3 Days Queen Elizabeth safari
Tour Overview
The 3 Days Queen Elizabeth safari takes you to Uganda’s 2nd largest park –Queen Elizabeth National Park. This short Uganda safari package includes game drive and boat or launch cruise in Queen Elizabeth National Park a 1978 sq. km protected area. A game drive will be enjoyed along Kasenyi plains for you to explore variety of wildlife including African bush elephants, buffaloes, lions, leopards, antelopes, and birds.
A boat cruise will be best done along the Kazinga Channel. The extensive Kazinga channel is known for its great encounters of aquatic life, especially hippos, crocodiles, and water birds.
Queen Elizabeth National Park was gazetted in 1952 and its landscape area is characterized by savanna plains, rivers, swamps, natural rainforests, crater lakes, and more. The park boasts of its abundant wildlife including 4 of the Big 5 game, hippos, giant forest hogs, chimpanzees, spotted hyenas, topis, waterbucks, and warthogs.
Birds –over 620 bird species are in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. Most of the birds will also be spotted during the 3 Days Queen Elizabeth National Park. The different birds to identify on Queen Elizabeth Park safari include yellow-bellied wattle-eye, African skimmer, pink-backed pelicans, Ludwig’s bustards, long-crested eagle, swamp flycatchers, helmeted guineafowl, African crake, red-throated wryneck, little grebe, shoebill stork, red-chested cuckoos, and African fin foot.
Tour Details
Safari Highlights for the 3 Days Queen Elizabeth Trip
- Game drive
- Boat/launch cruise
- Photography
Brief Itinerary
Day 1: Pick up from hotel & drive to Queen Elizabeth Park
Day 2: Game drive and boat cruise
Day 3: Departure from Queen Elizabeth National Park
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: Pick up from hotel & drive to Queen Elizabeth Park
Enjoy a hefty breakfast in the morning and after, you will be picked up by the driver in Uganda. Expect to be taken through the 3 days Queen Elizabeth safari and then embark on your road trip to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Today, you will navigate via Masaka-Mbarara city route which comes with breathtaking views en route. You will have stopovers at the Equator for photography and lunch break in Igongo or in one of the hotels in Mbarara city.
Continue on a scenic drive via Bushenyi to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Get to the park early and proceed to your respective lodges for relaxation and overnight stay.
Accommodation
- Mweya Safari Lodge/Katara Lodge (Luxury)
- Elephant Plains/Buffalo Safari Lodge/Bulbul Safari Lodge (Midrange)
- Simba Safari Camp (Budget)
Day 2: Game drive and boat cruise
Enjoy a hefty breakfast and after, board a 4×4 safari vehicle with a pop-up roof ready for a guided game drive through the Kasenyi plains. The Kasenyi plain game drive will run for 2-3 hours and expect to see a range of wildlife. The various wildlife to see on Kasenyi trail include warthogs, buffaloes, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, bushbucks, spotted hyenas, elephants, lions, and on the lucky day leopards.
After the guided game drive, you will have a relaxed afternoon inclusive of lunch. At 2:00 pm, you will be expected at Kazinga Channel for a boat cruise. This is expected to take 2-3 hours on the Kazinga channel which links Lake George and Lake Edward. On the Kazinga channel, you will explore hippos, crocodiles, and aquatic birds.
After the mesmerizing Kazinga channel boat cruise, return to have dinner and overnight in your respective game safari lodges.
Accommodation
- Mweya Safari Lodge/Katara Lodge (Luxury)
- Elephant Plains/Buffalo Safari Lodge/Bulbul Safari Lodge (Midrange)
- Simba Safari Camp (Budget)
Day 3: Departure from Queen Elizabeth National Park
Wake up early to prepare and also enjoy your breakfast. After, you will check out and today will be the day for you to depart from Queen Elizabeth National Park. Drive back to Kampala/Entebbe city.
End of safari
Inclusions
- Game drives
- Launch cruise
- Photography
- Full time safari guide –English speaking
- Accommodation and meals as per the trip itinerary
- Transportation by car
- Park entrance fees
Exclusions
- Visas
- Tips
- Laundry services
- International flights
- Extra activities
- Beverages
When to visit
Safaris to Queen Elizabeth National Park can be explored at any time of the year. However, the dry season is the best for you to enjoy a guided game viewing and primate adventures like chimpanzee tracking in Kyambura Gorge. The longest dry months are marked by June, July, August, September, December, January, and February. Visiting Queen Elizabeth Park around these months allows visitors enjoy smooth navigating through the park on guided game drive.
What to see
Over 95 mammal species, 620 bird species survive in Queen Elizabeth National Park. The park shelters the Big game and small mammal species. The different animals to explore in this park include serval cats, spotted hyenas, leopards, hippos, lions (tree climbing lions), elephants, buffaloes, side-striped jackals, spotted hyenas, Uganda Kobs, waterbucks, bushbucks, and primates. The different primates to find in this park include the red colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, pottos, chimpanzees, and others.
Birds to identify in this park include the elusive shoebill storks, white-crested turacos, black-headed gonoleks, Great blue turacos, African fin foot, Marabou stork, malachite kingfishers, Ross’s turacos, papyrus gonoleks, Southern ground hornbill, white-thighed hornbill, emerald cuckoos, southern red bishops, crimson-rumped waxbill, bare-faced go-away bird, giant kingfisher, woodland kingfishers, African spoonbill, African sacred ibis, Eastern plantain eaters, common waxbills, and others.
There are main sectors to explore on Uganda safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park. They include Kyambura Gorge –an ideal spot for chimpanzee tracking, Maramagambo Forest ideal for birding and bat cave expeditions, Kazinga channel, Kasenyi plains, Ishasha area, Mweya Peninsula and more. Each of the sectors features unique attractions and exciting things to enjoy on your Uganda safari.
Getting there
Queen Elizabeth National Park is lying in western Uganda and is surrounded by districts like Rukungiri, Kasese, Rubirizi, and Kamwenge.
Queen Elizabeth National Park can be reached by road/air. By road, you should prepare to spend 6-7 hours’ drive from Kampala-Mityana-Mubende –Fort Portal –Kasese route. Or 7-8 hours’ drive from Kampala via Masaka-Mbarara-Bushenyi route.
By air, Queen Elizabeth Park can accessed on charter or scheduled flight which departs at the Entebbe Airport or Kajjansi airfield to Kasese Airstrip or Mweya.
