The Semuliki National Park lies along the floor of the great Albertine rift valley region stretching to the Congo Nile basin. This is a true haven of birds boasting several species, it is located in the western part of Uganda and the national park is one of the oldest national parks in Uganda it was gazette in 1932 and upgraded to a national park status in 1933. The national park covers an area space of approximately 545 square kilometers, straddling along the shores of Lake Albert. The extending forest is one with chimpanzees, these have been scientifically proven to share up to 98 % of the human DNA.
The forest is the only remaining tract of the lowland tropical rain forest in Uganda an extension of the great Ituri forest, this portion of the piece from Congo implies that most of the species of the national park can also be found in the central Congo region. It is a haven for birds over 450 birds are present in the park most of which are forest birds, for example, the purple-breasted sunbirds, Congo serpent eagle, long-tailed hawk, olive green bul, white-tailed horn bill, dwarf honey guide, forest ground thrush. There are mammal species present in the national park, some of which include dwarf antelopes, hippos, elephants, olive baboons, and Uganda kobs.
The bio-diverse ecosystem presents the Sempaya hot springs, the springs rise up to 2 meters from the ground with water whose temperature can boil an egg, the male spring is famous and visited so much, and the waters are believed by the locals to be medicinal, they are believed to cure skin diseases like ring warms. The boiling gestures are a result of natural causes on the movement of tectonic plates, as legend has it, in the past days people used to use water to boil food. There are female springs too the women of the traditional days say the water was used for fertility purposes in case one was barren.
Forest walks begin at the Sempaya gate, along the well-distributed trails, you will meet beautiful butterfly species of the park, the red-tailed monkeys, and vervet monkeys can be met on a lucky day, cultural visits, are so lovely, take a tour with the last short structured people in Uganda the pygmy’s, these have been resettled in the surrounding communities. Bird watching in the national park is a true gem of the wilderness, half of the bird types of Congo are found within the forest the birding can be done in the national forest or around the Sempaya or around the hot spring.
Semuliki National Park is open to travelers all year round, each season is beautiful it can be accessed through the Kampala fort portal, or Mbarara and Masaka, it takes approximately 6 hours’ drive to arrive at the destination. There is available accommodation near the national park for example the Semuliki Safari Lodge situated in the reserve, this is a few Kilometers from the national park, and there are Uganda wildlife Banda’s. There are two tribes living around the national park the Bamba and Bakonjo they live and survive in the forest.