Best Places for game viewings in Uganda

Explore the best game-viewing destinations on your Uganda safaris with Maranatha Tours and Travel, the trusted tour company. Uganda isn’t only popular for primate tracking (gorilla and chimpanzee trekking) but also for game viewing. In Uganda, game viewing tours are specifically conducted in the biodiverse savanna destinations, where you have a chance to spot a range of Big game and other small mammal species. Visitors experience the best of game viewing in Uganda in a 4x4 safari vehicle with a pop-up roof or on a launch cruise for those interested in aquatic game viewing.

The best places for game viewing in Uganda include Lake Mburo National Park, Murchison Falls National Park, Queen Elizabeth Wildlife Park, and Kidepo Valley National Game Park. In each of these wildlife viewing destinations, expect to encounter a range of your favorite wildlife, including leopards, bush elephants, cape buffaloes, antelopes, hyenas, warthogs, giraffes, zebras, and many more.

List of Best Places for Game Viewing in Uganda

Kabalega/Murchison Falls National Park

Murchison Falls National Park isn’t only home to one of the world’s powerful waterfalls –Murchison Falls- but also an excellent game viewing tour destination. The 3840 sq. km Murchison Falls National Park boasts of more than 76 mammal species, 451 species of birds, making it the best place to experience game viewing in Uganda.

A guided game viewing tour in Murchison Falls National Park allows you to explore 4 of the Big 5 game (elephants, buffalo, lions, and leopards). These amazing mammals can be spotted together with other animals, including the Rothschild giraffes, the Jackson’s hartebeests, Uganda Kobs, Oribis, Warthogs, to mention but a few. Aquatic animals to encounter in Murchison National Park include the Nile crocodiles and hippos.

A checklist of 451 bird species also resides in the distinct habitats of Murchison Falls National Park, and you expect to spot a wide range of them. The birds in Murchison include Northern carmine, goliath heron, Denham’s bustards, giant kingfishers, Abyssinian ground hornbill, Senegal thick-knee, elusive shoebill stork, and more. Game viewing in Murchison is excellently enjoyed on a normal game drive or guided boat/launch cruise.

Game Viewing in Kazinga/Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of the premier game-viewing destinations, a must-visit for all travelers on Uganda safaris. Uganda, an ideal place to witness a wide range of savanna animals. At Queen Elizabeth National Park, game viewing involves exploring different wildlife, including bushbucks, buffaloes, elephants, waterbucks, Uganda Kobs, hippos, lions (including the unique tree-climbing lions), and many others.

Queen Elizabeth National Park offers a wide range of game viewing opportunities to nature enthusiasts, including normal game drives, boat cruise excursions, lion tracking, mongoose census, and many others. The key areas of interest for successful game viewing in Uganda include Mweya Peninsula, Ishasha sector, and Kasenyi plains. These are the best locations to explore diverse savanna wildlife. If you want to see primates in Queen Elizabeth Game Park, then consider visiting the Kyambura Gorge and Maramagambo Forest.

Lake Mburo National Park Game Viewing

Lake Mburo National Park is one of the vibrant destinations that guarantee you exceptional game viewing opportunities within easy reach from Kampala. Accessible only within 4-5 hours’ drive from Kampala, Lake Mburo Game Park offers the best game viewing experiences, especially to nature enthusiasts with a desire to see savanna wildlife. Over 68 mammal species live here, and the park holds a huge concentration of antelope families.

On a guided game viewing, expect to explore a variety of mammals, including giraffes, zebras, elands, impalas, klipspringers, hippos, buffaloes, leopards, and many others. More than 350 bird species are also found in the different bird habitats in Lake Mburo, including African wattled lapwings, saddle-billed storks, papyrus yellow warblers, chested lapwing, red-faced barbets, shoebill storks, kingfishers, and many others.

The best way to go about game viewing in Lake Mburo is by embarking on normal game drives, boat cruise, cycling, walking safaris, horseback rides, or quad biking.

Kidepo Game Viewing

Kidepo Valley National Park is lying in the extreme Northeast and is Uganda’s 3rd largest Park. What makes Kidepo an exceptional destination for game viewing includes, among other reasons, being home to the cheetahs. Other abundant wildlife to explore here include leopards, lions, hyenas, giraffes, buffaloes, bat-eared fox, aardwolves, caracals, black-backed jackals, dik-dik, elands, and many more.

When it comes to birds, Kidepo never disappoints –over 475 species of birds exist in this Park alone. They include super starlings, Verreaux’s eagles, Kori bustards, white-headed buffalo weaver birds, silver bird flycatchers, scarlet-chested sunbird, red-throated bee-eaters, Egyptian vultures, steel-blue whydahs, yellow-necked spurfowl, and many others.

The key areas to consider for game viewing in Kidepo include the Narus Valley and Kidepo Valley. The two sectors offer amazing game viewing in Kidepo with the opportunity for you to explore most of the active wildlife and birds.

The best time to go game viewing in Uganda

Uganda is an all-year-round game viewing destination, but preferably, the dry season is the best. The dry season is the best time to embark on game viewing or wildlife safaris in Uganda, and this can be during either the long or the short period. Uganda’s longest dry season starts from June to September, and the short dry phase begins from December to February. These months offer ideal weather conditions for game viewing in most of the Uganda safari destinations.

The skies can be clearer and the vegetation less dense, offering great game viewing opportunities and photography. The dry season is better than the wet season, which is characterized by heavy rainfall, a factor that hinders normal game viewing excursions. The longest rainy/wet season in Uganda begins from March to May, whereas the short wet months include October and November.

What to take for game viewing in Uganda

Pack wisely for a game viewing tour in Uganda and always begin with essentials. On the packing list, you must consider a rain jacket, insect repellents, sunscreen, a camera, a safari hat, sturdy safari shoes/boots, a pair of binoculars, bottled drinking water, a first aid kit, and many others.

In conclusion, Uganda is blessed with numerous game viewing destinations. The above are some of the best places for game viewing in Uganda, and each guarantees nature lovers amazing wildlife encounters. Don’t miss your chance—book your unforgettable game viewing adventure with us today and discover the best of Uganda’s diverse wildlife in their natural setting.