Game drive in Queen Elizabeth national park
Game drive in Queen Elizabeth national park: Queen Elizabeth national park is the second largest national park in Uganda located in western region in four districts namely Kasese, Rukungiri, Rubirizi and Kamwenge districts. Queen Elizabeth national park is a home of 95 mammal species including the famous tree climbing lions, buffaloes, elephants, leopards, waterbucks, Uganda kobs, warthogs, topi, bushbucks, hyenas, giant forest hogs, primates like chimpanzees, l’hoest monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys and over 600 bird species.
Game drives is one of the major activities in Queen Elizabeth national park where visitors will be able to explore the savannah plains in a comfortable pop up safari vehicle with a professional driver guide who is well conversant with different game drive tracks. Game drive in Queen Elizabeth national park is carried out in different areas that is Kasenyi plains, Mweya peninsula and Ishasha plains and it can either be done very early in the morning at around 6:30 am when animals are more active, in the afternoon at around 2:00 pm or at night where you will be able to view nocturnal animals. During the day game drives, you will be able to enjoy great views of the sunrise and sunset, view the beautiful landscape, scenery, view different animals like buffaloes, Uganda kobs, elephants, waterbucks, topi, warthogs, bushbucks, giant forest hogs, view predators like lions, leopards, hyenas and different bird species.
Queen Elizabeth national park also offers night game drives where visitors will be able to explore the park at night with an armed ranger guide and spotlight torches for clear viewing of nocturnal animals. Night game drive in Queen Elizabeth national park is only done in Mweya peninsula as Kasenyi plains receives many travelers during the day. During the night game drive which starts at around 6:00pm or 7:00pm you will be able to view nocturnal animals like lions, leopards, civet, hyenas, serval cats, bush babies, banded mongoose, view hippos grazing among others.
Cost
Visitors who wish to engage in a game drive in Queen Elizabeth national park are charged entrance fee of 40 USD per person for foreign non residents,30 USD per person for foreign residents and 20,000 UGX per person for East African citizens.
Self game drive in Queen Elizabeth national park costs 10 USD per vehicle for foreign non residents and foreign residents.
Day game drive in Queen Elizabeth national park using UWA vehicle costs 30 USD per person for foreign non residents, 25 USD per person for foreign residents and 30,000 UGX per person for east African citizens.
Night game drive in Queen Elizabeth national park costs 30 USD per person for foreign non residents, 20 USD per person for foreign residents and 50,000 UGX per person for East African citizens when using a private vehicle while when using UWA vehicle a night game drive costs 40 USD per person for foreign non residents, 35 USD per person for foreign residents and 40,000 UGX per person for East African citizens. During the night game drive only pre-registered vehicles will undertake night game drives and use of UWA guided is mandatory.
Best time to visit Queen Elizabeth national park
Queen Elizabeth national park can be visited anytime throughout the year though the best time is during the dry season in the months of June, July, August, September, December, February and December because during this period there is less or little rainfall in the park therefore game drive tracks will be dry and passable and vegetation will be short which gives visitors an opportunity to view different wildlife species clearly.
How to get to Queen Elizabeth national park
It is located in western part of Uganda and can be accessed by road transport means where you will drive from Kampala via Masaka, Mbarara or via Mubende, Fort Portal and then to the park headquarters which takes about 6 to 7 hours’ drive.
Queen Elizabeth National Park can also be accessed by air transport means where by you will book domestic flights with bar aviation or Aero link Uganda from Entebbe international airport or Kajjansi airfield to Kasese or Mweya airstrip and then connect to the park headquarters.
Other activities in Queen Elizabeth national park
Queen Elizabeth national park offers other activities that travelers can engage in apart from the game drive including Chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura gorge where you will be able to spend one hour with the chimpanzees, boat cruise on Kazinga channel where you will be able to cruise near large concentrations of hippos and Nile crocodiles in water, nature walks where you will be able to explore the park on foot, bird watching where you will be able to view different bird species, lion tracking experience, cultural tours where you will be able to interact with the local people among others.
Where to stay in Queen Elizabeth national park
There are a number of accommodation facilities ranging from budget, midrange and luxury where visitors can stay during the safari including Elephant plains lodge, Buffalo Safari lodge, Mweya Safari lodge, Elephant Hab lodge, Parkview Safari lodge, Queen Elizabeth Safari lodge, Irungu Forest Safari Lodge, Savannah Resort Hotel, Lake Munyanyange Cave Lodge, Ishasha Jungle Lodge, Marafiki Safari Lodge, Kasenyi Safari Camp, Ishasha Wilderness Camp, Pumba Safari Cottages, Enganzi Lodge, Simba Safari Camp, Queen Elizabeth Bush Lodge, Queen Elizabeth Safari Camp, Lake Chibwera Camp, Mweya Hostel and Cottages, Kyambura Gorge Lodge, Katara Lodge, King Fisher Lodge Kichwamba, Ihamba Safari Lodge, Ishasha Tented Camp, Ishasha Ntungwe River Camp, Kitandara Hippo Hill Lodge, Pumba Safari Cottages among others.
Game drive is an interesting activity in Queen Elizabeth national park that can be combined with other activities like Gorilla trekking in Mgahinga gorilla national park, Golden monkey trekking, mountain climbing, nature walks, Batwa trail experience among others. For more information about game drives in Queen Elizabeth national park, you can contact us at Achieve Global Safaris.
