Welcome to the pearl of the African oyster, Uganda. Immensely blessed with immeasurable unique flora and fauna gazetted in national game parks and reserves. Shedding light on the game drives of a few national parks in uganda, reveals a deeper truth of the unmatched beauty and variety of Ugandan tourism.
Game drives in Queen Elizabeth national park.
Located in the western side of Uganda, near the “mountains of the moon” Rwenzori, is home to over 95 mammals, over 600 bird species, numerous still, glasslike lakes and Kazinga channel making it one of Africa’s greatest wildlife havens. The park offers unparalleled game viewing with the following animals; the big game (buffaloes, elephants, waterbucks, uganda kobs and hippos). Top predators like leopards, lions, spotted hyenas, side stripped jackals, leopards. Primates like chimpanzees, Vervet monkeys, olive baboons, black and white colobus moneys. Kazinga channel connects lakes Edward and George in 40km length and is a meeting point for most of the wildlife. Where hippos and crocodiles meet elephants and birds of all variety like saddle billed stork.
Game drives in the park are divided according to locations for easier coverage and best done in the morning or late afternoons. These are;
- Ishasha game drive, in the southern part of the park, is famous for its unique tree climbing lions, elephants, buffaloes, topi antelopes.
- Kasenyi sector game drive, in the northeast of the park is the most known circuit, giving the best views of large herds of uganda kobs, warthogs, hyenas with resident lion prides especially early morning and buffaloes. It does not offer night game drives because of the throngs of tourists during day. It is to reduce stress on the animals, leaving them to rest at night.
- North Kazinga plains is a large area of woodland and savannah grasslands full of warthogs and elephants with a beautiful backdrop of Kazinga channel.
- Mweya peninsula, located between lake Edward and the Kazinga channel, is the only location for night game drives. This circuit offers a high-density wildlife like leopards, elephants, buffaloes.
- Crater lake area, known for picturesque drives around explosive volcanic crater lakes especially lake Bunyampaka in which salt mining is done.
Game drives in Murchison falls national park.
Thisis the best savannah national park in uganda with the highest number of wildlife in the country ranking at 144 mammal species like the ‘big 5’, 51 reptiles and 51 amphibians commonly found in the albert delta, 556 bird species like Shoebill stork, White-crested turaco and Red-winged grey warbler. It is also home to one of the world’s most powerful waterfalls-Murchison falls.
Game drives are mainly facilitated in the northern sector because of the higher concentration of wildlife habituated in the savannah and acacia woodlands with designated game tracks. The main being Buligi peninsula with the following tracks; Victoria Nile circuit, Chobe track, Pakuba track, Tebito track, Buligi track and Delta game viewing circuit. And Albert shores viewing area, that have a greater chance of sighting lions as they wait for prey in the watering holes. Murchison falls national park has unique game drives; Self-game drives where the tourist is allowed to drive themselves and decide where to go. This applies to those with rented 4×4 safari cars.
Advantages of this drive are the flexibility for one to focus on personal interests, more intimate personal time in the wild. More chances off detailed photography, for photographers. However, being new, one might not easily be able to see most of the animals in the sense of not knowing the spots of higher concentration of animals. There are also cases of getting stuck in muddy trails with no immediate source of help nearby, it can become frustrating especially with rainy weather issues. One can easily get penalized for not following tourist allocated time in the self-drives. All these can be solved with having an armed game ranger escort you.
Rangers are trained personnel with park trails at the back of their hand. They also serve as protection incase of animal attacks. useful tips in self-drive is to have a GPS tracked car or a handy map to help with directions, carry a mobile phone plus a fully charged power bank in order to call for help from the lodge or park headquarters in case of problems. Guided safari game drives are where a group of tourists are led by certified guides or rangers who are knowledgeable about park wildlife and trails.
This is safer and more ideal, given that protection is catered for, detailed information about the park are divulged especially the key spots of most individual animals. The park rangers have walkie-talkies that help in communication with other rangers about park on-going, animal movements, rain or any other mishaps afore.
Game drives in Kidepo national park.
Uganda’s most remote park located in the far north, bordering South Sudan in the Karamoja valleys. It is a semi-arid, golden savannah wilderness of a tourism gem. This park is least explored in all of Uganda’s parks and yet boasts of over 77 species of mammals including buffaloes, lions, elephants, zebras, different antelope species hartebeests, giraffes with a staggering 476 bird species inclusive of wild ostriches, secretary birds, Abyssinian scimitar-bills, making it a prime spot for game drives.
The park is fed by river Narus which attracts large herds of different wildlife in the valley all year round. Besides being a park, Kidepo is also home to two indigenous groups; Karamojong who are nomadic pastoralists and Ik people who are hunter-gatherers. Cultural interaction in their communities during tourist visits is another offer.
Game drives are the main activity done in Kidepo national park in 4×4 safari vans for maximum viewing. With armed rangers as guides and security, the game drives are the highlight of every Kidepo visit. The drives are divided into schedules of daytime and night game drives. During day from 6:00AM, animal sightings of elands, cape buffaloes, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, elephants, some hippos in the few waterlogged swamps, kangoni, zebras with the various birds are experienced with a golden savannah backdrop of Narus valley.
While night time drives starting at 7:00PM, gives rare sightings of nocturnal predator animals like lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas hunting or feeding in their natural habitats.
Game drives in Lake Mburo national park.
This parkis nestled between the capital city Kampala and regional city Mbarara in Uganda, making it the closest to height of Ugandan civilization. It is also the smallest park in the country. Fed by a main crater lake and five other lakes, the park boasts of unmatched green beauty, large animal and bird wealth and cultural richness. Game drives in lake Mburo national park are done using 4×4-wheel vehicles especially in the wet seasons.
The game drive schedules are divided into two; day drive (starts at 6:00AM) and night drives (starts at 7:00PM), with trails following the season, during dry season, a large concentration of wildlife is found around the swamps and lakes, while wet season sees the animals huddled in the forests. The most used tracks used are impala and zebra tracks, connecting every drive to Sanga and Nshara gates to Rwonyo Rest camp which normally serve sightings of Burchell’s zebras, impalas, waterbucks, buffaloes, topis, hippos, leopards, giraffes, oribis, slender mongooses, giant bush rats, warthogs, Defassa, bushbacks, duikers, and elands, with the ethereal picture of sparkling lakes.
Bird watching and photography is also another popular part given lake Mburo’s of the day game drives especially in Bisheshe gate, near lake Rwizi. Lake Mburo has no elephants though. The game drives are facilitated by local tour guides and park rangers for detailed information about the park, direction and safety.
One can also embark outside the park for cultural immersive visits where farmers can be seen herding cattle, children going to school, different types of Ugandan crop farms on large scale like matooke (sweet bananas), maize, beans and cassava.