3 Days Queen Elizabeth National Park

Our 3-day Uganda tour to Queen Elizabeth National Park is designed for visitors with less time in Uganda who would like to enjoy game drives, scenic views as well as a boat cruise on the Kazinga channel. Queen Elizabeth national park located in western Uganda in Kasese district is the second largest national park massively visited throughout the year. It is one of the few respected national parks when it comes to game viewing, boat cruises, and the best chimpanzee trekking destination in Uganda after Kibale Forest National park and other activities.

Queen Elizabeth National Park is established on an area of about 1,900sq.km and the park is located on a raised base land where you can clearly view the snow-capped peaks and glaciers on the Rwenzori mountain horizon. The park is prominent for tree-climbing lions found in the Ishasha sector and other popular activities such as game drives, spectacular boat cruises, chimpanzee trekking, and others. The safari starts and ends in Kampala or any other small town in Uganda.

What to Expect in  Queen Elizabeth National Park

You will travel to Queen Elizabeth national park in the western part of Uganda at the base of the Rwenzori mountains. The park is home to two Uganda water bodies; Lake Edward and Lake George which are connected by the Kazinga channel, a waterway.

You will take time exploring the most visited conservation area of Uganda which is a home of about 100 mammal species 600 bird species and butterflies, 9 species of primates including chimpanzees, and other 5 different habitat types including forest shrub, wetland, savannah, and marine. The park is known for the highest concentration of hippos with over 600 hippo schools in the lazing channel, a 45-kilometer long waterway connecting lakes Edward and George.

A game drive and boat cruise will bring you so close to the park’s wilderness. Besides that, the beauty around the park is unimaginable. Choosing to take on a crater drive through the crater lakes belt wouldn’t be a bad idea plus choosing to meet up with locals at Katwe Kabatooro will also be a nice thought.

This is one of the most popular Uganda tours as it allows you to spend a little amount of time in the Wild yet the experience is priceless. Queen Elizabeth National Park has a lot of animals, Permanent residents of this park also include Lions, Leopards, buffaloes, elephants, Hippos, Chimpanzees, Baboons, Kobs Crocodiles and very many birds, etc

Trip Itinerary

Day 1: Transfer to Queen Elizabeth national park

You will be picked up from your hotel early in the morning to drive to queen Elizabeth national park, our tour operator will brief you on what to expect, drive time and ensure that you have the right gear for your 3 days safari. The journey will take you through the small towns along the Kampala-Mbarara road. You will have an opportunity to see royal drum makers along the way, small markets and a stop at the equator for stretching and photography will be worthwhile. Lunch will be served en route and then proceed to Queen Elizabeth national park for a short relaxation and an evening game drive mostly to katwe salt lake where salt mining activities are carried out if time allows it. Dinner and overnight at your booked lodge.

The park has breathtaking scenery and is well famous for its golden beautiful Savanna grassland dotted with wildlife. This will be an unforgettable moment for anyone seeing it for the first time

Day 2: Game drives  and lunch cruise at Kazinga channel

You will wake up quite early and head out for a morning game drive at kasenyi plains, this place harbors several wild animals whose chance of seeing them depends on your luck of the day. On a good day, you may spot big cats like lions, and leopard hunting, jackals, buffaloes, elephants, several antelopes, warthogs, and other small mammals. you don’t want to miss the hunting sessions of the animals and when they appear to be most active.

After driving back for lunch and chilling at the lodge and having a swim, then prepare to head out for an afternoon boat cruise on the Mweya peninsula situated on the kazinga channel where you will see the aquatic animals, with the highest flocking of hippos, crocodiles, and bird species such as pelicans and kingfishers. Boat cruises along the Kazinga channel are the best activity to do in this park. The 2 hours cruise provides stunning photo opportunities of Elephants and buffaloes on the banks and the endless plains. Return from the two-hour Cruise, you may decide to take an evening game drive before going back to your lodge and take a glimpse of the park’s predators hunting for their dinners such as hyenas, lions, and leopards and return to the lodge for coffee while waiting for dinner then sit around a bonfire for the whole day experience talk and ancient stories of the Park and its surrounding communities.

Day 3 Chimpanzee trekking at Kyambura gorge and Departure

Wake up to an early breakfast then proceed to the kyambura escarpment for chimpanzee tracking, the deep forest populates a lot of animals and various primate species such as baboons and chimpanzees, and other attractions like crater lakes, rift valley floors, and numerous plants and trees. After tracking, you will go back to the lodge to book out and depart to Kampala. Here, you will pass through the Maramagambo forest situated in Bushenyi district, which covers part of Queen Elizabeth national park in the southern part. You may have a stopover to spot some beautiful features like caves, animals such as the rare bates’ pygmy, antelopes, and elephants on the way, and reach  Kampala in the evening and that will be the end of the safari.

Note: The Maramagambo forest is one of the biggest forests in Uganda with various tourist attractions and activities to enjoy when visited, therefore it needs more time to tour and explore more about the forest.