A Tour Guide's Review of Murchison Falls National Park

About Murchison Falls National Park

The park is located in northwestern Uganda and is the oldest and largest protected conservation area in the country. It measures an area of 3840km2 . The park was established in 1952 and named after the stunning Murchison falls by the explorer Sir Samuel Baker. Murchison Falls National Park is bisected by the Victoria Nile into southern where we have the mighty Murchison falls and northern sections where most game is seen in bigger concentrations.

 Journeying to Murchison Falls National Park

Murchison falls National Park can be reached either by air or road. The drive is approximately 5 – 6 hours for normal tourist driving a distance of about 300km to the southern entry gate via Masindi.

If you wish to fly to any of Uganda’s national parks, there are both chartered and scheduled flights from either Entebbe international airport or Kajansi airfield. The most common airline for domestic schedule and charter flights is aero link, check them on https://www.aerolinkuganda.com/en

Things to do while in Murchison Falls National Park

The Park is a home to a variety of wildlife with 76 mammal and 451 bird species recorded. Here we have the big 4 namely lion, leopard, buffalo and elephant.

There different activities not to be missed in Murchison falls national park such as; game safari, launch cruise, chimp trekking, hikes and birding among others

How to enjoy your activity

Game safari: game safaris are more cheerful and productive early morning and late evenings when the weather isn’t too hot. North of the park is where game safaris are done because of the different types of vegetation such as the savannah, woodland, palms and riverside vegetation that are habitats for different animals. Using a 4x4 safari customized land cruiser will serve you well due to its reliability and comfort. Some common sightings are antelopes, elephants, giraffe, buffalo, monkeys, lions, and much more

Launch cruise to the waterfalls: starts from the Paraa jetty heading slowly upstream while viewing the abundance of wildlife such as hippos, elephants, buffaloes, crocodiles among others and water birds such as king fishers, darters, bee eaters, eagles among others on the river side. The round trip takes 3 hours or you may go one way (appx.2 hrs.) and disembark from the boat at the bottom of the falls and take one hour hike to the top of the spectacular falls. It’s believed that a trip to the park without visiting the impressive and thrilling Murchison falls would be an incomplete trip as this is one of the park highlights.

Boat cruise downstream: this trip takes you 20km downstream to the Nile-Albert Delta and the return trip is about 4 -5 hours starting from the Para jetty. This trip is very much recommended for bird watchers as there is a variety of birds with the highlight being the rare and magnificent shoebill stork.

Chimp trekking: this is done at Budongo rainforest which is 8km from the southern gate of the park. This is a guided excursion beginning at 8am heading out to look for these habituated chimpanzees in their natural habitat. Once you find the chimps you will enjoy one hour with  them as they eat, swing, play and climb through the tree branches. The trek can take 2 – 4 hours and it’s a flat terrain. However one needs to carry rain gear, closed shoes, some drinking water and insect repellant. Please note that prior booking is necessary.

Hikes: one can hike from the base of the waterfalls after disembarking from the boat to the Top of the impressive Murchison falls. The hike takes between 45 minutes to 1 hour. There is a UWA ranger guide at the bottom to guide to all the way to the top where you get a breathtaking view of the falls from a different angle. There are side railings and stone steps on the path to ease the hike however one needs hiking boots because the rocky trail can be slippery.  Please note that the hike is charged.

Birding: with over 460 recorded species in Murchison falls National Park, birding happens to be among the top activities not to be missed during your visit to Murchison falls park.

Where to stay

There are a variety of budget, midrange and upmarket facilities to choose from;

Southern Bank

Bakers lodge - http://ugandaexclusivecamps.com/bakers-lodge/

Murchison River lodge - https://www.murchisonriverlodge.com/

Red chili camp - https://www.murchisonriverlodge.com/

Northern bank:

Paraa safari lodge - https://paraalodge.com/

Pakuba safari lodge - https://pakubasafarilodge.com/

Fort Murchison lodge - https://naturelodgesuganda.com/fort-murchison/

This article was submitted by Robert Kimbugwe.
Robert is a freelance tour driver-guide with extensive guiding experience in Uganda, Rwanda, Eastern Democtratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and Tanzania