Queen Elizabeth National Park: Where Lions Nap in Trees
A lioness lies draped along a fig branch, one paw dangling, surveying the savannah like a queen on her balcony. This is Queen Elizabeth National Park, where western Uganda shows off its wild side. Open plains, crater lakes, a hippo-filled channel and a forested gorge full of chimpanzees all sit within one park.
A Park With a Layered Past
Queen Elizabeth National Park was founded in 1952 as Kazinga National Park, when the Lake George and Lake Edward Game Reserves were combined. Two years later it was renamed to commemorate a visit by Queen Elizabeth II.
The park’s story is not only about wildlife. After a 1921 epidemic of rinderpest and sleeping sickness devastated the pastoralist Basongora people, the colonial government evicted many survivors from their lands to create game reserves. That history still shapes the relationship between the park and its neighbours.
A Landscape of Many Moods
Few parks pack in so much variety. Open savannah rolls into swampy shores, crater lakes glint like scattered coins, and dense forest closes around Kyambura Gorge. The Kazinga Channel, a natural waterway linking two lakes, serves as the park’s watery main street.
Wildlife in Queen Elizabeth National Park
The park is home to roughly 95 mammal species and reportedly more than 600 bird species. Visitors often encounter elephants, buffalo, Uganda kob, topi, waterbuck, warthogs, hippo and Nile crocodiles. Leopards, spotted hyenas and giant forest hogs reward the patient.
Chimpanzees live in Kyambura Gorge, nicknamed the “Valley of Apes”. In the southern Ishasha sector, lions are among the few in Africa regularly seen resting in fig trees.
Things to Do in Queen Elizabeth National Park
- Game drives across the Kasenyi plains and the Mweya peninsula, best at dawn and dusk
- A boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel, where hippos, buffalo, elephants and birds gather along the banks
- Chimpanzee tracking in Kyambura Gorge
- Looking for the tree-climbing lions in the Ishasha sector
- Birdwatching, with hundreds of species recorded
Conservation: A Delicate Balance
The Uganda Wildlife Authority manages the park, and visitor fees help fund its protection. The challenges are real. Poachers killed six elephants in 2015, and in 2018 eleven lions died after poisoned carcasses were left out, an event conservationists described as a “national disaster”. Reports link such poisonings to herders who lost livestock to predators without compensation.
Getting to Queen Elizabeth National Park
From Kampala, the drive is roughly 400 kilometres and usually takes 6 to 7 hours. Daily domestic flights from Entebbe land at the Mweya, Kihihi and Kasese airstrips for those short on time. Travellers from Kenya usually fly from Nairobi to Entebbe first.
Queen Elizabeth National Park Entry Fees
Under the Uganda Wildlife Authority tariff for July 2024 to June 2026, entry cost:
- US$40 for foreign non-residents
- US$30 for foreign residents
- UGX 20,000 for East African citizens
- US$20 for children aged 5 to 15, and free for under-fives
Tickets are valid for 24 hours. Game drives, vehicle fees and chimpanzee tracking cost extra. Fees can change without notice, so confirm current rates on the Uganda Wildlife Authority website before you travel.
Where to Stay
Options range from budget hostels and campsites to mid-range tented camps and luxury lodges overlooking the channel or plains. Lodges outside the park boundary also work, because the ticket allows re-entry within its 24 hours.
Did You Know?
- The park sits close to the equator, and a roadside monument lets visitors straddle two hemispheres.
- Lake Katwe, a crater salt lake nearby, has been mined by hand for generations.
- Ishasha’s lions are among the few in Africa regularly seen resting in trees.
Best Time to Visit Queen Elizabeth National Park
The drier months, roughly December to February and June to August, usually make game viewing easier. The wetter months, around March to May and September to November, tend to bring lush scenery and fine birding, though some tracks may turn muddy.
Plan Your Uganda Safari with Yulle Adventures
Queen Elizabeth National Park does not shout. It unfolds slowly, one hippo yawn and one sunset at a time, and it rewards travellers who arrive with patience and respect.
We can add the park to a longer trip with Murchison Falls or a Kenya safari. Read our guides to Murchison Falls and explore our Uganda destination page, or see our Uganda safari package and request a quote.