Semuliki National Park
Placed in Bundibugyo District, Semliki National Park lies on Uganda’s border with Democratic Republic of Congo. It is bordered by the Rwenzori Mountains to the south-east and Lake Albert to the north.
It was declared as a National Park in October 1993 – the newest park and covers about 220 square kilometers of area.
This Park is one of the richest areas with diverse flora and fauna in Africa. What’s more, this Park sits on a flat and gently undulating land-form that varies from 670 to 760 m.
It receives an average rainfall of 1250 mm and heavy drops are experienced from March to May and September to December. During rainy season, some parts of the Park are flooded with water. Temperatures range from 18 to 30 degrees Celsius.
Semliki and Lamia Rivers bordered by the Park are the main sources of water to all Wildlife species in the Park.
To add on that, Semliki is home to two hot-springs and one of the springs “Mumbuga spring” resembles a geyser with its o.5 m high water fountain. These hot-springs draw lots of shorebird species and source of salt to many wild animals.
The main aim for establishment of this Park was to protect the forests as an integral part of the protected areas of the Western Rift Valley.
Visitors to this park can engage in numerous breathtaking pursuits such as game drives, hiking expedition, Nature walks and Bird watching.
Its Flora and fauna
Semliki is a distinct ecosystem within the larger Albertine Rift ecosystem, its located at the Junction of varied climatic and ecological zones. This region boasts a huge diversity of plant and animal species. Some of the animal and plant species within this biodiversity are also found in the Congo Basin forests.
The Park’s vegetation is evergreen and the dominant plant species in the forest is the Cynometra alexandri tree though even tree species of evergreen nature and swamp forest exist.
About 400 species of birds inhabit Semliki’s lush habitats and 216 of these are forest birds including the Sassi’s Olive Greenbul, rarely seen Forest Ground Thrush and nine species of horn-bills.
To add on the sentence, the park hosts 60 mammal species such as forest buffaloes, leopards, mona monkeys, water chevrotains, bush babies, hippos, civets, pygmy flying squirrel in addition to nine species of duikers.
Eight primate species are typical residents and plenty of butterflies that total up to 300 species. Besides protecting Wildlife, forests in Semliki play an important spiritual and culture role in the lives of the local people. It was home to the Batwa people who were hunters and gatherers.
Hot Springs
Along with Wildlife, Hot springs top the list of top attractions in Semliki National Park. There are two including the male and female hot-spring. You can get to these springs by nature walks via trails that wind through forests and swampy areas.
On the way you can sight some primates like grey-cheeked mangabey, black and white colobus monkeys, watched-tailed monkeys and more.
Female hot spring is renowned for its unique feature of a boiling fountain, sprinkling waters boil at 1000 degrees Celsius. You can use it to boil eggs and bananas.
Geting to the Park
From Kampala, there are two major roads to use up to Semliki National Park. First option starts from Kampala via Kampala- Mubende- Fort Portal high way, then continue to the Park surbubs.
Route starts from Kampala to Fort Portal via Masaka – Mbarara – Kasese highway, though its a bit longer than the first option.
The shorter route via Mubende is about 180 km and takes about 4-5 hours for the drive, the longer route via Masaka is about 465 km, it takes about 7-8 hours to drive from Kampala.
The route via Masaka is longer but rewarding with numerous stop overs like Lake Mburo National Park, Rwenzori Mountains National Park and more.
Both routes head up to Fort Portal, its 59 km from this town up to Semliki National Park and continue 6 km further to Ntandi park headquarters.
