Wildlife viewing

Upemba National Park protects many wildlife species, such as elephants, zebras, cheetahs, cape buffaloes, baboons, lions, oribis, antelopes, and many more. Game drives within Upemba National Park will always make your safari a great adventure in the wilderness. The Katanga impala are endemic in this region, as is the national park in Congo, where tourists can see cheetahs and zebras. Click here to see mountain gorilla trekking safaris 

Bird watching

Upemba National Park is gifted with many bird species, such as the sparrow weaver, fire finch, bee eater, Miombo rock thrush, Dickinson’s kestrel, the rare shoebill, wattle crane, Angola lark, racket-tailed roller, Cisticola, spotted ground thrush, honey guide greenbul, barbet, flycatchers, and Souza shrike. click here to view our recommended mountain gorilla trekking tour

Fishing

Upemba National Park is blessed to have ten fishing lakes within; four of these lakes are managed by Upemba National Park, and fishermen are always charged the fishing fees annually. Upemba National Park fishing months range from March to November. Tourists can participate in the fishing activity that is restricted to a specific fishing method.

Cultural tours

There are many villages and communities within Upemba National Park that tourists can visit and learn more about people’s daily way of living. With so many things for travelers to engage in, tourists can acquire more skills in handy crafts making locally and take them home. 

Hiking

Tourists can take part in a hiking safari within the mountainous areas around Upemba National Park or near the waterfalls in Upemba National Park.

Upemba National Park is among Africa’s oldest national parks, located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Upemba National Park was first established in 1939 under a Belgian royal decree and occupies over 1.75 million hectares due to its high biodiversity.

Upemba National Park protects approximately 1,800 different species, including leopards, lions, elephants, buffalo, and the Katanga impala, which is endemic to the park. Upemba National Park is the only national park in the DRC with the highest population of zebra and cheetah. Upemba National Park also accommodates an array of other habitats that vary from grassland within the higher altitudes to woodlands, forests, lakes, and wetlands in the lower altitudes.

Upemba National Park is facing many threats that range from illegal settlements to poaching, illegal miners, and hydroelectric interests. While Upemba National Park lacks the technical and financial support to minimize all those threats, the park’s rangers risk their lives in order to save the last elephant population remaining in Katanga. Some Parts of Upemba National Park have already been taken over by the Mai Mai groups, which are a locally heavily armed group of people.

In October 2015, they appointed a new park head who is responsible for combating wildlife crime in Upemba national park and protecting all the various threatened species within the park, especially the elephants.

Rodrigue Mugaruka Katembo is the newly appointed Chief Warden of Upemba National Park and is famous for his exemplary work when he was protecting Virunga National Park against oil exploration. Ever since Mr. Katembo arrived at Upemba National Park, there has been a process of restoration within the state authority.

The best time to visit Upemba National Park is from October to January in the dry season, when both the grass and vegetation are thin, which makes it easy to view animals around the waterpoint.