There are quite a number of attractions near Queen Elizabeth National Park. In addition to your visit to the park, you can also take a game drive to one of the following destinations and attraction sites. These will give you a totally different experience and make your trip a memorable one.
Rwenzori Mountains National Park
You can take a drive to Rwenzori Mountains National Park, which is located on the northwestern side of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The park derives its name from the Rwenzori mountains, also known as the ‘Mountains of the Moon’.
Rwenzori mountains are situated in Western Uganda, in the East African rift valley escarpment. The mountains straddle to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and its conservation area known as Virunga National Park.
The mountain is the third highest in Africa rising up more than 16,700 feet (5,109m) above sea level. The highest peaks of Rwenzori rise above the clouds and are permanently snow-capped.
A number of activities can be done on and around Rwenzori. These include hiking to the Margherita peak, nature walks which give you an opportunity to spot diverse flora and fauna. Don’t miss bird watching, and a community tour which will give you a chance to interact with the Bakonjo tribe, lounging on the foothills of the mountains.
Kibale Forest National Park – Attractions Around Queen Elizabeth
Kibale is an extensive national park, protecting a large block of rainforest located on the northern part of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The park offers an excellent forest for chimpanzee tracking experience and bird life. It harbors the greatest variety and concentration of primates not found elsewhere in East Africa. Superb birds and primates combined with easy access, good infrastructure, and a variety of interesting activities make this forest a worthwhile Uganda safari destination.
A variety of activities can be done on your visit to Kibale other than bird watching and chimpanzee tracking. These include community tours, tea plantations tour, exploring crater lakes, nature walks, and biking safaris.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is located in the western part of Uganda just south of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The park offers you an ancient rainforest, that extends over a series of steep ridges in the Virunga Volcanoes mountain range.
Declared as a UNESCO world heritage site due to its ecological uniqueness and natural beauty, roughly half of the world’s total mountain gorilla population lives in this park. Other than gorilla tracking and gorilla habituation, you can also explore the Batwa community, visit crater lakes like Lake Mutanda, visit waterfalls, enjoy bird watching experiences, and community walks.
Semuliki National Park – Attractions Around Queen Elizabeth
Semuliki National Park sprawls across the floor of the Semuliki Valley on the remote, western side of the Rwenzori. The park is dominated by the easternmost extension of the great Ituri Forest of the Congo Basin. This is one of Africa’s most ancient and bio-diverse forests; one of the few to survive the last ice age, between 12,000 -18,000 years ago.
The park has numerous primates and mammals, however, it is famous for its beautiful male and female hotsprings with wonderful historical and cultural backgrounds attached to them.
Sempaya hotsprings are a major attraction here, with a boardwalk and egg boiling experiences at the hotsprings. These increase one’s experience upon visiting Semuliki National Park. Bird watching is one of the major activities at the park, which boosts over 400 species of birds.