Semuliki National Park in Uganda – Visit Semuliki National Park

Semukili National Park is one of the most unique Uganda Safari Destinations. Here is all you need to know about things to do and how to visit Semuliki National Park;

This national game park is found in the southwestern corner of Uganda covering a total area of 220sqkm and on an average of 715 above sea level. It has lowland tropical savannah vegetation which hosts 441 bird species, 53mammal species, 9 diurnal primate species and prominently recognized for the wondrous male and female sempaya hot springs. For one to get to this park, you may use Kampala-Fortportal road via Mubende (180km) as the shorter route which takes 4-5 hours driving or Kampala-Fortportal via Masaka, Mbarara and Kasese. There’s a distance of about 59km from Fort Portal to the sempaya gate in Bundibugyo on a road that is meanders around the steep slopes of Mt. Rwenzori. The entrance fee to the park for foreign non residents is US$35,US$25 for foreign residents and UGX15,000 for East African citizens.

Activities in Semuliki national park

Sempaya hot springs

An awesome attraction one should not afford to miss on their trip to Semliki is the Sempaya hot spring. A professional guide of UWA takes you through a trail in the forest where you may encounter red tailed mokeys, gry cheeked mangabeys and black and white colobus monkeys as you lead to male hot spring. This may take an hour from the Sempaya information centre to this spring of hot water. An extra walk of about 30 minutes leads you to the unimaginable female spring that extravagantly pours out water that is up to 100 degree hot well known for boiling eggs in only 10 minutes.

Birding

Semliki gives a spectacular birding experience because of the stunning bird species in this natural forest. Foreign non residents pay US$30, foreign residents pay US$15 and East African citizens pay UGX10,000 to go for birding in this park. Best places for birding are Sempaya and Ntandi and the common birds are red-billed dwarf hornbill, piping hornbill, yellow-throated nicator, white-crested hornbill, ross’s Turaco among others. The shoebill stork is commonly spotted near  areas at Lake Albert and hiring a boat to this point costs US$100 for foreign nonresidents and foreign residents and UGX100,000 for East African citizens.

Red monkey trail

This involves moving through a trail along the eastern edge of Semuliki   national park to river Semuliki. With much expectation of the red monkey, the wild may surprise you with other species of monkeys, crocodiles, bufallos and elephants along R. Semuliki.

Cultural trails/Batwa trail

The Batwa are known as the original inhabitants of the Semuliki forest before they were relocated to places outside the park for purposes of conservation and tourism. To carry out these purposes successfully, the conservation management encouraged the Batwa to make art and other handmade items and exchange them to tourists to earn a living. Because of their lifestyle and physical appearance, they are also an attraction. The Batwa experience is conducted at a fee of US$10 if the guests are foreign non residents or foreign residents and UGX10,000 if the guests are East African citizens. The experience is led by a Batwa guide through the forest to their cultural sites like the burial site of the king, explaining how the used to live as hunters and gatherers, dances.

Semuliki National Park – Visit Semuliki National Park