Top Three Places to Visit In Uganda

Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth National Park is located in the Western region of Uganda and occupies about 1,978 square kilometers.

From Kampala, Queen Elizabeth National Park can be accessed through Mbarara or Fort Portal. The park is approximately 410km from Kampala and it takes about 6 hours to get there from Kampala by road. Visitors tracking gorillas in Bwindi can easily access Queen Elizabeth National Park through the Ishasha sector.

 The park is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Uganda mainly because it is home to a variety of animal and bird species including the fascinating tree climbing lions of Ishasha.

Other  mammals include hippos, elephants, buffaloes, warthogs and leopards as well as chimps and hyenas. Also included over 600 bird species which makes the park one of the best spots for bird watching safaris in Uganda. Bird species include Pink-backed pelicans, martial eagle, African skimmer, Chapins, Papyrus canary, Shoebill stork among others.

It boasts a high biodiversity rating with landscapes including savannah, bushland, wetlands and lush forests.

While on a typical Uganda safari through Queen Elizabeth National Park, visitors are likely to encounter large numbers of elephants, Uganda Kobs, lions, waterbucks, chimpanzees in Kyambura gorge, hippos, leopard, hyena, among so many others.

Kazinga Channel

The Kazinga channel is a 40 kilometers long channel that connects Lake Edward and Lake George and is popular for boat rides. Boat rides give visitors great views of the park and animals especially those that lurk round the banks like elephants, hippos, crocodiles among many others.

Crater Lakes

Crater Lakes in Queen Elizabeth National Park are a major tourist attraction and these include Lake Katwe which is known for salt mining. Tourists to Lake Katwe often meet salt miners who are both men and women each with an individual mining area.

A few kilometers from Lake Katwe is Lake Munyanyage which is another crater lake and this one is home to large numbers of flamingos and other bird species.

Queen Elizabeth National Park has great accommodation facilities suitable for all kinds of tourists from budget tourists to high end luxury tourists.

Luxury safari lodges include Mweya Safari Lodge, Jacana safari Lodge and Ishasha Wilderness Camp and Kyambura Gorge Lodge. Budget accommodation facilities include Simba Safari Camp, Ishasha bandas among others. There are also a number of camping sites in Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park lies in southwestern Uganda on the edge of the Rift Valley. Its mist-covered hillsides are blanketed by one of Uganda's oldest and most biologically diverse rainforests, which dates back over 25,000 years and contains almost 400 species of plants. More famously, this “impenetrable forest” also protects an estimated 400 mountain gorillas – roughly half of the world’s population, including several habituated groups, which can be tracked.

It is a habitat for 348 species of birds, 220 species of butterflies, 27 species of frogs, chameleons, geckos, and many endangered species. Floristically, the park is among the most diverse forests in East Africa, with more than 1,000 flowering plant species, including 163 species of trees and 104 species of ferns. The northern (low elevation) sector has many species of Guineo-Congolian flora, including two endangered species, the brown mahogany and Brazzeia longipedicellata. In particular, the area shares in the high levels of endemisms of the Albertine Rift.

This biologically diverse region also provides shelter to a further 120 mammals, including several primate species such as baboons and chimpanzees, as well as elephants and antelopes. There are around 350 species of birds hosted in this forest, including 23 Albertine Rift endemics.

The park is a sanctuary for colobus monkeys, chimpanzees, and many birds such as hornbills and turacos. It is most notable for the 340 Bwindi gorillas, half of the world's population of the critically endangered mountain gorillas. Four habituated mountain gorilla groups are open to tourism: Mubare; Habinyanja; Rushegura near Buhoma; and the Nkuringo group at Nkuringo.

The neighboring towns of Buhoma and Nkuringo both have an impressive array of luxury lodges, rustic bandas and budget campsites, as well as restaurants, craft stalls and guiding services. Opportunities abound to discover the local Bakiga and Batwa Pygmy cultures through performances, workshops and village walks.

There are several lodges around both on a small budget and luxary.

Murchison Falls National Park (MFNP)

Murchison Falls National Park (MFNP) is located north-western Uganda, spreading inland from the shores of Lake Albert, around the Victoria Nile, up to the Karuma Falls.

It is Uganda's largest national park and is bisected by the Victoria Nile from east to west for a distance of about 115 kilometers. Adjacent to the park along the Masindi-Gulu Highway, are the Karuma Falls.

Water Cruising At The Falls

The park is the location of the Murchison Falls, where the waters of the Nile flow through a narrow gorge only 7 meters wide before plunging 43 meters.

 Together with the adjacent Bugungu Wildlife Reserve and the Karuma Wildlife Reserve, the park forms the Murchison Falls Conservation.

  White-thighed hornbill

The launch trip upstream from Paraa presents an astonishing display of wildlife and culminates with the memorable frontal view of the Falls. Recommended for birders is a morning cruise downstream to the Nile-Lake Albert Delta. Alternatively, a tranquil sundowner cruise offers the classic view of an equatorial sunset reflected on the river.

  Dwarf kingfisher

There are 76 species of mammals as well as Uganda's largest population of crocodiles. 450 bird species are present ranging from easy variety of waterbirds, including the rare shoe-billed stork, species, dwarf kingfisher, Goliath heron, white-thighed hornbill and great blue turaco.

  Goliath heron

Other activities include hiking, bird watching, and experience of flying in a hot air balloon.

The driving distance from Masindi, the nearest large town, to the Kibanda area of the national park is about 72 kilometers  which is about 283 kilometers , by road, north-west of Kampala, the capital and largest city of Uganda. 

  Shoe-billed stork

Like parks, there is plenty of hotels around MFNP.