Is Semuliki national park worth visiting

Is Semuliki national park worth visiting: Semuliki national park is one of Uganda’s national parks located in the west of the country. The national park is home to different wildlife including 53 mammals, 9 primates, 435 bird species, and 448 butterfly species. Semuliki national park is a popular safari destination for tourists interested in birdwatching, butterfly watching, and seeing hot springs.

If you are a wildlife and nature lover then yes Semuliki national park is worth visiting. With different activities being organized in the park, tourists will have to enjoy each and everything in Semuliki national park. The activities enable tourists to see and get to know the different attractions within the park. Below is a list of things that make Semuliki national park worth visiting.

What makes Semuliki national park worth visiting

The birds

Semuliki national park has 435 bird species so far recorded making it one of the best birding destinations in western Uganda. Tourists who are interested in visiting the western part of Uganda for bird watching should try Semiliki national park to see the different bird species recorded there. It’s said that 23 of the recorded bird species are not seen anywhere else in the country apart from the Albertine rift region.

Bird watching in Semuliki national park is worth it because tourists get to see bird species such as Shoebill, Great blue turaco, Lemon-bellied Crombec, Chestnut owlet, Red-eyed puffback, White thighed hornbill, Fire-crested Alethe, Capuchin babbler, Chestnut-breasted Negrofinch, Forbe’s plover, Purple-breasted sunbird, Gabon woodpecker, malachite kingfisher, Zenker’s honeyguide, White-bellied kingfisher.

Other bird species are the Northern bearded scrub robin, White-crested hornbill, Rufous-sided broadbill, Nkulengu rail, Long-tailed Hawk, Blue-billed malimbe, Black-Dwarf hornbill, Spot-breasted Ibis, Gabon woodpecker, Orange-tufted sunbird, Black-Dwarf hornbill, Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher, Orange Cheeked waxbill, Black-throated coucal, piping hornbill, Yellow-throated Nicator, and Red-billed dwarf hornbill etc.

Butterflies

It has been on record that Semuliki national park is the best place for butterfly watching in Uganda. This is because of the high species that have been recorded here which made the park to be with more than 40% of the total in Uganda. Butterfly watching in the whole of Uganda is best done in Semuliki national park meaning that the park is worth visiting.

Butterflies in Semuliki national park include Cymothoe confusa, andriasa contraria, lycoa Acraea, polyptychus carteri, violet banded palla, mulberry hawkmoth, blue monarch, bicyclus alboplagus, African leaf butterfly, plain vagrant, catuna crithea, forest glade nymph, mung bean moth, marcipalina umbrosa, euphaedra edwardsii, small black bush brown, haritalodes polycymalis, common pathfinder, hill bush brown.

Bethune baker’s bush brown, fulvous hawk, square winged red charaxes, toothed stately bush brown, cadarena pudoraria, common ginger white, blue diadem butterfly, variegated pearl, rhipidarctia crameri, gregori’s brown pansy, common palm forester, mylantria xanthospila, zebra pyrale, boisduval’s tree nymph, chirinda bush brown, African caper, common nephele, and amata marina to mention but a few.

 Hot springs

Tourists should visit Semuliki national park to see the miraculous hot springs. There are two hot springs in Semuliki national park named male and female all inside the park. Tourists can always visit any of these or both of the hot springs on a safari in Semuliki national park. The hot springs are beautiful to watch and have always left the tourists wondering how water comes out of the ground hot.

A visit to the hot springs in Semuliki national park is led by armed ranger guides who lead tourists to the springs. They teach the tourists the rules and regulations of the activity so that it’s done without any problems faced. The guides tell stories of what led the water to become hot and these stories are scientific while others are what the locals believe.

Batwa pygmies

Semuliki forest was home to the batwa pygmies for some time not until the government decided to gazetted the forest reserve as a national park. In 1993, the government evicted Batwa pygmies from Semuliki forest and they had to go settle in the surrounding areas.

Tourists who love African culture can visit the Batwa while on a safari to Semuliki national park. The batwa are found around the park boundaries where they have created small homes in different villages. Ntandi and Boma are some of the villages where tourists can find the Batwa pygmies with the help of Batwa local guides.

A visit to the batwa is normally done in the afternoon hours and the batwa guides use the batwa trails to get to any of the communities around the park. On arrival at any of the communities, tourists are given a warm welcome with the people dancing their traditional songs. Later you are taken around the community to meet and interact with the locals. You can participate in community activities and you can talk with the elders to learn the stories of long ago.

The animals

Semuliki national park harbors 53 mammals and 9 primates in the different vegetation zones inside the park. There are no game drives within Semuliki national park but animals are seen during different park activities especially the nature walks. Chimpanzees of Semuliki national park are seen during chimpanzee trekking.

Animals in Semuliki national park include forest elephants, forest buffaloes, warthogs, sitatungas, leopards, Uganda kobs, hippos, side-stripped jackals, crocodiles, chimpanzees, mangabeys, blue monkeys, de brazza’s monkeys, red colobuses, black and white colobus monkeys, and olive baboons among others.

Best time to visit Semuliki national park

Are you wondering  when is the Best time to visit Semuliki national park? Tourists can go to Semuliki national park at any time of the year however some months are better than others. The dry season months from June to September and December to February are the best time to visit Semuliki national park because of the good weather. During this period, the walking trails are dry and passable, and vegetation is short with good views of wildlife.

Tourists can still visit Semuliki national park in the rainy season of March to May and October to November however this season favors budget travelers. The lodges are discounted as well as the tour packages to attract the few tourists that travel. Tourists must know that there is heavy rainfall which makes the walking trails muddy and slippery, and the vegetation is tall with unclear views of different attractions in the park.