Major Places to see in Uganda

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is located in the Southwestern part of Uganda in the districts of Kanungu and Kisoro. It was established in 1991 and the habituation of gorillas started, by 1993, it was gazetted as a national park and made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

Mountain Gorilla

The Bwindi National Park is a habitat for half of the World’s population of mountain gorillas, it has an estimated 400 plant species, 350 bird species including several other primates like monkeys. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National park has 4 gorilla tracking sectors, therefore; Buhoma being the oldest gorilla tracking sector, Ruhija, Rushaga, and Nkuringo respectively. Each sector has various tracking groups and each group is tracked by a maximum of 8 people per day as a way to give the gorillas the freedom to enjoy their natural habitat. Activities in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National park are; Gorilla tracking and trekking, chimpanzee tracking, bird watching, nature walks, cultural encounters ( Bakiga and Batwa pygmies, blacksmith visits, and Buhoma community), and hiking.

Lake Mburo National Park

It is the smallest National park in Uganda and the closest to Kampala the capital city of Uganda with various wild game species, most unique are the zebras, impalas, elands. Other wild animals include waterbucks, buffaloes, warthogs, topis, giraffes, wild cats such as leopards and lions. Lake Mburo National park is a sanctuary of various bird species making it one of the birding destinations in Uganda with about 350 bird species. Bird species may include; weaver birds, rare shoebill, crested crane, sparrows, fish eagle species among others. It is one of the National parks with human settlements within the park. The people live with the animals as their cattle graze with the zebras and impalas. Activities in and around the park may include; day and night game drives, bird watching, cultural encounters, horseback riding, launch cruises, cycling safaris, nature walks, sport fishing, and research trips.

Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth National Park is located in the Southwestern region of Uganda covering the four districts of Kasese, Kamwenge, Rubirizi, and Rukungiri, about 1200square kilometers in size and 400 kilometers by road South West of Kampala city. The park was founded in 1952 as Kazinga National park, renamed 2 years later to commemorate a visit by Queen Elizabeth II, it is dominated by open savannah grasslands and woodlands. The park then became a world heritage site in 1991. It is home to 95 mammal species and over 600 bird species.

Queen Elizabeth National Park is Uganda’s most popular touristic destination with two sectors therefore Ishasha in the South is famous for the tree-climbing lions and the Kasenyi sector in the North is known for the biggest number of wild games in the park. It is also dominated by a number of crater lakes, forested gorges (Kyambura gorge famous for chimpanzee tracking), calderas, cliffs, savannah plains, wetlands, Maramagambo forest with a lot of poisonous reptiles and the famous bat cave, the beautiful Kazinga channel that connects Lake George in Uganda and Lake Edward shared by DRC and Uganda, The Kazinga channel serves as a source of fresh drinking water for the wild game and also for launch cruises for viewing of most of the animals and bird species. Mount Rwenzori with the highest peak Margharita which is about 5000metres high with glacial features and climate.

Activities in Queen Elizabeth National park include; Game drives in the Ishasha and Kasenyi sectors, launch cruise on the Kazinga Channel, crater drives through the crater lakes, bird watching, hiking, fishing, salt mining from lake Katwe and Bunyampaka, fishing on Kazinga channel, lake George and Edward, nature walks, Cultural encounters, Chimpanzee tracking in the Kyambura gorge, visit the bat cave in Maramagambo forest, visit the Equator at Kikorongo, coffee plantation tours and research tours.

Kibale National Park

Kibale National park was established in 1993, it is located in Western Uganda in 6 districts namely; Kabarole, Kamwenge, Kasese, Kyenjojo, Bunyangabo, and Kyegegwa. The park can be accessed either from the North or Southern direction, the Northern route is via Mubende and Fort Portal while to Southern route is via Mbarara and Kamwenge.

kibale chimpanzee trekking

Kibale National Park is the most forested park with some of the oldest tree species in the country (over 300 years) therefore a location of Kibale tropical rain forest in Uganda covering 795 square kilometers and is well known for its primate population. It is home to over 13 primate species and these include chimpanzees, Grey-cheeked mangabey (Uganda Mangabey-only found in Uganda), blue monkey, vervet monkey, black and white colobus monkey, red-tailed monkey, olive baboon, thick-tailed bushbaby, elephants among others, 372 bird species(famous for the great blue turaco, ross’s turaco, black and white casqued hornbill, crowned hornbill, grey parrots), 350 tree species and 71 mammals. It is one of Africa’s research sites on endangered chimpanzees and other primates.

Touristic activities in Kibale National Park include; Chimpanzee trekking (this involves walking through the Kibale rain forest for about 2-5 hours depending on the location of the primates and on finding them, visitors are limited to only 1 hour in the presence of the endangered primates), Chimpanzee habituation, birding (Bigodi wetland sanctuary), the crater lakes tours(Ndali and Kasenda craters), nature walks, cultural encounters, research tours, and hiking.

Murchison Falls National Park

Murchison Falls National Park is Uganda’s largest park covering about 3,800 square kilometers and is home to the world’s most powerful waterfalls, it is located in North-Western Uganda therefore Masindi district, Buliisa district, and Nwoya district. The park is approximately 300 kilometers (190 mi), by road, northwest of Kampala, Uganda’s capital city. The park is home to 76 species of mammals such as; lions, elephants, buffaloes, leopards, giraffes, Jackson’s hartebeest, bushbucks, oribis, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, and warthogs not forgetting the resident Nile crocodiles and hippopotamuses found along the river banks. Olive baboons are common along the roadsides, purpose monkeys around the open savannah grasslands, black and white colobus monkeys can be found in the forested sectors. The Park is also home to a variety of birds with 451 species recorded, they include; the Shoebill Stork, the Goliath Heron, pairs of elegant Grey Crowned Cranes (Uganda’s national bird) also seen along the banks of the Nile are the Swamp Flycatcher, African Jacana, Sandpipers, Weaver Birds, Giant and Malachite Kingfishers, Red-throated Bee-eater, White-browed Sparrow Weaver, among many others.

Touristic activities in Murchison Falls National Park include; game drive, launch cruise on river Nile to the bottom of the falls, cruise to the Nile delta, bird watching, hiking to the top of the falls, Hot air balloon safari, nature walks(trails through Kaniyo, Pabidi, and Rabongo forests), sport fishing, cultural encounters and shoebill watching on the Nile delta.

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