Uganda's most visited park spans crater lakes, savannah, and wetlands — home to the famous tree-climbing lions of Ishasha and Africa's best boat safari.
A Park of Astonishing Variety
Queen Elizabeth National Park stretches from the foothills of the Rwenzori Mountains to Lake Edward, taking in volcanic crater lakes, open savannah, tropical forest, and papyrus swamp. That variety supports 95 mammal species and over 600 bird species — the highest of any East African park.
The Famous Tree-Climbing Lions of Ishasha
In the remote Ishasha sector, lions spend their days draped along the limbs of giant fig trees — a behaviour seen almost nowhere else on Earth. Nobody is entirely sure why they climb; escaping tsetse flies and catching the breeze are the leading theories. Watching a lioness snooze on a branch overhead is a bucket-list moment.
The Kazinga Channel Boat Cruise
The 32 km Kazinga Channel linking Lakes George and Edward hosts one of the greatest concentrations of hippos in Africa, along with elephants, buffalo, and crocodiles lining the shores. The two-hour cruise gets you within metres of it all — bring your longest lens.
Hippos in the Kazinga Channel
Kasenyi Plains Game Drives
The Kasenyi sector is the park's big-game heartland: dawn drives across kob breeding grounds where lions hunt in the golden light, with elephants and buffalo scattered across the plains and the Rwenzoris on the horizon.
Elephants on the Kasenyi plains
Don't Miss
Add a chimpanzee walk in the Kyambura Gorge — an underground forest sunk into the savannah — and a drive along the crater lakes track for some of the best viewpoints in Uganda.
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