Things to consider when planning a safari to Queen Elizabeth park
Things to consider when planning a safari to Queen Elizabeth national park: Looking forward to having a safari in Queen Elizabeth national park and you are looking for things to consider when planning the safari. Well in this article we are looking at the different things to consider and make a successful safari in Queen Elizabeth national park. The park is the most visited in Uganda because it has got a lot of attractions.
Queen Elizabeth national park has over 95 mammals, 10 primates, and 600 bird species living in the savannah, woodland, and riverine vegetation. The national park attracts thousands of tourists who want to see the rare tree climbing lions in Ishasha sector of the park. There is also Kazinga channel another attraction connecting lake Edward to lake George.
Traveling to Queen Elizabeth national park for a safari is the most memorable and life changing of leisure holidays. You will fall in love with the wildlife and nature by taking part in the different park activities especially game drives and boat cruises. Planning your safari to Queen Elizabeth national park might be challenging but reading through this article will help you a lot.
Things to consider when planning a safari to Queen Elizabeth national park
Consider using a licensed safari company
First thing to look at when you think of having a safari in Queen Elizabeth national park must be a safari company. There are so many local tour operators you will meet online but try as much as you can to use licensed tour operators. This is because they know what they are doing and they have been approved by Uganda Tourism Board to carry out safari activities.
A tour operator is the one that makes a safari good one or bad one based on so many things. The role of the tour operator on a safari is to help you organize accommodation facilities to use on a safari, transport, park activities, and much more. They will make sure that everything is going on well all throughout the safari and this shall help you to have the best experience while in Queen Elizabeth national park.
Start planning early enough
A safari to Queen Elizabeth national park is something you should start planning as early as possible. It could be a year before or a month and the least should be 3-4 months before the safari happens. Planning early allows you to get the right tour operators who will organize a safari for you. Early planning lands you on to the best accommodation facilities to use on a safari when they haven’t sold out.
Travelers who book a safari to Queen Elizabeth national park early get enough time to do their shopping and here we mean the essentials needed during their safari. If you are to trek chimpanzees, early planning and booking enable open to get themselves a trekking permit before they have sold out. In case a group is traveling with children, communicating early could help to prepare the meals they want, and activities for children.
Consider the age and abilities of people in the group
For travelers that are moving to Queen Elizabeth national park as a group it’s better to consider the age and abilities of the members. There is a certain age which can’t go for long nature walks, hiking through thick forests, and chimpanzee trekking so this does help a tour operator know which safari activities they can do while in the park. There are safari activities that can’t be done by children under the age of 15 years so if you plan early it will help the tour operator to organize accordingly.
Consider the best time of the year to have a safari
the best time for a safari: Queen Elizabeth national park is visited all throughout the year however some months are better than the rest. Travelers that want to have the best safari experience in Queen Elizabeth national park should look at visiting the park in the dry season. The dry season happens from June to September and December to February is the best time for a safari because it has little or no rainfall that makes the game tracks dry and passable, vegetation is short and thin with good views of wildlife, and the roads leading to the park are passable. however during the dry season also known as the best time for a safari the parks are always congested with huge numbers of tourists
Tourists can still come during the rainy season and these should be budget travelers that love discounted things so as to benefit on the lodges. The rainy season happens from March to May and October to November when the park is recovering heavy rainfall. The rainy season makes the game tracks muddy and slippery, vegetation is tall and thick with unclear views of the wildlife, and the roads leading to the park are impassable.
Consider the accommodation facilities to use on a safari
During a safari to Queen Elizabeth national park, travelers must look at where they are going to spend a night or more while in the park. There are luxury, mid-range, and budget accommodation facilities within the park and a traveler chooses where to stay based on their travel budget. Accommodation facilities to use on a safari while in Queen Elizabeth include Mweya Safari Lodge, Elephants Hub Cottages, Jacana Lodge, Kasenyi Safari Lodge, Ishaha Wilderness Camp, Ishasha Jungle Lodge, Pumba Safari Cottages, and Marafiki Safari Lodge among others.
Consider the mode of transport to use
While planning a safari to Queen Elizabeth national park, you need to look at how you will access the park once you arrive in Uganda. There is air transport which is the fastest taking 1 hour and 15 minutes and there is road transport which takes 7-8 hours. Air transport is a bit expensive and it’s used by tourists that traveling long distances and those that love traveling a luxury style.
Travelers that are considering to use air transport to get to Queen Elizbeth national park for a safari will have book early with Aerolink Uganda and Bar Aviation Uganda for seats. These airline companies organize flights to Queen Elizabeth national park from Entebbe international airport and Kajjansi airstrip to Mweya airstrip.
Look at the activities you would love to do while in the park.
There are a lot of activities done in Queen Elizabeth national park but as a traveler, you know what you want to do once you are on a safari. You need to sit down and look at these activities and write down the ones you are interested in. While sending an inquiry to the local tour operator, they will see and these do for you a budget for your safari.
Activities that can be down in Queen Elizabeth national park include game drives, lion tracking, nature walks, chimpanzee trekking, boat cruise, bird watching, and cultural encounters among others. Tourists need to know that the more the activities the more the price for the safari. Budget travelers need to look at choosing a few activities to do in order to keep in their budget.
