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Queen Elizabeth National park is located 526km north of Lake Bunyonyi in the albertine rift of western Uganda. After Lake Bunyonyi, a favorite of majority of travelers to the gorilla highlands, the next destination is normally to participate in a wildlife safari in one of the most popular wildlife areas, queen Elizabeth national park. The road takes circles and rounds over the scenic hills as you view the fascinating hillside farms, terraces and the homesteads. The road side markets full of happy venders selling fresh foods; fruits and vegetables, eggs all in a display that will give you that memory touching deep into your life, long after the trip. Travel with confidence on this memorable journey, will give you the opportunity to fully explore the wonders of this indigenous land and her tribes. without knowledge of the route, it can be quite challenging to travel this journey if you don’t have a private driver or an informed road map of the journey. Even when you have private means of transport, you may need to be well informed to be able to drive confidently or else you will find yourself making rounds returning to the highlands or spending allot of time in the last minutes restraining your eyes to the map trying to find the way, as you miss the lovely views this land offers.
The full journey from Lake Bunyonyi to queen Elizabeth national park takes an estimate of 5 hours from start to end, depending on the status of the road and mode of travel used. From the lake, you will take a bodaboda or private hire to drop you in Kabale town. This distance takes you maximum of 15 minutes driving. Some people do walk it. From Kabale town you will take a public bus (69 passengers). The public buses travels through Ntungamo to Mbarara on their way to Kampala. This route has quite a good number of buses. You can be able to get a bus every 30 minutes. Some buses start in Kabale or they will be en-route from other further destinations like Kisoro, Kanungu or Kigali-Rwanda. It is better to take a bus that starts the journey from Kabale (to be able to take a better seat or a location on the window side to give you opportunities of viewing the country side) though you can also take any en-route bus if it still has space by then.
One bus (Kalita) commonly travels from Kabale through Queen Elizabeth national park on the way to Fort portal – Kagadi. This bus leaves Kabale at night on scheduled journeys. It reaches Queen Elizabeth national park in the early morning of the next day. You need to call them or contact your travel advisor before the travel day to find out the schedule and availability on your travel day. All other buses will be traveling from Kabale to Kampala. If you use them, you will be required to stop in Mbarara and take a taxi from Mbarara town (midway) to continue to Queen Elizabeth national park (Kasese).
Travel by private means is more flexible. You will take the same route from Lake Bunyonyi. From kabale take the same route; Kabale Ntunganmo road and either travel to Mbarara or branch off at Ntungamo on Rukungri road to drive through Ishaka via Kitagata hot springs. On reaching Ishaka, you will join Kasese-mbarara road and drive north towards Queen Elizabeth national park. This is a shorter route that also shows more of the country side than going through Mbarara town.
Depending on your booked accommodation location, you will have to stop, either in Kasese (Katunguru, Kikorongo, Kasese town) or Rubirizi (Katunguru, Kyambura, Katara etc) where most lodges are located. Call your hotel and make sure they give you the right stopping stage name and location. Please communicate your stopping point when you board the public means of transport or else, you may be disappointed when they drop you at a wrong point and you have to travel ahead or back to find the right destination.
We can provide any further information to help you travel right, if you contact us any time through this website or our phone numbers.
Enjoy Lake Bunyonyi and Queen Elizabeth national park, during your forthcoming trip!!