s Golden Weaver and Black-chinned Quail finch.
LION TRACKING
This is a gripping activity carried out by professional researchers from the Uganda Carnivore Program (UCP) using radiator collar in Kasenyi plains, where lions are tracked down. This is done by a limited activity of people to avoid interference with the environment’s natural balance. While at it, you will get a closer look of the King of the jungle himself and learn a lot about their behavior.
CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS
Here, you will move out of the park to interact with the local folklore around and learn about their diversities as you enjoy the kikongoro cultural dancers at the equator, who are a deeply rooted into culture group of women that dance at the equator for visitors as entertainment and make crafts that you could take home from your safari as souvenirs from Uganda. Boat racing and sport fishing is one of the activities in Queen Elizabeth when you take a stroll to visit the community within kazinga channel. The locals will be generous enough to let you taste the fresh fried fish from the lake.
HIKING AND NATURE WALKS
These are good along the crater lakes in Queen Elizabeth National Park. will expose you to the rolling hills, expansive savannah plains, nice view of the famous mountain Rwenzori and more.
Hiking can also be done in the forests in the park. You track chimpanzees, count butterflies and notices the birds.
Having done some of or all these activities while at the park. Where to stay should be the least of your worries as the park has a lot of accommodation services from luxury to budget accommodation depending on your preference and budget.
