Queen Elizabeth National Park Best Time To Visit

Queen Elizabeth National Park Best Time To Visit : Queen Elizabeth National Park situated on the rift valley in the southwestern region of Uganda is a popular safari destination and the most visited, the park is located approximately 400 kilometers and about 6 hours’ drive from Kampala City – the capital city of Uganda and where most safari start from.

Queen Elizabeth National park covers an area of 1,978 square kilometers extending from Lake Gorge in the northeast to Lake Edward in the southwest including the Kazinga Channel that connects the two lakes.

Queen Elizabeth National Park is the most visited National in Uganda because of its wide of attractions including 95 species of mammals including 4 of the big 5 “lions, leopards, elephants and buffaloes” and over 612 species of birds.

Because of the attractions, the park is visited by millions of tourists every year. While planning a Uganda safari to Queen Elizabeth National Park, the commonly asked question by tourists is the best time to visit. This question is answered as below.

elephants in queen elizabeth national park

Queen Elizabeth National Park is an all year-round destination meaning it can be visited any time of the year and its safari experience is good any time, however the best wildlife viewing experience which is the major safari activity in time is got from January to February and June to September which are dry seasons of the year.

The dry season in Queen Elizabeth National Park is coincides with the peak season of Uganda’s Tourism.

The low season in Uganda occurs from March to May and October to December, these mothers are the wettest season of the year with high rainfalls, and this rain might obstruct your Uganda safari.

In conclusion, the best time to visit Queen Elizabeth National park specifically for wildlife safaris is from January to February and June to September which are dry seasons. During the dry season months, wildlife in the park are easy to see as the savannah grassland cover is less and short, also the animals are easy to see in big numbers as they congregate around the remaining water holes as most of them dry out due to the scotching sunlight.

The most peak season in the year in Uganda is June with many tourists visit Queen Elizabeth National Park for a safari and other wildlife safari destinations in Uganda safari.

The dry season months are the best times to visit Queen Elizabeth National Park for game viewing drives, guided nature walks and chimpanzee tracking experience.

Seasons in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Dry Season

Dry season is the best time to visit Queen Elizabeth National Park for a Uganda safari experience and is experienced from January to February and June to September.

During this time, the animals are much easier to see as they are drawn to the water sources, the dry season is also the peak season especially from June to August so there will be quite a number visiting the park. This is the best time to go on game drives and wildlife viewing in Queen Elizabeth National Park, it is also the best time to take guided nature walks or go for chimpanzee trekking expeditions.

You will need to bring warm clothing for the early morning game drives and night drives because it tends to get really colder.

queen elizabeth park lions

Wet Season

Wet season in Queen Elizabeth National Park is experienced from October to December and March to May, during this season the scenery in and around the park is extremely beautiful. The vegetation is green and lush providing the true picture of the tropics, also the migratory birds arrive into Queen Elizabeth National Park and other areas of Uganda from Europe and Northern Africa. This makes it the best time to go for bird watching.

In the wet season, the park is less crowded making it easier to watch wild species. Also accommodation facilities offer discounted rates and some lodges might even close especially between March and May.

Warm clothes and rain gears are necessary during this time.

During the wet season, chimpanzee trekking, nature walking and game viewing tends to be difficult as the roads are slippery and the vegetation cover is high and animals always go into hiding thus hard to see them.

Getting There

Queen Elizabeth National Park is a very accessible safari destination and can be included on safaris to other Uganda parks such as Bwindi and Kibale National Parks.

The park is accessed from Kampala City on two routes that is via Mbarara to the East of the park covering a distance of 250 miles and via Fort Portal to the north.

By air, the park is reached using domestic and chartered flights from Entebbe International Airport or Kajjansi airstrip to closest airstrips to Queen Elizabeth National Park that are Kasese, Mweya and Ishasha.