Katara Lodge
Lodge · Kichwamba escarpment, twenty minutes from the main gate · Kichwamba Lodge Ltd
Mid-range
Outside the gate
Safari company
Katara sits on the Great Rift Valley escarpment at Kichwamba, twenty minutes from the main gate by the lodge's own reckoning and outside the boundary, so a night here carries no entry fee. Chimpanzee trekking in the Kyambura Gorge is the activity on the doorstep and the Kasenyi plains take a morning down on the flat. Ishasha is about three hours away, which rules out a day trip from this side.
Pros and cons
Pros
- A star bed rolls onto the balcony for stargazing at night
- Roll-top bathtubs and rain showers in every cottage
- Twenty minutes from the main gate, with no nightly entry fee
- Children aged 2 to 12 pay about a quarter of the adult rate
- A poolside barbecue is offered on stays of more than two nights
Cons
- Drinks and park entry are billed on top of the room rate
- A $20 per person surcharge applies over the Christmas period
- A game drive costs $150 to $270 per vehicle, plus $10 a head
- Ishasha's fig tree lions are about three hours away
What's here
- Family rooms
Read from Katara Lodge's own website in July 2026. Anything not listed we could not confirm, which is not the same as it being absent.
What the park charges on top
The rate above buys you a bed. Queen Elizabeth National Park charges its own entry fee for every day you are inside. Here is what that adds up to.
- Park entryCharged per 24 hours rather than per night.
- $40per person, per day
- VehicleA Ugandan-registered 4x4, the usual hire car, at UGX 30,000; a foreign-registered 4x4 pays $150.
- $8per vehicle, per day
Three nights means three days inside, so two adults sharing one vehicle pay $264 in park fees before anyone pays for a bed.
Entry is sold in 24-hour blocks that begin when you pass the gate, so a trip that starts at midday and ends at 16:00 two days later is charged as three days, not two.
The full fee schedule for Queen Elizabeth National ParkRates at Katara Lodge
From $230 per person, half board. US dollars per person. Full board $235 sharing and $280 single. Half board $230 and $275. A third person pays $95 on full board or $90 on half board. Children from 2 to 12 pay $60 or $55 and under twos are free. A surcharge of $20 per person applies from 22 December to 2 January. Drinks are excluded and so is park entry. A game drive costs $150 to $270 per vehicle plus $10 per person.
What the rate covers is not confirmed. We do not know yet whether meals, drinks and activities are included, so read this as the bed only.
Every figure on this page is in US dollars.
Indicative 2026 rates, read in September 2026 from each property's own website, rate card or factsheet. Twenty-three of the forty-two publish a rack rate of their own. The other nineteen say on request, and no agent or tour operator figure has been used to fill a gap. Watch the basis, because it decides whether two numbers can be compared at all: some quote per person per night sharing, others per room, per tent or per cottage, and meals sit inside some rates and outside others. Park entry is extra almost everywhere at $40 per foreign non-resident adult per 24 hours, plus the vehicle, and the Kazinga Channel cruise is $30 on top.
Questions about Katara Lodge
Is Katara Lodge good for a honeymoon?
Yes. Cottages have a star bed that rolls out onto the balcony for stargazing, along with roll-top bathtubs, rain showers and private balconies, and the pool looks straight over the park from the escarpment edge. No named honeymoon package is published, so ask whether any of this is set up as a package when you book.
Is Katara Lodge good for families?
Yes. Two of its nine cottages are family cottages with two bedrooms, and children aged 2 to 12 pay $55 to $60 a night depending on board basis, well under half the adult rate, with under-twos free. A third person in any cottage pays $90 to $95.
How much does Katara Lodge cost?
Per person per night, full board costs $235 sharing or $280 single, and half board costs $230 or $275. Drinks and park entry are excluded, and a game drive costs $150 to $270 per vehicle plus $10 per person. A $20 per person surcharge applies between 22 December and 2 January.
Can you self-drive to Katara Lodge?
The lodge states it is twenty minutes from the main gate by its own reckoning, on the Kichwamba escarpment outside the park boundary, which suggests straightforward road access, though no turn-by-turn directions are published. Call +256 773 011748 or email info@kataralodge.com to confirm the route before you set off.