Exploring Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park: Your captain swerves to the right due to a gurgling of frothy bubbles. The murky waters of the Nile split to expose the world’s third-biggest land animal. The moment is captured by your camera, which clicks. You are a visitor to the Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park, the hippo’s domain.
Kazinga Channel is a 32-kilometer-long narrow river in Queen Elizabeth National Park that connects Lake Edward in the west to Lake George in the east. The Kazinga Waterway is the main attraction of Queen Elizabeth National Park, which is located in the Kasese, Kamwenge, Rubirizi, and Rukungiri districts.
Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park is located on the Mweya peninsula and is home to a variety of animal species, including the world’s largest population of hippos. Other animals commonly spotted on water banks drinking water include elephants, buffaloes, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, monitor lizards, and Nile crocodiles, among others.
Exploring the Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
The Kazinga Channel in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park is home to a diverse assortment of animals and birds, including one of the world’s greatest concentrations of hippos (about 2,000) and several Nile crocodiles. Expect to witness elephants, buffaloes, and over 100 different types of water birds, like the African Skimmer.
Lake George is supplied by Rwenzori mountain streams and its outflow empties into Lake Edward via the Kazinga Channel. Lake George’s surface size of 250 square kilometers is over 10 times that of its bigger neighbor, Lake Edward (2325 km2). The waterway has a maximum depth of 8 meters.
Boat Cruise Tours at Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth national park has been in operation since 1952 and provides the most spectacular boat tour in Uganda. Visitors will be able to explore the water body and sail near many sights like birds, animals, and vegetation during the boat ride on the Kazinga channel. The Kazinga channel provides two cruise choices, one run by Mweya Safari Lodge and the other by Uganda Wildlife Authority. Mweya Safari Lodge’s boat trip is superior in that it is more comfortable and luxurious than the Uganda Wildlife Authority’s double-decker.
The boat tour on the Kazinga channel begins at a landing location near Mweya Safari resort and normally organizes two planned trips, one in the morning at 9:00 am and one in the afternoon at 2:00 pm, both with expert guides. If you wish to explore at your own pace, Mweya Safari Lodge offers the option of hiring a private boat.
Each planned boat journey on the Kazinga channel lasts around 2 hours, and the ideal boat cruise is one in the afternoon, when you may witness various bird and animal species drinking water along the water banks.
During the afternoon boat cruise on the Kazinga channel, you will also be able to see the fishing villages on the channel’s southern bank, where the fishermen will be preparing their fishing gear for the night. Fishermen in the Kazinga channel do not fish during the day because hippos spend the day in the water and feed in the savannah vegetation at night.
When is the best time to visit the Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park?
The ideal time to visit the Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park is during the dry season, which runs from June to September and December to February. During the dry season, the channel transforms into an oasis, attracting a great number of animals who come to bathe, graze, and drink water. Elephants, buffaloes, Uganda kobs, waterbucks, hippos, Nile crocodiles, monitor lizards, and occasionally lions and leopards may be seen gathering on the Kazinga channel’s shores.
Visitors may also come during the wet season, which lasts from March to May and December to February. This is considered the best time for bird watching since it is the breeding season for the birds and there are always lots of fruits and food for them.
Where to stay during your visit to the Kazinga Channel?
There are several luxury, midrange, and budget lodges around the Kazinga Channel in Queen’s National Park where travelers on a safari in Uganda can stay, including Mweya safari lodge, Kazinga Channel view resort, Tembo safari lodge, and Mweya Hostel. The lodges provide tourists with comfortable lodging, free Wi-Fi, high-quality local and foreign cuisine, and stunning views of the Kazinga Channel, making visitors feel at ease while on safari in Uganda.
Aside from the boat cruise on the Kazinga channel, Queen Elizabeth National Park offers a variety of other activities for visitors on a safari in Uganda, including;
Game Drives in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Game drives are best done in the morning in Kasenyi plains, where you may see many bird and animal species like as elephants, oribi, Uganda kobs, buffaloes, bushbucks, leopards, lions, and waterbucks, among others. Visitors on a safari in Uganda may also enjoy night game drives with Queen Elizabeth, which employ spotlight torches to provide a clear view of nocturnal wildlife such as Lions, Leopards, Hyenas, Genal cats, Civets, and many others.
Exploring Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park : Bird Watching
Queen Elizabeth National Park is the ideal site for bird watching since it contains about 600 bird species that can be discovered in various regions such as Maramagambo woodland, Kyambura Gorge, Ishasha River, Mweya peninsula, Kasenyi plains, and Kazinga channel.
Exploring Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park : Chimpanzee Trekking
Queen National Park in Uganda also offers chimpanzee trekking to visitors, which is carried out in Kyambura Gorge, and visitors will be able to view other primate species such as Red-tailed monkeys, Baboons, Vervet monkeys, Black and white monkeys, and others during chimpanzee trekking.
Lion Tracking Experience.
Lion research tracking is a popular activity at Queen Elizabeth National Park that allows people to monitor lions using tracking devices, giving them a clear glimpse of the lions and learning more about their behavior and habits in the park.
Mongoose Tracking.
Mongoose tracking is another intriguing activity that takes place on the Mweya peninsula, where visitors monitor the banded mongoose and learn about them in the process.
Nature Walks
Nature walk, a spectacular activity in Queen Elizabeth National Park in which guests get out of their vehicles and stroll through the park to explore nature and refresh their brains. Nature hikes are popular in the park, particularly in the Maramagambo woodland and the Kyambura Gorge.
Visit crater lakes
Queen Elizabeth National Park is home to approximately ten crater lakes, including Lake Katwe salt lake, where locals extract rock salt, Lake Bunyaruguru, Lake Munyanyange, which is a great destination for bird watching, and Lake Nyamunuka, which is thought to have healing water for sick animals, among others. Each Crater Lake in Queen Elizabeth National Park has a unique narrative to tell, and it is well worth hearing.
How to get to Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Kazinga Channel is located in Queen Elizabeth National Park, therefore it can be visited by road or air.
By Air
When visiting Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park, you will book scheduled or chartered domestic flights such as Aero-link from Entebbe Airport or Kajjansi Airfield to Kasese Airstrip or Mweya Airstrip, both of which are located within the park.
By Road.
To go to the Kazinga channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park, travel a tarmac route from Kampala to Masaka, Mbarara, Fort Portal, Kasese, and finally Queen Elizabeth National Park, which takes around 6 to 7 hours. You can also take public transportation from Kampala via Mubende, Fort Portal, and Kasese, and then hire a taxi from Kasese town to the park.
