How to organize a fly-in safari to Queen Elizabeth national park: Queen Elizabeth national park, the second largest conservation area in Uganda is located in the Southern part of Uganda. The park has one of the largest savannah grass lands making it the best when it comes to wildlife viewing with a high chance of seeing the big four animals.
Overview
Organizing a fly in safari to Queen Elizabeth national park requires you to first plan and ensure that you have booked your trip with authentic tour operators. Pamoja tours and travel company has great experience when it comes to tailoring and giving the best safaris across Uganda and East Africa at large. With our personnel, you will have the best domestic-flight to the park where you will be able to enjoy different activities like visiting Kazinga channel on a boat cruise and many others.
Bookings
We can organize and book for you a safari at Queen Elizabeth national park first by sharing the required information necessary like your planned dates of the trip. As Pamoja tours and Travel Company, we will advise you according to the availability of routings to Queen Elizabeth national park. In case the flights are not available, we will advise you to extend your trip to another date or check other available flight options. In case they are available, we will book for your flight.
There are better options of chattered flights. However, they are a bit expensive although more private. Additionally, they can land in smaller airfields hence reducing the time of your drive from the airfield to the park. Flight fares to Queen Elizabeth Park Range from USD283 for a one way flight and USD472 for a return flight.
Accessing the park
The park is one of the easiest national parks to access on a fly-in safari trip since it takes just 1hr 15 minutes. The park can be accessed from Entebbe international airport or Kajjansi airstrip. From there, you can go to different airstrips like Mweya, Kasese or Kihihi. More to that, all this depends on the available domestic flight operator and routing you plan to use. It should be noted that the airstrips are located away from the park. Therefore, you will need to take a few minutes or hour’s drive to the park or the lodge where you are planning to stay.
From Mweya airstrip, it takes you 45 minutes’ drive depending on the lodge you are planning to stay at. From Kasese airstrip, it takes you 1-2 hours’ drive to the park. On the other hand, from Kihihi airstrip, it’s just a 3 hours’ drive to the park. Flights to Mweya and Kasese are highly recommended since they are just a few minutes or hours away from the park.
Activities to do on a fly-in safari to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Visiting Kazinga channel
This is one of the luxurious activity where you will enjoy the boat cruise to Kazinga channel in Queen Elizabeth Park. The shores of Kazinga channel are a place for numerous birds which birders can view. Additionally, you will be able to encounter herds of elephants, buffalos, crocodiles on the shores. This can be enjoyed on the fly in to the park as you view the beauty of Mweya peninsular of Queen Elizabeth national park.
Game drives
These usually occur in Kasenyi plains and Mweya which are popular for wildlife viewing. Queen Elizabeth Park gives you a wide range of wildlife species including the big four, water bucks, herds of buffalos, topis, elephants and many others. With luck, you will also be able to spot lions and leopards, see the strange candelabra tree of Uganda and view a number of crater lakes that surround the park. Such game drives start in the morning or the afternoon. Also, these can take place in the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth where you will spot the famous tree climbing lions in the park.
Bird watching
Queen Elizabeth national park is a home to over 600 bird species. More to that, some of these are Albertine rift endemic birds , savannah and water birds. Also, you can spot most of them on your boat cruise to Kazinga channel. Birding here is perfect, through the open savanna grass lands and along the water banks.
While there, you will be able to spot various bird species like;
- long-crested eagle
- broad-billed roller
- African white-backed vulture
- African green pigeon
- Ross turaco
- white headed barbet
- grey woodpeckers
You can even view others on your game drives in the park. For instance, water birds, swamp birds, savannah birds and some Albertine rift endemic birds in Queen Elizabeth national park.
Chimpanzee tracking.
Chimpanzee tracking is one of the famous activities in the park. It takes place at Kyambura gorge. This will need you to spend more time in Queen Elizabeth national park since it takes place for almost half of the day. This activity requires you to get a permit which allows you to be part of the activity. This is very easy if you trust Pamoja tours and travel company to help you acquire the permits.
Cultural tours
For those who have interest in exploring outside the park, you may choose to visit the local communities and those making a living near Lake Katwe. There is a project that was started under Kasoga community where they get to share about their life experiences near the park. The peace between the local people and the park who work hand in hand is impressive. For those who desire to explore something out of wildlife, cultural tours are the best options for you to meet and interact with the local people.
Best time to visit Queen Elizabeth national park.
The fact that Uganda has the Equator passing through it causes the Equatorial climate where you expect rain anytime of the year. The best time is in the months of June to September and January to February where the grass is short, making it so easy to spot lions in the field. This also increases the chances of seeing wildlife as they search for water. The animals are more likely to congregate around the fewer remaining water holes.
The dry season is favorable for the fantastic uninterrupted game drives because the roads happen to be dry with low chances of getting rainfall to interrupt the trips.
The rainy season makes it a bit hard to move and carry out all activities in the park. The roads are slippery, which makes it hard even for game drives. However, the park is open for visitors throughout the year. This implies that all activities in the park continue taking place regardless of the weather changes.
Where to stay in Queen Elizabeth?
Queen Elizabeth has different accommodation facilities around that range from budget, midrange and luxury accommodation. The facilities range from US 90 dollars up to US 400 dollars per night depending on the lodge you plan to stay in.
These lodges accommodation facilities include;
- Mazike safari lodge
- Katara lodge
- Bush lodge
- Kyambura gorge lodge
- Buffalo lodge
Feel free to contact Pamoja tours and travel company for more information, bookings and inquiries on where to stay. We will advise you according to your budget and interests.
Recommendation
Pamoja tours and travel company offers amazing experiences under experienced tour operators and guides who are sure of giving you the best time in Queen Elizabeth Park. We will assist you in any way we can if you contact us, by providing information about any safari and park in east Africa. Our team perform their duties on a professional ground with love for nature and their job. Visit our website for any information of contact Pamoja tours and travel company.
