Daytime safari game drives show you a lot, but they don’t show you everything.
Once the sun sets, a different rhythm takes over the savannah. Night game drives give an entirely different field experience, especially for a wildlife-rich country like Uganda.
At night, many animals that you won’t see moving at all during the day become active.
Predators start hunting. Small carnivores leave their dens. Eyes glow back at you through the grass.
Some of these are rare species you might only see once in years—others are more common, but far more interesting to observe at night than during the heat of the day.
Night game drives in Uganda are a spectacle: a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see this bizarre and peculiar world.
They’re about observation. The pace is slower, the focus tighter, and what you see stays with you.
Where Night Safaris Happen in Uganda
Only a limited number of parks in Uganda permit night game drives, and under strict supervision.
Why? You may ask.
It is manly about the safety of the tourists and also protecting species whose survival depends on human restraint after dark.
In addition, a few of these parks have the necessary infrastructure, vehicle access, and wildlife authority oversight to offer this type of activity legally and safely.
The parks mentioned below have the right balance of nocturnal wildlife and open viewing areas, which is crucial—dense bush doesn’t lend itself well to spotlight tracking.
1. Queen Elizabeth National Park
This is the most common site for night safaris in Uganda.
Drives here usually focus on the Mweya Peninsula, where Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers conduct official night game drives.
The open savannah and light brush make it one of the better locations for spotting predators like lions and hyenas on the move, along with smaller carnivores like genets and civets.
2. Murchison Falls National Park
Although more known for daytime viewing, certain sections of Murchison allow night drives, particularly through the northern sector.
This park has the advantage of space—you cover longer distances, which increases your chances of spotting less predictable species like aardvarks or porcupines.
3. Lake Mburo National Park
This is one of the few parks where leopard sightings are fairly common on night drives.
The park’s compact size and manageable road network work in its favour.
Guides often know specific spots where certain nocturnal species tend to show up, giving you a higher probability of a good sighting within a short time.
What Animals You Can See at Night
Night game drives in Uganda reveal species that rely on the cover of darkness to hunt, forage, or avoid predators.
Some are active strictly at night (nocturnal), while others show crepuscular behaviour—most active during twilight hours, but continuing into the night.
Either way, this is your chance to see them doing what they never do in daylight.
a) Big Predators
Lions often rest during the day, conserving energy for hunting at night when temperatures are cooler.
On a night drive, you might see coordinated stalking behaviour—lionesses moving silently through grass, working in groups, and positioning themselves around potential prey.
These are moments you’ll rarely witness during daytime viewing. Their eyesight is adapted for low light, giving them a huge advantage over their prey once the sun is gone.
Leopards are solitary and secretive.
They avoid conflict with lions and humans by hunting at night and resting during the day, usually high in trees or thick vegetation.
Spotting one at night often means watching it move—confident, slow, and focused. You might see it scanning for prey, dragging a kill, or even pausing to scent-mark.
Unlike lions, leopards rely on stealth, and a good guide will know where they tend to patrol.
Hyenas, particularly the spotted hyena, are often misunderstood as scavengers only.
In truth, they’re skilled hunters, capable of working cooperatively to bring down prey. At night, they become vocal, social, and alert.
You’ll often hear their distinct calls—whoops, giggles, or low growls—before you see them.
Watching a hyena patrol alone is common; watching a clan regroup and interact is rarer but deeply revealing.
b) Nocturnal Mammals
Civets and genets are small, cat-like carnivores.
Genets often climb trees, while civets stay closer to the ground. Both are omnivorous, feeding on insects, small rodents, fruit, and birds.
You’ll recognize them by their body shape—long, with spotted coats—and the way they freeze when caught in the light.
They tend to appear briefly, often darting across roads or pausing on a termite mound.
Bush babies (galagos) are true nocturnals.
They use large eyes for night vision and strong hind limbs for jumping across branches.
Their vocalizations can sound almost bird-like—high-pitched and repetitive.
