An African fish eagle perches majestically in a Candelabra (euphorbia) tree. Janet, our park ranger, rattles off birds: "White pelican, yellow-billed stork, pink-backed pelican, Goliath heron, water dikkop, hadeda ibis, pied kingfisher, African jacana," - to name a few - as the launch cruises along the Kazinga Channel in Uganda's Queen Elizabeth National Park.

With camera and binoculars at the ready, it's like participating in a wildlife documentary. Numerous birds gather on the sand flats and dart amongst the bushes at the water's edge; buffalo cool off in the shallows and a multitude of hippos perform a cacophony of snorts and belly-rumbling chortles. A herd of Defassa waterbuck is silhouetted against a pastel-blue skyline, while a solitary elephant enjoys a dust bath.

Women from a nearby village are collecting water and a couple of fishermen have parked their dug-out canoes in the reeds. As the evening sun dips over the Rwenzoris - the fabled "Mountains of the Moon" - the channel reflects a rich, pink glow.

The boat trip is a magical game-viewing experience, capturing the essence of the Queen Elizabeth National Park, where exquisite scenery combines with plentiful wildlife - 95 mammals and 550 bird species have been recorded. Despite the fact that many animals are numerous, like the rufous-red Uganda Kob (Uganda's indigenous antelope), buffalo, hippo, and Defassa waterbuck, there are surprising gaps in the fauna - no wild dog, giraffe, zebra, impala or cheetah, and topi are found only in the southern part of the park.

Covering 2,000 km2, the park embraces a variety of habitats, from the crater-studded foothills of the Rwenzoris to the grasslands, acacia savannah and woodlands on the Rift Valley floor. There are the swamps and open waters of lakes Edward and George, linked by the Kazinga Channel, the riverine forest along the Ishasha river and the dense, lowland rainforest of Maramagambo at the foot of the escarpment. Several villages lie within the park boundary, where people still pursue traditional activities - fishing, salt extraction and harvesting reeds and grasses.

Gazetted in 1952 as Kazinga National Park, an amalgam of the Lake George and Lake Edward Game Reserves which were formed between 1925 and 1947, it was renamed after a visit by Queen Elizabeth II two years later. During the 1960s it was one of the best managed parks in East Africa, supporting prolific concentrations of wildlife, with reportedly the highest biomass ever recorded in Africa. Today its ecological significance is internationally recognised: the park was designated a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1979 and the Lake George wetland is protected under the RAMSAR Convention.

The park is divided between the northern sector at Mweya, with its well-established game viewing circuits, and the remote southern area of Ishasha, famous for its tree-climbing lions. To the north of Mweya is the crater area, where wildlife congregates around freshwater and alkaline lakes. Baboon Cliffs is a popular place for spotting raptors, and small herds of elephant and buffalo are often seen. The area contrasts sharply with the undulating grasslands to the south and the flat plains around the kob leks at Kasenyi, where there's a sizeable lion population.

During the political mayhem under the dictatorships of Idi Amin and Milton Obote, Queen Elizabeth National Park did not escape the ravages of war and poaching. As the current Park Warden, Amooti Latif, explained, wildlife numbers plummeted. Elephants suffered worst in the carnage: "During the 1970s there were 3,000 elephants, but by 1990 there were only 200."

Fortunately, a period of peace and stability has seen a recovery in the elephant population. "The European Union (EU) sponsored a grant to count the elephants. In the 1993 game count, there were 800 animals. The last count was in 1997, and the population had grown to 1,200," said Latif. "The growth is not only due to reproduction, but also migration from the forest and a lot came from Democratic Republic of Congo." Interestingly, a recent study of the park's elephants by Eve Abe for the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) shows an increase in tuskless elephants. In the 1930s only one per cent of adult elephants had no tusks, but this had risen to thirty per cent by 1998.

Latif has taken a pragmatic approach to park management during the seven years that he has been warden. Building upon the existing infrastructure, he concentrated on developing the most accessible area of the park around Mweya. Realising that resources from UWA and visitor revenue were limited, Latif has tapped the expertise of professional and youth organisations worldwide to assist with financial, technical and voluntary support to meet the remit for the park to be self-financing. A contract with the EU has helped with road maintenance and the reopening of tracks in the park.

