Uganda's most visited savannah park sits between two lakes on the floor of the Albertine Rift, with the Rwenzori mountains behind it and a 32-kilometre channel running through the middle. It is also, conveniently, on the road between Kibale and Bwindi.
- Size
- 1,978 sq km
- Established
- 1952
- Wildlife
- 95 mammal species, 600+ birds
- Signature
- Kazinga Channel boat safari
- From Bwindi
- 3–4 hrs via Ishasha
- Airstrips
- Mweya and Kasese
The Kazinga Channel
The channel links Lake George to Lake Edward and carries what is probably the highest concentration of hippo in the world. The afternoon launch runs close to the bank for two hours: hippo pods in the hundreds, buffalo standing in the shallows, elephant coming down to drink, and a wall of waterbirds — African skimmers, pied kingfishers, saddle-billed storks, pelicans.
It is the single best two hours in Uganda's savannah, and it costs a fraction of a gorilla permit. Take the afternoon boat rather than the morning one; the light is better and the animals come down to the water.
Ishasha and the tree-climbing lions
In the southern Ishasha sector, lions rest in the branches of fig trees through the heat of the day. Nobody is certain why — tsetse flies, cooler air and a better view of the Uganda kob are the usual explanations. It is not guaranteed; the lions choose the trees, not the guides. An early morning drive gives you decent odds.
Ishasha sits directly on the road south to Bwindi, which is why almost every longer Uganda itinerary passes through it.
What else to do
- Kasenyi plains game drive — lion, elephant, buffalo and enormous herds of Uganda kob, whose breeding grounds are here.
- Kyambura Gorge chimpanzee tracking — a small, isolated community in a forested gorge. Sightings are less reliable than Kibale, but the gorge itself is spectacular.
- Explosion crater drive — a high road through a field of volcanic craters, best at the end of the day.
- Katwe salt lake — salt has been harvested here by hand since the 1500s; the community-run tour is honest about how hard the work is.
- Mongoose tracking and lion research drives on the Mweya peninsula, both of which put money into ongoing research.
When to go
June to September and December to February are drier, with game concentrating near water. The March–May and October–November rains bring dramatic skies and green plains, and the boat safari is unaffected. See the seasons in full.
Where to stay and how to get there
The Mweya peninsula has the widest choice, from the long-established Mweya Safari Lodge to smaller camps on the escarpment. Ishasha has a handful of tented camps close to the fig trees. Kyambura and the crater lakes north of the park hold the top end.
By road it is 6–7 hours from Entebbe, 2–3 from Kibale and 3–4 from Bwindi through Ishasha. By air, Mweya and Kasese airstrips are about an hour from Entebbe — the basis of our 5-day fly-in safari.
Questions
Frequently asked
Is Queen Elizabeth National Park worth visiting?
For the Kazinga Channel alone, yes. It does not have the big-cat density of the Serengeti or Maasai Mara, but the boat safari, the crater landscape and the Ishasha lions make it a genuinely distinctive park rather than a lesser version of somewhere else.
Can you see the Big Five there?
No. There are no rhino in the park — for those you need Ziwa — and leopard are present but rarely seen. Lion, elephant and buffalo are all common.
How does it combine with gorilla trekking?
Very naturally. Ishasha is three to four hours from Bwindi's Buhoma sector, so the park sits on the route between the chimpanzees of Kibale and the gorillas of Bwindi.
Next
Keep planning
- 10-day Uganda wildlife and gorilla safari — includes Ishasha and the Kazinga Channel
- 5-day fly-in gorillas and Queen Elizabeth — the quickest way to combine them
- Kibale Forest — chimpanzees, three hours north
- Bwindi Impenetrable Forest — gorillas, three hours south