Semulki national park is located at a point where different climatic as well as ecological zones meet within the Albertine rift ecosystem. The park was gazetted in 1993 and it stretches across Semliki valley, in the west of Mt. Rwenzori and a large fraction of it is covered by the Congo Basin’s Ituri forest which is the oldest in Africa yet amazing because of its bio-diversity. It is composed of beautiful unspoilt features like that tropical forest where you will find over 300 different butterfly species, among so many other attractions which may be very educative and entertaining to travelers.
The location of this park makes it perfect for the growth and survival of variety of plant species and animal species as well as other microhabitats. The presence of all these attractions makes it a great tourism destination and worth including on every one’s itinerary who is planning a wildlife safari in Uganda. You can expect to see attractions like;
Hundreds of Wild Animals
Game viewing in semliki is done both during day time and night. Night game drives give you a chance to see the nocturnal animals that you may not be able to see during daytime game drive which may be either in the morning or afternoon. Nocturnal like the white-tailed mongoose, mammals like bats, birds like the standard night pennant winged night jars may be seen. Meanwhile, during the day time game watching adventure you can expect to see primates like the blue monkeys, the mangabeys and chimpanzees, animals like lots of buffaloes, warthogs, so many Uganda kobs, those large savannah elephants, crocodiles may be seen and if you are lucky enough, you may also find the pygmy hippos, the elusive bush babies, leopards and others.
Different bird species
Bird watching is another wonderful activity that you can engage in while on your Uganda wildlife safari in Semliki. Bird watchers who have visited Semuliki appreciated what they saw and have identified it as one of the best birding places in Uganda. During your birding adventure, you can expect bird species like the white-crested Hornbill, great blue and Ross’s Turacos, the red-billed Dwarf Hornbill, the Yellow-throated Nicator and the Piping Hornbill, among others. You may also see the popular shoe bill stork near Lake Albert, meanwhile, the water birds are easily spotted during the nature walk close to the lake or during the boat ride on the lake.
There are about 435species of birds in this park, a big fraction of this number is of forest birds and about 45 species can be seen in other parts of the country. If you are a keen bird watcher, you may be able to see more than half of this number.
The beautiful scenery
You can explore the scenery through a guided nature walks and hiking adventure. The nature walk takes you to the forest, around the park and this is the chance to have close look at everything that live in this forest which include about 235 different species of moths, more than 300 butterflies and among them includes 45 forest swallowtail species. There are so many plant species and others flora and fauna you will see as you walk around with your guide who will help you sight various attraction you may miss. He will give you all the information you may need to know about.
If you wish to go hiking, preparations have to be made prior so that you can be allocated a ranger to walk along, you may hire porters if you wish to since they are readily available should you need them.
There are 3 trails that you can choose from if you are hiking and the choice largely depends on how much time you have and physically fit you are.
There is the Sempaya nature trail which is the shortest covering only 8km and it’s a 2-4 hour hike. You can go hiking along this trail either in the morning or in the evening. The trail takes you to the hot springs and you can expect to see the primates along this trail.
The Red Monkey trail covers about 11 km therefore the second shortest/ longest. This trail goes via eastern border of the park where you will find the de brazza’s monkey and it also takes you to River Semliki.
The 3rd trail is the Kirumia trail which goes through the centre of Ituri forest to river Semliki and it’s the longest trail. It requires about 8 hours therefore you need an entire day starting in the morning. This is a perfect choice for the bird watchers, those interested in watching the black-and-white colobus monkeys, the grey-cheeked mangabeys, among others since it goes through the forest. You can enjoy an aerial view of the forest from the tree house.
Visit the famous hot springs
This is one spot that no one should ever miss visiting while in Semliki. A visit to the hot springs will give a different view of nature especially after listening to what the local have to say about these hot springs. This can be considered as a cultural tour since there are a lot of cultural beliefs attached to them. The walk to the male spring takes about an hour going through the forest and there will be primates like the red-tailed monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys and the grey-cheeked mangabeys are often seen.
To get to the female hot spring, it takes about 30-minute to hike up. This is the hottest of the 2 hot springs. You will find people bathing because they believe this hot water cures a number of skin diseases. You can also experiment with eggs or green bananas which will boil in just minutes. Hungry hikers, boil something to eat from here before they can continue. The scenery around the hot springs is also very beautiful, perfect for photography.
Cultural adventure
The cultural tour also includes visiting the Batwa pygmy people in their communities. These are the indigenous people of the forested areas including the Bwindi forest, the Congo forests. You will be interested in learning about their life style, they highly depend on the forest for shelter, food and medicine because they are hunters, fruit gathers although currently they are being influenced by conservation bodies to change their life style to cultivation and a better life style. This is all in an effort to protect the forest from where they hunt and get material for their huts.
When you visit them in their homes, they will be glad to display their very rich culture mainly through their music and dance.
There are lots of other attractions that Semliki has to offer to tourists and it is a perfect place to visit during a Uganda wildlife safari because it is not over crowded by tourists.
