UGANDA NATIONAL PARKS
Located astride the equator, Uganda has a network of 10 national parks and several other protected areas. These make Uganda a superb safari destination which offers wildlife enthusiasts a thrilling opportunity to experience Uganda’s biodiversity. Uganda's wildgame resides in not only the mesmerising tracts of thorn-bush savannah a habitat for antelope, buffalo and elephant one as well as the equatorial lush expanses of tropical rainforests a habitat for the rare mountain gorillas and other primates. The shimmering lakes and rivers heave with aquatic life while the glacial peaks of one of the Africa’s tallest mountain range make Uganda a superb destination for adventure.
Uganda's national parks are:
BWINDI GORILLA PARK FOR GORILLA TRACKING
The Impenetrable Forest Reserve was gazetted in 1942, upgraded to the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in 1992 and recognised as a World Heritage Site in 1994. In the local Lukiga language, Bwindi actually means 'Impenetrable.' A trek through this, one of Africa's most ancient rainforests, in search of the endangered mountain gorilla, ranks among the world's premier wildlife encounters. More on Bwindi....
MGAHINGA GORILLA PARK FOR MOUNTAIN GORILLLA TRACKING
At just 33.7km2, Mgahinga Gorilla is Uganda's smallest national park. However, it is also one of the most dramatic for the park lies on the northern slopes of Mts. Muhabura, Mgahinga and Sabyinyo, three volcanoes that create an unforgettable regional backdrop. Mgahinga is home to the few of the remaining endangered mountain gorillas... More on Mgahinga...
MURCHISON FALLS NATIONAL PARK FOR BIRDING, WILDLIFE AND CHIMPANZEE TRACKING TOURS
The Murchison Falls National Park lies at the northern end of the Albertine Rift Valley, where the bulky Bunyoro escarpment merges into the vast plains of Acholiland. One of Uganda's oldest conservation areas, it was initially gazetted as a game reserve in 1926 to protect a savanna that Winston Churchill described in 1907 as 'Kew Gardens and the zoo combined on an unlimited scale'.Murchison Falls has received many notable foreign visitors. More on Murchison Falls.....
QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK FOR WILDLIFE SAFARIS AND CHIMP TREKS
The 1978 square kilometres Queen Elizabeth National Park enjoys a stunning location on the rift valley floor between Lakes Edward and George where a mosaic of habitats supports 95 mammal species and a remarkable 612 species of birds. Forty years ago, Douglas Willocks described the diverse features that led to its creation in 1952. There still exists no better introduction or a more enticing invitation to visit the park. Scenically the area had everything. Thirty miles to the north, the blue Rwenzori exploded from the plain, More on Queen Elizabeth ......
MOUNT ELGON FOR MOUNTAIN CLIMBING AND HIKING SAFARIS
Mount Elgon is a massive solitary volcanic mountain on the border of eastern Uganda and western Kenya. Its vast form, eighty kilometres in diameter, rises 3070m above the surrounding plains, providing welcome relief in more than one sense of the word. Its mountainous terrain introduces variety to an otherwise monotonous regional landscape. Its cool heights offer respite for humans from the hot plains below and its higher altitudes provide a refuge for flora and fauna. Mount Elgon has been a regional landmark for a long time: this extinct volcano is one of Uganda's oldest physical features, first erupting around 20 million years ago. More on Mt Elgon National Park....
MOUNT RWENZORI NATIONAL PARK FOR MOUNTAINEERING
In AD150, the Alexandrine geographer Ptolemy wrote of a snow capped mountain range, deep in the heart of Africa that, he claimed, was the source of the Nile and which he called the Mountains of the Moon. Over the centuries this curious notion of tropical snow faded into mythology and, when John Speke found the Nile's exit from Lake Victoria, a place in fiction for the Mountains of the Moon seemed assured. Though just miles north of the Equator, Rwenzori mountain is renowned of its glaciers and snow peaks whose meltwaters represent the highest springs ofthe Nile. More on Mt. Rwenzori national park....
KIBALE FOREST FOR CHIMPANZEE TRACKING AND PRIMATE TREKS
The 795km2 Kibale National Park contains one of the loveliest and most varied tracts of tropical forest in Uganda. This is home to a host of forest wildlife, most famously 13 species of primate including chimpanzee. Forest cover predominates in the northern and central parts of the park on the elevated Fort Portal plateau. Kibale is highest at the park's northern tip which stands 1590m above sea level. More on Kibale Forest...
SEMULIKI NATIONAL PARK FOR BIRDING, CHIMP TREKS, SCENIC TOURS AND WILDLIFE ADVENTURES
The 220km2 Semuliki National Park lies in the isolated Bundibugyo district, beyond the Rwenzori mountain on the floor of the Semliki section of the Albertine Rift Valley. This largely forested park represents the easternmost limit of the great Ituri Forest of the Congo Basin and contains numerous species associated with central rather than eastern Africa. Thatch huts are shaded by West African oil palms, the Semliki River (which forms the international boundary) is a miniature version of the Congo River, while the local population includes a Batwa (Pygmy) community that originated from the Ituri. A visit to Semuliki provides a taste of Central Africa just a couple of hours from the comforts of Fort Portal. More on Semuliki National park....
LAKE MBURO NATIONAL PARK FOR BIRDING, WILDLIFE AND FOOT SAFARIS
Lake Mburo National Park is a gem of a park, conveniently located close to the western highway that connects Kampala to the parks of western Uganda. Though the park is just 370km2 in size, its landscapes are varied and even a short drive is alive with interest and colour. Its varied vegetation which comprise of gallery forest, open savanna and acacia woodland, rock kopjes, seasonal and permanent swamps, and open water, support various wildife species such as impala, Burchell's zebra, and eland that are not found elsewhere in western Uganda. More on Lake Mburo National park.....