A safari in Uganda never leaves a traveler out of choice, there is a place to visit and something to enjoy for everyone. A visit to the 10 National Parks in Uganda offers amazingly unforgettable wildlife safari experiences but there is a lot more than visiting the pristine parks.
The weather, unique landscape, culture, etc make Uganda an exceptional destination not only in Africa but even in the whole world at large. If you plan to visit Uganda soon, here are the 5 best wildlife safari destinations you should consider a must-visit
Murchison Falls National Park
Tanzania has Serengeti national park and Uganda has Murchison falls national park. Of the 10 National Parks in Uganda, Murchison Falls National Park is the largest national park occupying over 384 0sq kms of land area. Murchison Falls National Park is Uganda’s only National Park sitting in the Northwest and a home to 4 of the Africa’s big five game.
This park takes its name from Murchison Falls, the strongest waterfalls in the whole world and this can be witnessed squeezing itself into a narrow gorge of 7m. One of the main highlights is a boat trip to the bottom of the falls coupled with a hike to the top of the falls.
While on safari in Murchison Falls National Park, the most important species of wildlife to look out for include the cape buffaloes, elephants, lions, leopards, antelope families, hippos, crocodiles, Rothschild giraffes, warthogs, primates, close to 451 bird species among several other wildlife species. There are many ways to explore Murchison Falls NP including game drives, launch/boat cruise, birding, hiking, chimpanzee tracking, sport fishing, and nature walks.
Kibale Forest National Park
Kibale Forest National Park is most popular as the primate capital of the world. The home to 13 species of primates; Kibale Forest National Park sits on the western side of Uganda, Kabarole district, and occupies 79 5sq kms of the land area largely a tropical rainforest park.
Over 1500 chimpanzees living in Kibale National Park plus several olive baboons, colobus monkeys, red colobus monkeys, red tailed monkeys, l’hoest monkeys, pottos, bush babies, 375 bird species, butterflies, reptiles, and flora.
Most people have known Kibale Forest national park for Chimpanzee tracking but beyond chimpanzee tracking, the park offers chimpanzee habituation, night nature walks, birding among several other activities. The chimpanzee permits go for $200 while chimpanzee habituation permits go for $250.
Rwenzori Mountains National Park
In Africa, a few places do offer exhilarating mountaineering adventure experiences. Common to the ears of many are the Kilimanjaro Mountains and Mount Kenya. But besides these popular names; the Rwenzori Mountains is a major exhilarating mountaineering icon that is often overlooked on this shortlist.
Rwenzori Mountains National Park is a home to one of the highest mountains ‘Rwenzori Mountains’. Lying in the western side of Uganda, Rwenzori Mountains National Park is best visited for mountaineering experiences and the main area of interest is conquering the Margherita peak 5109m. A complete trek to Margherita peak takes from 8-9 days but comes with lots of breathtaking views from magical glaciers to lakes and surrounding areas.
Queen Elizabeth National Park
Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of Uganda’s most famous wildlife safari parks sitting on the western side of the country. It is also the second biggest park in Uganda occupying 1978 sq kms of land area and largely comprised of lush woodlands, savanna grassland, forests, wetlands, and swamps. The park protects a diversity of mammals, birds, and reptile species.
Only in Queen Elizabeth National Park is the tracking of the tree climbing lions possible in Uganda. The tree-climbing lions made Ishasha sector their permanent dwelling making it a must visit during your Uganda safari. Besides, the park protects the cape buffaloes, 620 bird species, elephants, leopards, lions, antelopes, warthogs, hippos, crocodiles, primates such as chimpanzees, baboons, colobus monkeys, l’hoest monkeys.
At Queen Elizabeth National Park, visitors have so much to explore experience, and enjoy. Visit this pristine savanna park and enjoy the best of game drive, boat cruise, birding, nature/forest walks, and above all the spell bounding waterfalls.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is one of the best wildlife safari destinations worth visiting for a holiday. Ranked the most beautiful place in Africa by CNN Travel, the tropical forest Perched in extreme Southwestern Uganda is home to 10 species of primates including over 459 mountain gorillas.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park covers only 331 sq km of the land area featuring largely an impenetrable forest that houses 120 mammal species, 360 bird species, and 220 species of butterflies. The top activities to expect and not to miss engaging in while at Bwindi include gorilla trekking, birding, hiking/forest walks, gorilla habituation experience, and the Batwa cultural experience.
Gorilla trekking; the once-in-a-lifetime adventure offers a glimpse into the everyday life of the endangered mountain gorillas. However much the nature walks can grant you encounters with Forest Buffaloes, Forest Elephants, chimpanzees among several other wildlife species, gorilla trekking remains an exceptional activity in this national park.
The above five parks are just a few of the amazing destinations where you can see wildlife in Uganda.