4-Day Visit to Queen Elizabeth National Park. The park is the second largest national park and is also known as the Man Biosphere Reserve, where both human beings and animals can exist harmoniously. It has around 95 species of mammals and 612 species of birds. The park is divided into two sectors: the northern sector, consisting of the Kasenyi plains, and the southern sector, consisting of the Ishasha sector. These sectors are divided by the channel known as the Kazinga Channel, made of Lake Edward and Lake George.

Queen Elizabeth National Park involves so many activities, such as bird watching at Kazinga Channel, equator experiences at Kikolongo, tree-climbing lions in the Ishasha sector, game drives both morning and evening, boat cruises at Kazinga Channel, and chimpanzee tracking in Kyambura Gorge. There are mammals like buffaloes, baboons, elephants, warthogs, waterbucks, lions, and hippopotamuses. The birds include marabou storks, great white pelicans, sacred ibises, hamerkops, and village weavers.

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: Airport pickup and Equator experience at Kikolongo via Kasese District.

On this day, you will be picked up from the airport for the meet and greet and then drive to the visitor’s information center via the Mityana–Fort Portal highway. There will be a stopover via Kasese for the equator experience in Kikolongo, where you will get to know all about the equator and later drive to the booked lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

Accommodation: Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kikolongo Safari Lodge

Meals plan: Dinner

Day 2: Morning game drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park and bird watching during the evening boat cruise at Kazinga Channel.

You will have early morning breakfast and then set off for the game drive in the park, where you will be able to watch animals like elephants, buffaloes, Uganda Kobs, baboons, warthogs, waterbucks, and bushbucks. You will then proceed to the southern sector of the park, which is the Ishasha sector, for the tree-climbing lions. This is a rare species of lions that climb trees for shelter and maybe a clear view of the park. This makes the park more unique and offers a different game drive experience, and you will then return to the lodge for lunch.

In the evening, you will prepare yourselves for the evening boat cruise, where you will be required to carry binoculars for clear bird watching and clear views of reptiles along lake shores. The cruise will set off from Mweya and will proceed to Kazinga Channel. During the cruise, you will be able to watch birds of all kinds, such as hamerkops, great white pelicans, marabou stocks, African spoonbills, and black-winged stilts. You will also be able to see some reptiles like crocodiles and snakes along lake shores and later drive to the booked lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

Accommodation: Queen Elizabeth National Park, Mweya Safari Lodge

Meal plan: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Day 3: Chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura Gorge, crater drive, and night game drive for nocturnal mammals.

You will have morning breakfast and later set off for the chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura Gorge in the northern sector of the park. This will take about 1-2 hours, where you will be able to interact with the chimpanzees and get to know all about them, including their families. You will also be able to get a clear view of the gorge and later have lunch at the lodge, whereas in the evening you will go for the crater drive.

During the evening crater drive, you will visit Lake Katwe in the Kasese district for the salt-lake experience. You will get to know all the classes of salt that are mined in this lake and the best seasons for doing so. This includes the sodium chloride, grade 2 salt, and the local salt. This is normally done in February and August when there is too much sunshine.

You will visit other craters such as Lake Nyamununka, known for its scent and how it’s seasonal; that is, it dries up during the dry season and later fills up when it’s rainy, and the Twin Lakes in the Rubirizi District, known for their formation and history. The twin lakes (Lake Katinda and Lake Miramba) are among the most scenic crater lakes in Queen Elizabeth National Park, where Lake Katinda is believed to be a female lake, whereas Lake Miramba is a male lake. These are the only lakes with genders, and you can stand at the shores of these intertwined lakes and marvel at the beauty of the park.

You will have dinner and later proceed for the night game drive in search for the nocturnal mammals, which are the animals that feed during the night. These include hippos, civets, hyenas, potoos, and raccoons, which always come out in the night for shelter and food. There are also birds that become more active in the night, like the bats, owls, nighthawks, night herons, and frogmouths. This will take about 1 hour, and you will later return to the lodge for an overnight stay.

Accommodation: Queen Elizabeth National Park, Mweya Safari Lodge

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

Day 4: Community visit and return to the residence at Kampala International Airport.

You will have breakfast and then do some community visits where you will be able to engage with community people and learn some activities such as coffee making and cultural dances and also visit some orphanages. You will then proceed to your residence in Kampala, which is Kampala International Airport.

Meal plan: Breakfast.

The package includes:

• Airport pickup and drop-off
• Professional English-speaking guide
• Private transport for 4 days
• Fuel for 4 days
• Accommodation
• All en-route meals
• All park entrances and activity fees
• All government-applicable taxes
• Stop over at Kikolongo, Equator
• Visit Crater Lakes
• Morning and evening game drives
• Boat cruise at Kazinga Channel
• Chimpanzee trekking at Kyambura Gorge
• Community visits

Package excludes:

• Tips
• Souvenirs and gifts
• Alcohol and soft drinks
• Travel insurance