Queen Elizabeth National Park

The Park is approximately 400 kilometres by road south-west of Kampala Uganda’s capital and largest city. This is by far Uganda’s most scenic and visited game reserve. A massive variety of habitats including the savanna grassland mixed with various kinds of trees and grassy plains as well as different swamps and volcanic features which include volcanic cones and deep craters and tropical rainforest give the park its distinctive look. Queen Elizabeth National park is an ideal place to sight large game, go bird watching on the Kazinga channel, and track chimpanzees in the Kyambura Gorge as well as the famous tree climbing lions in Ishasha.

Queen Elizabeth National Park occupies an estimated 1,978 square kilometres.  The park extends from Lake George in the north-east to Lake Edward in the south-west and includes the  Kazinga Channel connecting the two lakes. The park was founded in 1952 as Kazinga National Park. It was renamed two years later to commemorate a visit by Queen Elizabeth II.

Queen Elizabeth National Park is known for its wildlife, including African Buffalo, Ugandian Kob, Hippopotamus, Nile crocodile, African Bush Elephants, Leopard, Lion, and Chimpanzee. It is home to 95 Mammals species and over 500 bird species. The area around Ishasha in Rukungiri District is famous for its tree-climbing lions, whose males sport black manes. The park is also famous for its volcanic features, including volcanic cones and deep craters, many with crater lakes, such as the Katwe crater from which salt is extracted.