Semuliki National Park

Also referred to as “The True Birder’s Haven” Semuliki National Park is one of the newest, unique and astonishing national parks in Uganda. Semuliki National Park sprawls across the floor of the Semuliki Valley on the remote, western side of the mountain Rwenzori. The park is dominated by the easternmost extension of the great Ituri Forest of the Congo Basin. This is one of Africa’s most ancient and bio-diverse forests; one of the few to survive the last ice age, about 12,00 – 18,000 years ago. This is the only park in Uganda to be composed primarily of tropical lowland forest. The forest is very dense and quite flat, creating a startling contrast to the rugged Rwenzori Mountains nearby.

While Semuliki’s species have been accumulating for over 25,000 years, the park contains evidence of even older processes. Hot springs bubble up from the depths to demonstrate the powerful subterranean forces that have been shaping the rift valley during the last 14 million years. The park is famous for the ever bubbling Sempaya Hot Springs. Sadly, the hot-springs are not for bathing as the water temperature here is over 1000C. Many visitors try boiling an egg in it as a test of its prowess. It should be hard-boiled with in ten minutes.

The Semuliki forest is home to 53 mammals of which 27 are large mammals. 11 species are endemic to the park including the pygmy antelope and two flying squirrel species. It is also home to the peculiar water chevrotain, known as the “fanged deer”. The park is home to forest elephant and buffalo which are smaller versions of their savannah-dwelling relatives.

The forest is remarkably rich in primates including the chimpanzee, baboon,grey-cheeked mangabey, black-and-white colobus, Central African red colobus, blue, red-tailed, de Brazza’s, vervet, and Dent’s mona monkeys. Nocturnal primates include the potto and bushbaby. The Semuliki River attracts many animals too. Hippos and crocodiles are common along this river. Elephant, buffalo, leopard, civet, bushbaby and flying squirrels are also found.

As earlier stated, Semuliki national park is a true birder haven. Bird life is spectacular in Semuliki with 441 recorded species, representing 40% of Uganda’s total bird species and 66% (216) of the country’s forest bird species. The list is expanded by the riverine habitat and a fringe of grassland in the east of the park. 46 Guinea-Congo biome species are found nowhere else in East Africa while another 35 can be seen in only two or three other places in Uganda. Five species are endemic to the Albertine Rift ecosystem.

Species to look out for here include the Nkulengu Rail, Yellow-throated Cuckoo, Piping Hornbill, Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill, Black Dwarf Hornbill, White-crested Hornbill, Black-casqued Wattled Horbill, Red-rumped Tinkerbird, African Piculet, White-throated Blue Swallow, Yellow-throated Nicator, Leaf-love, Swamp Palm Bulbul, Lemon-bellied Crombec, Maxwell’s Black Weaver, Crested Malimbe, Red-bellied Malimbe, Blue-billed malimbe, Chestnut-breasted Negrofinch, Orange-cheeked Waxbill.

Activities at the park include Visiting the fascinating Sempaya hot springs across a well designated trail inside the park, Game drives where you will view a wide range of wildlife, a Boat cruise conducted along Lake Albert which is the best way to have a glance at the rare shoebill stork in the swamp along the lake’s shores, Hiking and nature walks in Semuliki national park and Cultural tours where you come into contact with the park neighbourhood.

Areas around the park are inhabited by four (4) distinct ethnic groups. Bwamba farmers live along the base of the Rwenzori while the Bakonjo cultivate the mountain slopes. Batuku cattle keepers inhabit on the open plains and Batwa pygmies, traditionally hunter gathers, live on the edge of the forest.

Large areas of this low-lying park may flood during the wet season, a brief reminder of the time when the entire valley lay at the bottom of a lake for seven million years.