Uganda Night Game Drives: Which Parks Allow and What to See

Night game drives in Uganda — the opportunity to experience the national park environment after dark, when a different suite of wildlife becomes active — are available in specific parks and conservancies under specific conditions, but are less uniformly available than in Kenya’s private conservancies (where unrestricted night drives are a standard activity at most camps). Understanding which Uganda parks permit night driving, what the actual night wildlife encounter looks like, and how to book is an important part of Uganda safari planning for visitors who want more than daytime game drive experiences. This guide covers Uganda’s night wildlife experiences for 2025.

Queen Elizabeth National Park: Night Drives

QENP permits night drives under specific conditions — organised through UWA at the Mweya Visitor Centre (booking required, USD $30/vehicle/night + ranger fee of USD $15) with a mandatory UWA ranger accompanying the vehicle. Departure: typically 19:00–22:00 from the Mweya peninsula area. Night wildlife in QENP: African civet (Civettictis civetta — a large, cat-sized viverrid with a distinctive black-and-white spotted pattern, commonly seen in QENP at night near the vehicle tracks), African genet (Genetta genetta/tigrina — a smaller spotted viverrid that is extremely common in QENP at night, often seen in trees or on logs adjacent to the road), bush baby/galago (Galago spp. — the tiny nocturnal primate with enormous eyes for night vision, identified by the eyeshine), and the large-spotted genet which frequents the acacia trees near the Mweya Lodge grounds at night. Spotted hyena (frequently heard and occasionally seen), and the occasional leopard (leopard encounters are the most sought-after and least predictable QENP night drive outcome).

Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary: Night Walks

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Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary (120 km north of Kampala on the Gulu highway, the only free-range rhino location in Uganda) offers night walking with the rhino — departing at 19:30 with an armed ranger and rhino tracker to locate the sanctuary’s white rhino on foot in the dark. The night walk: 2 hours, USD $30/person (night rate — day walks are USD $45). Night approach to white rhino on foot: the approach to a white rhino at 20 metres in the dark, guided by the tracker’s knowledge of the rhino’s current position, is one of Uganda’s most extraordinary wildlife experiences. The lack of light (beyond the tracker’s torch, which is used minimally to avoid disturbing the rhino) means the encounter is sensory in a way that daytime walks are not — the rhino’s size and proximity register differently without the visual comfort of daylight. The sanctuary’s accommodation (Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary Camp, USD $60–90/night) allows combining night and dawn rhino visits on an overnight stay.

Murchison Falls: Night Wildlife

Murchison Falls National Park does not currently offer official night drives (as of 2025) in the same organised manner as QENP — UWA has restricted night drives in Murchison to reduce disturbance to the park’s lion prides and to manage the logistics of after-dark vehicle movement on the network of tracks. However: the Paraa area and the Nile bank near Paraa Ferry are extremely productive for night wildlife viewing on foot from the accommodation grounds — bushbuck, oribi, and hippo graze on the Paraa lodge lawn area after dark, and the Nile bank opposite Paraa has hippo hauled-out on the bank visible from the lodge terrace without any night drive required. The Chobe Safari Lodge (north bank of the Nile, 5 km from Paraa) has a spotlight terrace that is used informally for night wildlife observation.