Interesting Facts

  • Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) is one of Uganda’s oldest parks. It was gazetted, along with Murchison Falls National Park in 1952.
  • The park was initially known as ‘Kazinga National Park’ before it was renamed in 1954, to commemorate a visit by Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.
  • QENP hosts 619 bird species, the second highest of any park in Africa – the 6th highest of any park worldwide. This remarkable number is supported by the park’s diverse habitats.
  • Crocodiles have only recently been seen in the Kazinga Channel. They disappeared for 8,000 years after they were eliminated from Lake Edward by toxic ash from local volcanoes.
  • QENP contains 95 species of mammals – more than any other park in Uganda.
  • Hippos are efficient lawn mowers. They prefer to graze short grass, each animal eating about 40kg each night.
  • QENP lies on the floor of Africa’s Western Rift Valley, which runs from northern Uganda to Malawi. From the lodge terrace, it’s almost impossible to tell which way the Kazinga Channel is flowing. It actually flows west (to your right) from Lake George to Lake Edward. But since the change in water level along the 36km Channel is just 40cm it moves extremely slowly.
  • The first European visitor to Mweya was Henry Morton Stanley in 1889.

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