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If you want to see the elephants in Uganda, then you should better be destined to the elephant home. The elephant home is a community lodge located next to queen Elizabeth national park, 390km from Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. The elephant home is not just a name to this accommodation facility. It is a name chosen based on facts of how the elephant love this location outside the national park. The facility location is related to these giant mammals in many ways. Taking the local guide and staff of the elephant home, you will learn that this is the main entry point of elephants to the community land.
Though elephants are restricted to being in national parks, in Uganda, they always find a way to come outside the park during the nights. Waking up to a vision of the gray rock like features (elephants) in the landscape standing still next to the lodge is like a rare dream. As the area around the elephant home is believed to be a historical point for the elephants of queen Elizabeth national park, they frequent the area to learn their own past. A theory from the community members, explains that over generations, the elephants conceive from this spot and keep bringing the young ones to visit the area where their life started.
Elephants in Uganda learn and memorize moments including learning human and environmental behavior. In the evenings, during certain seasons, herds of elephants start their journey to the community. They know how to determine when people have gone indoors so they will camp in the park bushes opposite the road. This way they cross from queen Elizabeth national park in the very right time and turn up to their ancestral land, the elephant home. By bed time they are already crossing the road and they start feeding then setting camp in the elephant home property, about 500 meters from the accommodation facility. In certain seasons, elephants will stay here up till 9:00am.
If you want to dedicate your day to viewing elephants around queen Elizabeth national park, spend your night at the elephant home. This park has the largest number of elephants in Uganda. Besides seeing the actual elephants, the camp property is full of wildlife spoors like elephant dung, elephant grazing grounds and trails.
As the day light gets brighter, they start their movement towards the park. You will be amazed to observe these herds retreat from the community to the park in the mornings. It is like a mini elephant migration as you view a mix of all ages from the large female matriarch to the sweet little calves that look to be a few days old. You will observe the large mothers Pushing the little ones forcing them to go forward as they shyly return under the large body of the mother and disappearing amongst the legs of the herd. The large males keep taking rounds to provide the security while the grandmothers find the way forward. Suddenly you see them take the long-waited momentum rising dust all over while they trumpet and push forward in a large heard with thrust. There you know it is now time to cross into the park. On reaching the edge of the road, in their own private language, the matriarch will use the sounds and signs and they will all suddenly hold on to ensure there is no traffic or any human danger in the open road. After they have inspected the road, they take the slow but continuous steps into the road. With a big heard all packed in the open road, they make the little ones cross as they provide the required security. Finally, the large ones will go and the heard disappear in the bushes of the park.
When they are on their way back to the park, you will have an opportunity to study their hierarchy, behavior and how they communicate in their parades. The gentle grumbling sounds, picking and splashing dirt with their trunk, scrubbing the ground with one leg, trumpet sounds. The different signals, communications and sounds will be passed between the elephants in the community land and those inside the park on the opposite side of the road. You may not understand their meaning but you will at least observe their communication being used during their movements until they finally cross the road disappearing into the park jungles.
If you stay at the elephant home on a lucky day when the elephants have come around, this whole experience is a free addition to your stay. It is a highlight of many guests who want to do view elephants in Uganda. You will not have to pay for this unique experiences and explanation from our guides. If they will not be around then, we take you to our self-guided walk where you will be able to find the various elephant spoors in their natural habitat neighboring queen Elizabeth national park. Contact us today to book your stay. We look forward to receiving your booking and welcoming you to our community.