Boat rides on Lake Albert in Semuliki national park

Boat rides on Lake Albert in Semuliki national park: Semuliki national park is located in Bundibugyo district western part of Uganda. The national park is located south of Lake Albert and is part of the Albertine Rift region. Hundreds of tourists visit Semuliki national park every year to participate in different tourism activities that do take place right there. Among the activities that tourists can do while in Semuliki national park include a visit to Lake Albert.

Boat rides on Lake Albert while on a safari in Semuliki national park are possible because the areas are near each other. Tourists can go for boat cruises on Lake Albert for relaxation or wildlife viewing while on a safari in Semuliki national park. Boat rides on Lake Albert are carried out for 1 or 2 hours and there is always a guide to take you around the lake tell you different information about the park and the lake.

Most tourists that take a boat cruise on Lake Albert are bird lovers and this is because It’s one of the ways tourists can spot the Shoebill. Bird lovers who go for boat cruises on Lake Albert are able to see several water bird species that live in the vegetation around the lake. Among the birds that live around Lake Albert include the rare shoe bill stork and it’s one of the birds that makes tourists go for a boat cruise.

Bird lovers won’t only see the Shoebill while on a bora cruise on Lake Albert but also other water bird species like the African fish eagle, denhman’s bustard, saddle billed stork, African fish eagle, goliath herons, Senegal thick-knee, great egrets, grey crowned crane, black-headed lapwing, papyrus gonolek, and Abyssinian ground hornbill among others.

How much is viewing the Shoebill on lake Albert in Semuliki national park?

To view the shoebill by boat on Lake Albert in Semuliki national park, tourists pay a fee to Uganda Wildlife Authority which controls and manages park activities. For foreign non-residents it’s $100, foreign residents $80, and UGX100,000 citizens of East African Member States.

Other activities tourists can do in Semuliki national park

Bird watching

Bird watching is one of the main activities carried out in Semuliki national park. This is because the park is a habitat to over 435 bird species some of which are endemic to the Albertine region. Bird watching is a guided activity that is done with a well-trained local birder and an armed ranger guide.

Bird watching in Semuliki national park gives bird lovers an opportunity to see bird species such as wahlberg’s eagle, lizard buzzard, African pygmy kingfisher, African dwarf kingfisher, bronze-naped pigeon, brown snake eagle, black-winged stilt, barn swallow, shoe-bill stork, jameson’s antpecker, little bee-eater, blue throated roller, banded snake eagle, grey headed kingfisher, blue cheeked bee-eater, and wood sandpiper.

Other notable bird species in Semuliki national park include fire crested alethe, splendid starling, klaas’s cuckoo, African scared ibis, little egret, three-banded plover, black and white casqued hornbill, common sandpiper, little stint, African grey parrot, little greenbul, straw-colored fruit bat, grey crowned crane, red chested cuckoo, rumped tinkerbird, mountain buzzard, black-billed seed cracker, black bishop, and African thrush among others.

Chimpanzee trekking

Semuliki park is one of the few places in Uganda where tourists can meet chimpanzees. The national park is home to a few chimpanzee species some of which have been habituated and are open for chimpanzee trekking activities. Tourists who want to spend time with the chimpanzees within this park will simply have to buy chimpanzee permits which are sold at the park headquarters.

Chimpanzee trekking in Semuliki national park starts in the morning with a briefing from the rangers who teach trekkers the rules and regulations of the activity. Later armed ranger guides lead the trekkers in the jungle where they look for where the chimpanzees could be. Searching for chimps comes with opportunities to see park animals but as soon as the chimps are located, tourists are allowed to be with them for 1 hour and this allows them to know about their habits and watch them do daily activities.

Butterfly watching

Butterfly watching is with no doubt best done in Semuliki national park simply because the area protects the highest population in the whole country. Semuliki national park has 448 butterfly species so far recorded and this has made it the best destination when it comes to butterfly watching.

Semuliki national park has butterflies like Charaxes fulvescens, bicyclus, euphaedra alacris, pikachu moth, euphaedra rattrayi, soldier commodore, tailed bush brown, chiasmia fulvisparsa, African caper, becker’s creamy yellow glider, cymothoe Cyclades, andriasa contraria, common glassy Acraea, nemetes sailer, angular glider, savanna pathfinder, bicyclus alboplagus, mylantria xanthospila, and charaxes pollux.

Dark yellow forest sylph, bicyclus mollitia, common palm forester, zebra pyrale, simple orange forester, chirinda bush brown, spiny bollworm, euphaedra hybrida, small black bush brown, marcipalina umbrosa, aletis helcita, haritalodes polycymalis, cymothoe Cyclades, square winged red charaxes, common mother of pearl, amata marina, African leaf butterfly, peneleos Acraea, and painted pearl among others.