At Chambura Gorge Latif initiated chimpanzee tracking. An American volunteer trained rangers to habituate chimpanzees for tourism. "There are 35 chimps altogether, with about five or six in a family. Six tourists a day can visit the chimps, and viewing is guaranteed," said Latif.

Lying east of Mweya, Chambura Gorge is a deep incision in the golden savannah. Peering into the tree canopy from the edge of the gorge, it's sometimes possible to see the squashed branches of chimpanzees' night nests. A guided walk departs from Fig Tree Camp, descending to the bottom of the gorge and crossing the river on a pontoon before searching for chimpanzees along narrow tracks in the forest. Upstream from the gorge is Flamingo Crater, a haven for thousands of lesser flamingos.

The Maramagambo Forest, a forty minute drive from Mweya, is another refuge for primates. On the track to the Forest Station and Lake Nyamusingire, troupes of black and white colobus, and red-tailed monkeys are well camouflaged in the tall trees. Over a five-year period, United States Peace Corps volunteers have assisted in developing walking trails leading to the Bat Caves where there's a fair chance of seeing python and palmnut vultures. A Biological Centre has been established to study aspects of the forest and Jacana Lodge, a smart new tourist development overlooking Lake Nyamusingire, has recently opened.

Over the years a small settlement has evolved at Mweya. This includes the lodge, park headquarters, Institute of Ecology, bird observatory and a hostel. Mweya Lodge occupies a superb position overlooking the Kazinga Channel. The original lodge is being extended and refurbished. During the night, it's often possible to watch hippo grazing outside the rooms, or to hear a lion grunting, or the demented cackling of a hyaena. The Uganda Institute of Ecology, the research arm of UWA and the oldest ecological research institute in Africa, is still in operation.

Scientists from overseas and Uganda's Makerere University run research projects in the park. Current projects include: counting lions (there are around 200 in the north of the park); a hippo count along the 36-kilometre Kazinga Channel where a population of around 3,000 has been recorded; and studying giant forest hogs. Normally shy animals, giant forest hogs occupy a peculiar niche in the park, as they are commonly seen in the thicket savannah adjacent to the channel.

In 1997, the Queen Elizabeth Bird Observatory was established to study the park's resident and migrant birds. Since it opened, the field co-ordinator, Malcolm Wilson, has discovered over 10 species not previously on the park's birdlist, including the first bar-tailed godwit ever recorded in Uganda. Complementing the bird observatory, which is open to visitors, is a new bird-watching trail, complete with hides (built with the assistance of Operation Raleigh volunteers), which opened in 1998.

Elsewhere in the park, the rare and elusive shoebill stork is found in the swampy regions around Lakes Edward and George. Other key species include the black-rumped buttonquail, Verreaux's eagle owl, African skimmer and the black bee-eater.

Much of the credit for the present, healthy state of the Queen Elizabeth National Park is due to Latif and his versatile approach to park management. He has sought to maximise the potential of the park by appealing to a wider public, through encouraging activities not commonly found in other national parks.

Openly admitting that he has exploited people's desire to help conserve and develop the park, Latif readily acknowledges that he could not have achieved so much without their help. Driven by altruistic motives and a passionate belief in the park's international importance, he has a magnaminous vision: "This is the property of the whole world, not just the nation."

Claire Foottit is an Edinburgh-based freelance travel writer who visits Africa regularly.

Queen Elizabeth Factfile

At the time of writing, the Queen Elizabeth National Park was open to visitors and there have been no security incidents involving tourists in the park. There is a protective presence throughout the park and at all lodges. There have been incidents in the Ishasha area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which borders the southern sector of the park. It is adviseable to check on the situation before visiting the park, particularly if planning to visit the remote southern region.

Published in Travel Africa Edition Eight: Summer 1999 Text is subject to Worldwide Copyright (c)