Boat Safaris In Uganda | Untamed Uganda Safaris

Boat safaris in Uganda offers an exclusive expereince to explore the most secluded and remote waterways, to discover a myriad of wildlife and spectacular scenery often not reached while on game viewing drives and walking safaris. Uganda offers various boat safaris to spice up your holiday tour ranging from; wildlife viewing to birdwatching cruises, to scenic, adventure and cultural water trips.

For wildlife and photography enthusiasts, a Uganda boat safari offers a different perspective to watch and encounter various game, from pods of hippos, to Nile crocodiles basking in tropical hot sun, elephants and other grazers that come to quench their thirst. For birdwatchers, boat safaris offer an access to secluded aquatic habitats where you encounter and tick off the most rare and biome-restricted bird-species including the Shoebill.

Other boat safaris include scenic and cultural water trips on major Uganda lakes and rivers.n Uganda Boat safaris are customized to the visitors interest are a key highlight on a Uganda tour,popular boats safaris in Uganda include wildlife water trips, birdwatching cruises, cultural and scenic trips. The

*Boat cruise on the Nile – Murchison Falls NP*

Popular wildlife-viewing boat safaris in Uganda

Boat cruise safari experiences are offered in a handful Uganda savanna national parks which protect large open fresh water bodies surrounded by extensive wetlands that is a home to a wide range of aquatic diversity and is also a life-line to several terrestrial wildlife.

1. River Nile boat safari in Murchison Falls National Park

The river Nile in Murchison Falls NP offers two incredible cruise expereince that all offer high chances of both game and birdlife.

Boat cruise to the bottom of Murchison Falls

The River Nile boat cruise to the bottom of the mighty Murchison Falls is one of the major safari highlight in Uganda’s biggest national park of Murchison Falls NP. The cruise safari launches at Para and takes a roundtrip of about 3-hours following the stretch of the Nile whose banks hosts variety of wildlife including Hippos, Nile Crocodiles and excellent birdlife. The river banks are also frequented by herds of Elephants, Nubian Giraffe and other herbivores coming here to quench their thirst. The hanging sand cliffs host the dazzling thousands of nesting Red-throated Bee-eaters.

The boat cruise safari stops close to the bottom of the mighty Murchison Falls, providing an epic sight of this magnificent natural wonder. These world’s most powerful waterfalls are formed on this stretch of Victoria Nile as the ancient river crushes through Bunyoro escarpment rock crack just 7m wide, tumbling through a nearly 40m long canyon to flow peaceful and quietly and into Lake Albert.

Delta Boat Cruise

The delta cruise launches from Para landing following the downstream river stretch that extends up to the delta point where the Nile pours its effluent into Lake Albert. The cruise is offers rewarding birding expereince where a quality checklist of wetland specialists occur. The major highlight is the bizarre looking Shoebill who feeds in these shallow vegetated channels for catfish and other crustaceans. Other birdlife include congregations of African Skimmers, Goliath herons, whistling duck and more waders.

Other privately arranged boat cruises on the Nile while in Murchison Falls National Park include; include sundowner and early sunrise cruises.

*The hippo on Kazinga Channel – Queen Elizabeth NP*

2. The Kazinga channel boat safari in Queen Elizabeth NP

A boat cruise safari on Kazinga Channel is one of the top attractions and activities to do while visiting Queen Elizabeth National Park. Stretching about 40 km long, Kazinga channel is a natural channel that connects Lakes Edward and Gorge and is known for the highest concentration of game and excellent birdlife.

Daily boat safaris on Kazinga Channel are scheduled on a twice every morning/evening cruise shifts for a 2-hr boat experience each trip. The boat explores this shallow channel for a close up sightings of hundreds of hippo families, Nile crocodiles, Nile monitor lizards and varied wildlife. This stretch has the highest concentrations of hippos in the region.

The cruise plan targets mid-morning and afternoon periods where large herds of African savanna elephants, cape buffalos and other antelopes make it to the channel to quench the thirst before heading out back to the plains late in the afternoon.

Bird watchers and bird enthusiasts will be rewarded as they approach the sandy banks near the mouth of Lake Edward, where millions of palearctic migrants congregate during the season of Sept-March but other local waders and wetland specialists also occur.

3. Lake Mburo NP Boat safari

Lake Mburo National Park is Uganda’s smallest of the savanna parks but also the most diverse with a wide range of habitats and wildlife. At the southern edges of this park is a 13km2 papyrus and woodland lined fresh water Lake Mburo from which the park is named. This shallow lake occupies a depression caused by tectonic forces that shaped the surrounding landscapes of western Lake Victoria woodlands. It’s a part of a major drainage system involving over a dozen lakes surrounded by miles of wetlands draining southwards into the Kagera river then into Lake Victoria.

A 2-hr morning/evening boat cruise here is a unique experience to get one into close quarters of thousands of hippo families that call these waters home plus massive crocodiles that line the banks. The shallow edges attract local wildlife including impala, zebra, buffalo and waterbuck that drink here but the woodlands host numerous avian species, including several dozens of African Fish Eagles while the papyrus hosts several of Lake Victoria basin specialists. The woodland lined quite water edges attract Africa’s most elusive bird, African Finfoot a top of checklist specie for most birdwatchers and enthusiasts.