Why you need to book a safari in Queen Elizabeth national park early
Why you need to book a safari in Queen Elizabeth national park early: Queen Elizabeth national park is among the most visited national parks in Uganda. The national park is situated in the western part of the country in Kasese, Mubende, Kanungu, and Rubirizi districts. Queen Elizabeth national park has a lot of attractions more than any other park in the country and among these include wildlife which is 95 mammals, 10 primates, and 600 bird species.
Queen Elizabeth national park is also a place to find Kazinga channel which is the largest water channel in the world. This channel connects two water bodies which are lake Edward in the west of the park and Lake George in the east of the park. Queen Elizabeth national park is a place to find over 52 dotted lakes found within and around the park.
With all the above being said, Queen Elizabeth national park tops the list of the most visited places in Uganda for wildlife safaris. This calls for early booking of the safari because there is a maximum number of people to who can explore the park. The more tourists visiting the park means that accommodations will sell out and also chimpanzee trekking permits
In this article, we are to look at the different reasons as to why you need to book a safari to Queen Elizabeth national park early in advance. All the reasons as to why you need to book a safari to Queen Elizabeth national park in advance are a benefit to you as a tourist in one way or another. This article wil inspire you as a tourist to always do an early booking for your safaris in order to avoid disappointments that come with last-minute bookings.
Reasons to book a safari in Queen Elizabeth national park early
Enables one to get the right tour operator
When a tourist has already decided on having a safari in Queen Elizabeth national park, they will need a help of a local tour operator who will help them on booking accommodation, transport, and activities within the park. A tourist will not be picnicking if they start on their safari early enough and this will help them to look for the right tour operators who won’t scam their money.
The right tour operators for your safari to Queen Elizabeth national park are those that are licensed by Uganda Wildlife Authority to carry out tourism activities in different national parks. The best of these licensed tour operators should be those that have got good reviews on trip advisor and other traveling apps. Africa Adventure Vacations is one of the local tour operators you need to look at while planning a safari in Queen Elizabeth national park.
More choices
There are a lot of tourists who want to have a safari in Queen Elizabeth national park but know a few activities to do once they get there. When a traveler books early, they do get time to google about the different things that can be done in Queen Elizabeth national park and it’s very easy to adjust with your tour operator even though the price gets to change, By this, you wont miss out on doing some of the park activities. Apart from activities, you can decide to change the accommodation facility from one category to another and you can even switch your mind to the mode of transport to use to the park and all this only when you book in advance.
Allows one to know how much the safari will cost them
Tourists intending to visit Queen Elizabeth national park need to do early bookings to allow them know how much the safari will cost them. Booking in advance allows a tourist to know the total cost of the safari so that they work tirelessly to save that money. If a tourist finds out the money for the safari is less compared to their original budget, they get to save more and make their safari happen.
Tour operators normally ask 20% to 40% deposit for the safari so that they confirm and this would be helpful to tourists who don’t have much savings. A tourist who has been wanting to have a safari in Queen Elizabeth national park but doesn’t have enough money can pay this deposit earlier and then start working to get the next percentage which can be paid on arrival.
Enough preparation
Tourists need to book a safari in Queen Elizabeth national park early to enable them to have enough preparations. Here we mean doing more savings to afford the safari as some people can be having a certain percentage of money and might need to work for more before the safari starts. With early preparations, tourists do get enough time to shop for all the necessary essentials for the safari and among these could be what to wear, cameras, and a pair of binoculars to mention but a few. A tourist also gets to check on their travel documents like passport, visa, and yellow fever certificate.
Timely booking of the accommodation
Most safaris in Queen Elizabeth national park require one to spend a night or more in the park and this calls for accommodation. Early booking of the safari will mean that chances of finding space for accommodation in most of the lodges are high. This means that tourists will stay in the accommodation facilities of their choice compared to when someone books late and finds no space opting to sleep in any accommodation facilities they find available.
High demand for chimpanzee permits
The high demand for chimpanzee permits in Kyambura gorge especially in the dry seasons calls for early booking of the safari in Queen Elizabeth national park. Tourists that are visiting Queen Elizabeth national park in the dry season need to book chimpanzee trekking early because they do sell out the fact that a lot of tourists visiting the park want to spend time with the chimpanzees.
Uganda Wildlife Authority sells chimpanzee permits on a first come first serve basis which means the early you book the higher the chances of the availability of chimpanzee permits. There are only 16 permits in Kyambura gorge every day and 8 are used in the morning while 8 are used in the evening. Tourists who will do early bookings for the safari will have high chance of getting the chimpanzee permits.
Early booking of transport
Early booking of a safari to Queen Elizabeth national park helps travelers to figure out the mode of transport they will use to the park. There is road transport to the park and this requires one to book the safari vehicles which will transport them. The earlier you book the safari vehicle the more you find good safari vehicles.
Tourists who want to access Queen Elizabeth national park for a safari using air transport should better book early to enable tourists to book flights with the airline companies which are Aerolink Uganda and Bar Aviation Uganda. These flights should be booked at least 3-4 months early in advance if one needs wants to avoid inconveniences.
