Wildlife safaris in Uganda
Uganda Wildlife Safaris; Uganda is one of the best places for safari in Africa. However, there are a lot of understatements that have been used to describe it in regards to what it offers during exploration, words such as beautiful, attractive, to mention but a few. These sound too small to fit its extensiveness. Uganda has a great biodiversity, scenic landscape, beautiful weather and an interestingly rich culture. This is the reason this small landlocked country is attracting more and more travelers each year for safaris.
Wildlife safaris in Uganda allow tourists to get immersed into nature and enjoy more than they expected. They get a chance to see impressive flora and the various wild animals in game reserves including mammals, primates, reptiles and birds. Highlight wildlife attractions on Uganda safaris include mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, zebras, cheetah, hippos and four of the “African Big Five” animals namely the buffalo, lion, leopard and elephant among the mammals and the shoebill stork of the birds of Uganda.
For a fantastic wildlife safari experience in Uganda, a visit to game reserves or national parks is highly recommended.
In this article, we bring you the top suggested destinations for wildlife tours in Uganda including the major activities to do there and their most popular attractions.
This is Uganda’s oldest and largest national park (covering an area over 3,800sq.km). It is a highlight for Uganda safaris because of its huge population of animals including lions, giraffes, buffaloes, elephants and antelopes among others. Murchison Falls national park also offers somewhat higher chances of spotting the leopard than any other park in Uganda. A safari to Murchison falls national park would be incomplete if you didn’t visit the Murchison waterfalls, the world’s strongest waterfalls where the Nile squeezes through a 7m gorge causing a powerful flash and roar.
Major activities in Murchison falls national park; game drives, boat trips, chimp tracking tours, nature walks and bird watching among others.
Popular wildlife safaris include; 3 Days Murchison falls safari, 4 Days safari, 5 days Murchison and Jinja Safari
Queen Elizabeth national park
Queen Elizabeth national park is dubbed “A medley of wonders”. The protected area has a wide biodiversity than any other game reserve in Uganda. The diversity of habitats here are the reasons for the range of wildlife including over 90 mammals species, 612 bird species, 5 primate species and 10 reptile species. The tree climbing lions in the southwestern sector of the park are an impressive highlight of tours to the park.
Queen Elizabeth national park can be best explored while on game drives, the Kazinga channel boat cruise, nature walk, forest walk and explosion crater drive. Other activities of the park chimpanzee tracking, bird watching and visiting Maramagambo forest to watch the bat cave.
Popular safaris of Queen Elizabeth national park include; 3 Days wildlife safari, 4 Days wildlife and chimpanzee tracking, 5 Days wildlife and gorilla trekking
Bwindi Impenetrable national park
If you are a primate lover and wish to meet the majestic mountain gorillas face to face, you’ll have to add Bwindi to your bucket list. Bwindi Impenetrable national park is a pristine forest harboring the largest population of the endangered mountain gorillas. The highlight for travelers to this park is gorilla trekking. They can also participate in other activities including visiting the Batwa people, bird watching and biking.
Pre-arranged short safaris to Bwindi include; 3 Days Gorilla safari, 5 Days gorilla and wildlife safari, 5 days Bwindi and Kibale primates. Combined Rwanda and Uganda safaris are available and can be tailored to perfectly suit your interests.
Kidepo valley national park
Kidepo valley national park is one of the few typical African wilderness safari destinations on the continent. For those who want to feel the real tranquility of the wilderness, Kidepo is an amazing place. From the isolation of the park to its significantly few number of visitors, Kidepo is perfect for travelers who are up for less congested safari destinations. It offers incredible visibility of wild animals during game drives and nature walks. Kidepo is the only park with cheetahs in Uganda and they can be spotted during game drives. Lions, elephants, zebras and antelopes also thrive in Kidepo.
Popular tour packages; 4 Days Kidepo safari, 4 Days Fly-in luxury safari, 5 Days wildlife and hiking safari
Kibale national park
Nowhere else in Africa you can compare to Kibale national park’s huge concentration of wild chimpanzees. The tropical forest hosts about 1,500 chimps in an area of 776 square kilometers and this gives almost a guarantee to trekkers to meet and get up-close to these playful apes. The nature reserve is home to other 12 primate species along with forest elephants, giant forest hogs, forest birds and more than 80 species of butterflies.
Kibale national park is the prime African destination for chimpanzee tracking safaris. It is also a worthwhile park for bird watching and nature walks. The adjacent Bigodi wetland and Bigodi village always make a much more interesting all inclusive chimpanzee and community visit safari in Kibale.
Lake Mburo national park
The closeness of Lake Mburo national park to Kampala makes it the easiest place to visit if you have very few days perhaps after your work project or want a safari road trip for a weekend. Taking on a 2 days safari allows travelers to go for a boat cruise and game drive for a chance to see many of the wildlife in the park including zebras, giraffes, hippos, buffaloes, topi and elands due to absence of elephants and lions in Lake Mburo, it is apparently the only park where you can do horse riding.
Other pre-arranged tour packages to Lake Mburo national park; 3 Days wildlife safari
Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
There is no such a fantastic safari experience as encountering all the African big five in the wild. Ziwa Rhino sanctuary is strategically located off Kampala – Gulu highway, the same route to Murchison falls national park. This makes it easy to visit the two destinations and stand a chance to see the rhino, elephant, buffalo, lion and leopard on your safari. Other than rhinos, other attractions at the sanctuary include the shoebill stork, antelopes, crocodiles and many other bird species.
Things to do at Ziwa Rhino sanctuary; rhino tracking, bird watching, canoe ride and nature walk. Our popular safari packages include; 1 Day Rhino tracking, 3 Days Murchison and Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
Apart from the above wildlife destinations, Uganda has more places that will offer remarkable travel experiences; mountain climbing tours on the Rwenzori Mountains, Mt. Elgon and the Virunga volcanoes, canoe ride tours on Lake Bunyonyi- the second deepest lake in Africa and most beautiful in Uganda. At Semuliki national park and Mgahinga national park, you will get close to hot springs and mountain gorillas and golden monkeys respectively. As of incredible adventures in Uganda, Jinja is the place to visit.
With a variety of options for safaris in Uganda, the most suitable safari will always depend on your travel interests. Whether you want go gorilla trekking, game driving, lion tracking, canoeing or bird watching, there is something perfect for you and we are here to help you plan.
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