Banded Mongoose tracking in Queen Elizabeth National Park : Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of the most popular national park in Uganda. Banded mongoose tracking safari is possible there. The national park is the second-largest after Murchison Falls National Park and was established in 1952. The park spans a total geographical area of 1978 square kilometres and is situated in the districts of Kasese, Kamwenge, Rubirizi, and Rukungiri in southwest Uganda. Queen Elizabeth National Park is known for its tree climbing lions, which are found in the Ishasha sector in the southern part of the park. The park also has elephants, leopards, buffaloes, waterbucks, bushbucks, giant forest hogs, warthogs, hippos, Uganda kobs, crocodiles, primates like chimpanzees, red-tailed monkeys, L’Hoest’s monkeys, vervet monkeys, and various number of bird species.
Banded mongoose tracking safari.Â
The nimble banded mongoose is a small animal with a large head, short ears, a tail as long as its body, sharp claws that it uses to dig burrows and defend itself, greyish-brown fur, and distinct bands on the back. An adult mongoose weighs between 1.5 and 2.25 kg, is approximately the size of a small cat, and lives in groups of 20 or more. Each group spends each night together in a shared underground nest and switches the location of the den every three to five days. One of the beautiful safari activities in Queen Elizabeth National Park is banded mongoose tracking safari, which is carried out on foot with a guide and researchers and overlooks Kazinga Channel on the peninsular of Mweya. The Mweya Peninsular is home to around 400 banded mongoose that are divided into twelve groups. The safari activity involves moving along paths with a team of researchers and following the banded mongoose using a locator device.
You will veer off course with the researchers during banded mongoose tracking safari as you gain more knowledge about the animals, observe their behaviors, surroundings, and habits, learn how to distinguish between females and males, record their weight, record the weather, and record their location, among other things. Your observations will be added to the researchers’ database. A limited number of persons are permitted during banded mongoose monitoring in order to lessen the stress on the animals and enhance the visiting experience.
The best time to track banded mongoose is in the morning when they are more active because it takes between one and three hours. Banded mongoose tracking safari can be done either early in the morning at 7:00 am or in the late afternoon. The Kazinga Channel, a waterway connecting Lake Edward and Lake George, can be seen from the Mweya Peninsular, where you may also see other wildlife like elephants, leopards, buffaloes, waterbucks, and many bird species. Â
Cost of Banded Mongoose tracking safari.
For foreign non-residents and foreign residents, banded mongoose monitoring in Queen Elizabeth National Park costs $30, while East African citizens must pay UGX 30,000. Visitors who are interested in participating in banded mongoose tracking safari can make reservations at the Mweya Visitors Information Centre and contact Primate Holidays to have it included to their safari itinerary in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
The exhilarating and remarkable safari activity of banded mongoose tracking can be combined with other fascinating activities in Queen Elizabeth National Park, such as
A boat cruise at Queen Elizabeth National Park is a wonderful safari activity that is done at Kazinga Channel. Large herds of hippos and Nile crocodiles will be visible in the water. Boat cruises are conducted in scheduled sessions either in the morning or the afternoon. You will have great views of bird species, animals like lions, elephants, waterbucks, warthogs, and buffaloes among others that typically gather along the water banks to drink water, especially during the dry season.
One of the most popular safari activities in the park is game drives, during which visitors get the chance to see a variety of animals, including tree-climbing lions in the Ishasha sector, elephants, buffaloes, waterbucks, Uganda kobs, leopards, warthogs, and other bird species.
A daring activity performed on the Mweya Peninsula is night game drives. You will have the chance to see nocturnal wildlife and predators in the park, including civet, leopards, lions, serval cats, and hyenas, during the night game drive.
A nature walk is an activity that allows guests to walk through the park and take in its sights. You can go on a nature walk in the Queen Elizabeth National Park in a number of locations, including the Mweya Peninsular and the Maramagambo Forest, and you’ll get to see a variety of beautiful scenery, wildlife, and birds, as well as elephants, buffaloes, chimpanzees, black and white colobus monkeys, L’hoest monkeys, and other primates.
With over 612 different bird species present, Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of the top birding locations in Uganda. There are various birding spots such as Kasenyi plains, Kazinga channel, Maramagambo forest, Mweya peninsular, Katwe salt lake, Katunguru bridge among others and visitors who carry out birding should look out for bird species like African shoebill, African jacana, pink backed pelican, papyrus Gonolek, saddle billed stork, black crake, sacred ibis, African skimmer, Hammerkop, Black kite, Yellow throated long claw, martial eagle, double toothed barbet, African crake, striped kingfisher, grey backed fiscal among others.
One of the locations where the activity of chimpanzee trekking safari can be done is Queen Elizabeth National Park. The Kyambura Gorge, popularly known as the Valley of the Apes, is where the park’s chimpanzees may be located. Chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura Gorge lasts between two and four hours, and after you locate a family of chimpanzees, you’ll spend an hour with them in their natural environment learning about their habits and habitats while shooting a lot of pictures and making movies.
How to get to Queen Elizabeth National Park.Â
Visitors who want to visit Queen Elizabeth National Park can do so by road or by air. The park is located in southwest Uganda.
Air transport: There are various domestic airlines operating scheduled and charter flights from Entebbe airport or Kajjansi airfield to Mweya or Kasese airfield in Uganda, including Aerolink Uganda Limited.
Using the road, you can either take a route from Kampala via Masaka, Mbarara, Bushenyi, and then on to the park headquarters, or you can take a different route via Mubende, Fort Portal, and Kasese, which will take you there in about 6 to 7 hours.
You can take a bus from Kampala to Kasese and then a private taxi to the park headquarters to reach Queen Elizabeth National Park by public transportation.
Tracking banded mongooses is an exhilarating safari activity since it allows you to observe and learn about these fascinating and active animals while on a safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park.