Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth National Park is located in southwestern Uganda, spanning districts such as Kasese, Kamwenge, Rubirizi, and Rukungiri, approximately 380 to 410 kilometers west of Kampala. Covering an area of roughly 1,978 square kilometers, the park encompasses diverse ecosystems including savanna grasslands, tropical rain forests, wetlands, and freshwater crater lakes. It includes portions of Lake Edward and Lake George, which are linked by the 32-kilometer-long Kazinga Channel. The park lies near the foothills of the Rwenzori Mountains and features dramatic geological formations such as the Katwe explosion craters.The park protects a rich biodiversity, harbouring 95 mammal species and over 600 species of birds. Wildlife commonly sighted includes African elephants, Cape buffaloes, hippopotamuses, leopards, warthogs, and Uganda kobs. The southern Ishasha sector is renowned for its tree-climbing lions that rest in fig tree branches. In the eastern part of the park, Kyambura Gorge provides a forested rift valley habitat for habituated chimpanzees, while the dense Maramagambo Forest hosts primates, bats, and forest birds.Visitors to the park engage in game drives across the Kasenyi Plains, boat cruises along the Kazinga Channel to observe large hippopotamus pods and waterbirds, chimpanzee tracking in Kyambura Gorge, and nature walks. Founded in 1952 as Kazinga National Park, the area was renamed Queen Elizabeth National Park two years later to commemorate the visit of Queen Elizabeth II.