Uganda’s safari parks and reserves: The best Uganda safari parks to visit on your Uganda safari include the following:
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a top place for mountain gorilla tracking. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is home to half of the world’s surviving mountain gorilla population, making it the top location for tracking these massive animals. While in Bwindi Forest, you may view a variety of bird species and forest elephants. There are also various nature paths and treks to explore.
If you want to engage in cultural engagement, you may visit the Batwa people (Pygmies), a group of indigenous people who hunted and gathered in the forests of Bwindi before it was designated as a national park.
Murchison Falls National Park
Murchison Falls National Park is the best place to go on a wildlife safari in Uganda. It is home to four of the big five: elephants, buffaloes, lions, and leopards, with rhinos accessible for tracking at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary near Nakasongola, on the way to Murchison Falls National Park.
The Murchison Falls National Park, formerly known as Kabalega Falls, is also notable for possessing one of the world’s strongest waterfalls, the Murchison Falls, which is located in the park at a place where the Nile makes its way through an 8-meter-wide ravine.
Kibale Forest National Park.
Kibale Forest National Park, often known as the world’s primate capital, is home to 13 primate species, including chimpanzees, L’hoest monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, red colobus monkeys, valvet monkeys, baboons, and others.
This is Uganda’s number one chimpanzee tracking location, so it’s suggested for anybody hoping for an experience with our closest monkey cousins, which share almost 99% of their DNA with humans. While visiting Kibale Forest National Park, one of the additional activities available is a nature walk through the Bigodi wetlands, which will reward you with sightings of numerous monkeys, bird species, and butterflies.
Queen Elizabeth National Park
Queen Elizabeth National Park, one of Uganda’s most popular parks, is a must-see on every Uganda safari. Top activities at Queen Elizabeth National Park include game drives in the Kasenyi plains and the Ishasha sector to see tree-climbing lions, visits to crater lakes and salt licks, a boat cruise on the Kazinga channel, chimp tracking in Kyambura Gorge or the Kalinzu forest reserve, visits to Maramagambo forest and bat caves, community walks, and school visits.
Lake Mburo National Park
Lake Mburo National Park is one of the easiest safari destinations to reach from Kampala or Entebbe. This National Park is home to zebras, elands, buffaloes, impalas, giraffes, and various other antelope species. You can also spot leopards, particularly if you go on a night safari. Lake Mburo National Park is also one of Uganda’s parks, where visitors may go on a walking safari to see animals.
Mount Rwenzori National Park
The Rwenzori Mountains National Park is famed for mountain hiking, with many tourists visiting Uganda to ascend this magnificent mountain, which has a snow-capped summit known as the Margherita peak on Mount Stanley at an elevation of 5,109 meters above sea level.
This location also sits across the equator, and the heat from the equator melts the snow, causing water to flow down the mountain by several channels, generating rivers Nyamwamba, Nyamugasani, Mubuku in Kasese, and Mpanga in Fort Portal. Mt. Rwenzori is approximately 120 kilometers long and 65 kilometers broad, with diverse flora that supports 70 animal species and 217 bird species, including 19 Albertine rift endemics, and has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Kidepo Valley National Park
The Kidepo Valley National Park is by far Uganda’s most popular wildlife safari location. The Kidepo Valley, located in the country’s uncharted northern area known as Karamoja, never fails to astound tourists looking for a one-of-a-kind safari adventure and cultural extravaganza. Kidepo Valley National Park is located in the rocky, semi-arid valleys that border Uganda, South Sudan, and Kenya.
This area is home to around 77 animal species and 475 bird species, and it contains two seasonal rivers, Kidepo and Narus, which vanish and form pools during the dry season.It is mostly covered with open Savannah, which allows for easy viewing of wildlife from a distance.
Mount Elgon National Park
This national park is located on Mount. Elgon, an extinct volcano on the border between Uganda in the east and Kenya in the west, with a breadth of 80 kilometers and a height of 3000 meters above sea level. It is one of the oldest volcanoes, with an estimated age of more than 24 million years. Mountain Elgon National Park, located in Uganda and Kenya, protects the mountain’s slopes as an important transboundary conservation area designated as a UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve.
In Uganda, two Bagisu tribes live in this area, believing that the mountain represents their original father, Masaba, who arrived from one of the caves on the mountain’s slopes. The Sabiny are another tribe that lives here. This National Park is famed for possessing the world’s biggest caldera, and the mountain serves as a source for rivers such as the dramatic Sipi Falls. These falls provide a stunning backdrop for photographs. Mountain Elgon National Park is home to over 300 bird species, as well as various animals, caverns, and stunning scenery.
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
This is Uganda’s smallest but most fascinating National Park, encompassing 33 square kilometers. It is located in Uganda’s south-western extreme corner, on the lowlands of the extinct Virunga volcanoes, which are shared by Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with each country responsible for protecting its own park.
This National Park may also be accessible by air from Entebbe International Airport to Kisoro Airstrip, although it is recommended that you plan the flight in advance. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park was established in 1991, mostly to conserve the endangered mountain gorillas. Aside from gorillas, this National Park is well-known for golden monkeys and the indigenous Batwa people.
Semliki National Park
Semliki National Park is located in Uganda’s south-western corner and covers an area of 220 square kilometers with an average elevation of 715 meters above sea level. This National Park features lowland tropical savannah flora, 441 bird species, 53 animal species, 9 diurnal primate species, and is well-known for its magnificent male and female Sempaya hot springs. A route that winds along the rocky slopes of Mount Rwenzori connects Fort Portal to the Sempaya gate in Bundibugyo district, which is approximately 59 kilometers away.
