Uganda National Parks
National Parks in Uganda.
Uganda, “the pearl of Africa”, boasts of natural resources including rightly named sceneries, wildlife and a string of natural surprises. As the place that congregates different types of climate zones, including rainforest, savannah, among others. Uganda safaris harbour some of the most famous national parks in Africa. These parks afford unique opportunities for adventure, wildlife watching and cultural encounters, placing Uganda high on the list of any nature lover and adventurer.
In this article, we shall focus on some of the most popular national parks that are in Uganda so as to help you understand what each park has to offer to visitors. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Murchison Falls National Park highlight Uganda’s national park attractions, offering choices for tourists to explore wildlife and nature in a way that will make one never forget.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Another famous Ugandan national park is Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, also featured by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, with some of the most incredible gorilla tourism experiences around the world. This park is in the southern part of the country and occupies more than 331sq km of dense precipitation influenced by mist. It is also a destination for primate lovers because the park has about half of the world’s population of the endangered mountain gorillas.
Tourists who wish to visit Bwindi can organise night hikes on foot in the forest to watch the gorilla groups. This is a unique opportunity, which creates the possibility to watch the behaviour of these great animals with the help of professional guides. Gorilla Trekking is a hugely popular activity and requires one to get a permit, which can be very hard to come by, especially if one books at the last minute.
Apart from gorillas, Bwindi is endowed with other types of wildlife, of over 120 mammals and about 350 bird species. Birding lovers’ peak and endangered species such as the African Green Broadbill and the Handsome Francolin are likely to be captured. Other tour activities include: nature walks, bird watching, cultural visits to the Batwa pygmy people, among others.
Queen Elizabeth National Park
Queen Elizabeth is the most famous and diverse parks of Uganda, which is found in the western part of the country. The park occupies an area of 1,988 square kilometres of land with savannah, wetlands, and crater lakes all on the backdrop of the Rwenzori Mountain. The Park is well known for its number and types of animals, and it provides one of the most intense feelings of the African wild safari in Uganda.
There are over 95 different types of mammals living in the park, such as tree-climbing Lions, Elephants, Buffalos, Uganda Kobs, among others. What makes Queen Elizabeth National Park stand out is the tree-climbing lions, whereby lions in the Ishasha sector enjoy relaxing from the branches of Fig trees. This typical behaviour is quite unusual in lions, and that is why many wildlife photographers and tourists from across the world are attracted to it.
Other than game drives, visitors can also take a boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel, a channel that connects Lake Edward and Lake George. These included large concentrations of hippos, crocodiles, birds, as well as great wildlife viewing and photographic opportunities. Queen Elizabeth National Park is one park that will cause you to ask for more; it has over 600 bird species.
Murchison Falls National Park
Murchison Falls National Park is the largest and oldest of all the national parks in Uganda. It is famous for the mighty falls, which are Murchison Falls, where the Nile River thunders through a narrow cleft of rocks to fall 45m down in the gorge below. Sited in the Karamoja region of Uganda, it occupies an area in excess of 3800 square kilometres and contains a diverse array of fauna.
Tourists can go for game drives in the park to view animals like the elephants, giraffes, lions, and leopards, among others. Big animals such as lions, buffalo, giraffes, zebras, wildebeests and hartebeests take advantage of the park’s savannah sections, while woodland accommodates different species of antelopes, duiker, sunbaked kudu, waterbuck, warthog, and bushbuck, as well as the closely related bush squirrel and mongoose. Visitors can approach the mighty hippo, crocodile and enjoy a boat ride on the falls.
Tourists, on the other hand, will be enticed to trek up the falls for a view of the powerful Nile River as it approaches the Murchison belt gorge. It is also a birders’ paradise as the park has over 450 bird species identified many of which are the famous Shoebill Stork.
Kibale National Park
Primate lovers should not miss Kibale National Park when on a Uganda Safari. Situated in western Uganda, this park houses one of the highest densities of primates in the whole of Africa, with 13 known species of these magnificent creatures, chimpanzees inclusive other varieties well as the red colobus monkeys, as well as the L’Hoest’s monkeys. These animals have preferred the environment in the park for the forests that are rich, making it among the best destinations in the world for chimp trekking.
Trekking in Kibale is very exciting as it gives a chance to a visitor to interact with these smart and social animals in their home. The treks are guided by experienced guides, and in the process, one will learn useful information about the behaviour and ecology of the chimpanzees. Apart from primates, Kibale is endowed with over 375 bird species like crested cranes, shoebill, stork, African fin foot, all kinds of forest mammals, and thus attracts bird watchers or anyone with an interest in nature.
In addition to the wildlife, Kibale National Park sits in the Crater Lakes area, which provides picturesque trails for hiking, opportunities to meet the locals and enjoy the quietude of the Crater Lake region, the chain of beautiful volcanic lakes.
Lake Mburo National Park
Despite being one of Uganda’s relatively junior national parks, Lake Mburo National Park is one of the best destinations for visitors who want to explore Uganda without the hustle and bustle of the most famous parks. This park is located in the west and is characterised by Savannah vegetation and a vast population of wildlife, including zebras, elands, leopards, hyenas, buffaloes, and impalas, among others.