Spotting one is about catching their eye shine in trees, then following their unpredictable movements. They feed on insects, fruit, and tree sap, and they’re more active on warmer nights when insects are abundant.
Porcupines are usually alone or in pairs, moving slowly and confidently.
They’re mostly vegetarian, digging for roots or gnawing on bark. Their defensive quills make them one of the few animals with no real natural predators, which means they aren’t particularly skittish.
You might see one digging or simply lumbering across the track, quills slightly raised if it senses disturbance.
Rare Sightings
Aardvarks are among the most specialized nocturnal animals in Uganda.
With strong claws and a tubular snout, they feed almost exclusively on ants and termites. Their movement is methodical, snout to the ground, with occasional stops to dig.
Because they avoid moonlight and open spaces, sightings tend to happen late at night and far from noise or vehicle activity.
Pangolins, if seen, usually appear curled up or walking slowly, head low.
Their scaled armour makes them distinctive even at a distance, but their population has declined sharply due to trafficking.
Guides and conservationists tend to keep any known locations confidential to protect them.
White-tailed mongooses are nocturnal and solitary.
You might spot one sniffing around, searching for insects, small reptiles, or eggs.
They don’t move quickly unless startled, which gives you time for a clear visual if you’re lucky.
Their namesake tail is bright and bushy, often seen waving just above the grass.
Read Also: Anti-Poaching Efforts in Rwanda
Night Birds and Reptiles
Nightjars rest on open ground and rely on camouflage.
At night, they hunt insects mid-flight.
If you’re moving slowly, a guide might point out one sitting still on the road ahead—blinking slowly, unbothered until you get too close.
Owls, especially the Verreaux’s eagle-owl, are powerful nocturnal hunters.
You can sometimes find them perched, scanning the ground with steady concentration. Their calls—slow, deep hoots—can help guides track them.
The African scops owl, much smaller, is harder to spot but easier to hear: its call is a simple, repetitive “prrrp.”
Reptiles, like African rock pythons, occasionally cross game tracks at night, especially after feeding.
Though mostly nocturnal in behaviour, smaller snakes and some chameleons also become more visible under a flashlight beam.
Some guides use UV light to spot scorpions or pick up the faint movement of lizards on rocks.
Why You See Different Wildlife at Night
Animal activity isn’t random. It’s shaped by light, temperature, predation risk, and food availability.
When the sun sets, these factors shift. The night triggers a chain reaction—some species rest, others begin to move, and a few come out only under full darkness.
Temperature and Energy use
The cooler temperatures after sunset reduce heat stress, especially for predators like lions and leopards.
Hunting at night allows them to conserve energy and use their natural night vision to catch prey that can’t see as well in the dark.
Many herbivores, meanwhile, feed more cautiously at night. Their senses stay alert for sound and movement, and their behaviour becomes more subtle and reactive.
Nocturnal Adaptations
Nocturnal species, like civets, bush babies, and porcupines, have biological adaptations that make them almost invisible during the day.
Large pupils, heightened hearing, and infrared sensitivity allow them to navigate with precision.
During daylight hours, they rest in burrows, tree hollows, or dense cover to avoid heat and avoid being hunted.
At night, the forest floor and low branches belong to them.
Avoiding Human Activity
Then there are the animals that prefer to move under cover of darkness because they’ve adapted to avoid people.
Pangolins, aardvarks, and some mongooses fall into this category. Human activity has influenced their patterns over time.
They’re more likely to emerge after dark, especially in low-traffic areas where the risk of disturbance is minimal.
The Other Half of the Wild
Uganda’s wildlife story doesn’t pause when the day ends—it just changes form.
Watching that shift happen teaches you something you can’t get from field guides or photo ops.
You stop thinking about lists and start noticing behaviour, movement, and silence.
Night game drives in Uganda are a perspective change.
You realize how much of the natural world functions without being seen, and how limited daytime viewing is.
