We had a terrible storm at night, and rainy weather continued today, so we were not sure if we should go on a game drive, but we risked it and jumped into the safari car (130 USD) and went to the Queen Elizabeth National Park (🎟️44 USD). It is often ranked highly as one of Uganda’s most loved must-see spots. This stunning landscape is replete with wildlife; you could spot deer, elephants, and – if you’re lucky – maybe even a tree-climbing lion, but we were happy enough to catch a lion on the savannah.
Queen Elizabeth National Park was founded in 1952 as Kazinga National Park and renamed in 1954 to commemorate a visit by Queen Elizabeth II of England. It spans the districts of Kasese, Kamwenge, Rubirizi, and Rukungiri and covers an impressive 1978 sq km.
In the 1970s, with its great herds of elephants, buffaloes, kobs, waterbucks, hippos, and topis, Queen Elizabeth was one of the premier safari parks in Africa. But during the troubled 1980s, Ugandan and Tanzanian troops (which occupied the country after Amin’s demise) did their ivory-grabbing, trophy-hunting best. Thankfully, animal populations have recovered thanks to improved park security and an emphasis on antipoaching patrols.
