Queen Elizabeth Safaris

A safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of Uganda's most popular adventures, and certainly one of its most scenic. The Mweya Peninsula is especially picturesque with its two lakes connected by a channel and overlooked by a high peninsula.

You’ll also find volcanic craters, grassy plains and tropical forest, and it’s this impressive habitat biodiversity that has resulted in Queen Elizabeth National Park containing the most astonishing number of species – almost 100 types of mammal and 606 different bird species!

A Kasinga Channel boat cruise safari is all about seeing world's largest concentration of hippos, but interestingly enough not many crocodiles. Other wildlife you may encounter on a Kasinga boat trip includes warthogs, buffalo, rare aquatic sitatunga antelope, giant forest hog, beautifully horned Uganda kob, topi, waterbuck, elephant and leopard.

There are no giraffe, zebra, impala or rhino in the national park, but if you want to see tree-climbing lions, you should consider staying at Ishasha Wilderness Camp where they can often be spotted lazing about in fig trees. Kyambura (or Chambura) Gorge on the north-east boundary of the park, is real Tarzan territory with thick treetop canopies and vines dangling down to the soft forest floor. The terrain comes complete with chimpanzees who crash about and chatter high up in the branches. If they don't feel like being seen, they just keep one step ahead of the out-of-breath terrestrial visitors.

The Maramagambo Forest, south of the Kasinga Channel is also home to large numbers of chimps, plus a number of other monkey species. Some rare birds inhabit this park and keen birders come from all over the world to clock up a sighting of the peculiar, pouting shoebill (or whale-headed) stork. This giant bird stands 4-foot high (more than 1 metre) and wears a rather timid expression. This and a plethora of other birds and animals are best viewed from a boat on the Kazinga Channel.