Leopard tracking experience in Queen Elizabeth national park
Leopard tracking experience in Queen Elizabeth national park: Leopard tracking experience in Uganda is only done in one national park and this is Queen Elizabeth national park. The national park which is sitted in the western part of Uganda is the best area to photograph and film leopards in Uganda. The park is one of the protected areas that harbor the leopards in Uganda and others are Kidepo Valley, Murchison falls and Lake Mburo national park.
Leopards are animals that are rarely seen in the national park during the game drives and if tourists see them they do count themselves lucky. They are nocturnal animals which are active at the night and tend to hide during the day hours. The leopards of Queen Elizabeth national park are collared for the purposes of research and tracking.
Leopards are very shy animals which are not aggressive towards human beings. Tracking down leopards can be very challenging sometimes based on the time and season of tracking. The leopard tracking in Queen Elizbeth is done at a fee and guided by armed ranger guides and a tracker who uses traces the radio caller in the neck of one of the leopards in the group as long as mobile internet is available.
Sighting leopards on normal game drives within Queen Elizabeth national park is not always guaranteed but tourists who go an extra mile to pay for leopard tracking permits are assured of seeing these small cats. Tourists who are on a safari in Uganda should look at visiting Queen Elizabeth national park and taking part in the leopard tracking experience.
Leopard tracking experience in Queen Elizabeth national park
The leopard tracking activity in the park is done in the morning and evening hours. The morning hours are good for the leopard tracking activity and this is because the leopards are moving to their hideout places to rest after a long night of hunting. The leopard tracking activity is done in form of game drives where tourists drive to the best spots with a help of a trained ranger guide and a tracker.
With the leopards tracking activity tourists don’t have to follow the game tracks they can even drive off close to where the leopards are in order to have a clear view. It’s always a must to see the leopards because they are tracked using the radio callers which are in the neck of one of the members of the group. With radio callers, the armed ranger guides know the movement of these leopards as long as there is a mobile network.
The moment the guides say leopards are close, the driver drives off track up to where these small cats could be. They are given time to be near them, learn about their behaviors and watch them do daily activities which include playing, coupling, and climbing trees among others. Tourists later get back to the game tracks and drive to the lodge or go for the next activity while spotting other park animals.
Best time for leopard tracking experience in Queen Elizabeth national park
Leopard tracking in Kasenyi plains of the park can be done at any time of the year however there are certain months that are better than the rest. The leopard tracking experience in the park is best done during the dry season which happens from June to September and December to February. The leopard tracking experience is best done in the morning hours when the leopards are getting back to their hideout places.
Leopard tracking can still be done in the rainy season from March to May and October to November when the vegetation in the park is all green. These months are however not good because they receive a lot of rainfall which distracts the activity, the vegetation is tall with unclear views of the leopards and the game tracks are muddy and slippery limiting the tourists access to some of the sector areas.
Where to stay on a leopard tracking safari in Queen Elizabeth national park
Tourists that are intending to track queen Elizabeth park leopards need to look at staying in accommodation facilities that are close to Kasenyi area. There are a lot of lodges within and around Kasenyi area where tourists can stay and they do include Mweya Safari Lodge, Kasenyi Game Lodge, Engiri Game Lodge, Queen Elizabeth Park View Tourist View Lodge, Queen Elizabeth Bush Lodge, and Elephants Plains Lodge among others.
Access Queen Elizabeth national park for leopard tracking experience
Tourists can access Queen Elizabeth park for leopard tracking at any time of the year using road transport or air transport. By air transport, tourists can get to Queen Elizabeth national park for leopard tracking by using chattered flights from Aerolink Uganda and Bar Aviation Uganda. These airline companies have daily flights from Entebbe international airport and Kajjansi airstrip to Mweya airstrip and Kasese airstrip.
Access Queen Elizabeth park by road transport, Queen Elizabeth national park can be accessed for leopard tracking from Kampala/Entebbe using two routes. There is a route going through Masaka, Mbarara, Bushenyi ad Rubirizi to the southern sector of the park. There is another route going through Mityana, Mubende, Fort Portal ad Kasese to the northern sector of the park.
