Murchison falls national park lies in the northern part of Uganda, it is the country’s largest and oldest conservation area stretching through the districts of Nwoya, Gulu, Masinid, kiryandongo, Bulissa and pakwach districts, its bisected in to two by the victoria Nile, dividing it into the northern and southern bank, the park was first gazette in 1926 covering an area space of 3840 square kilometers famous for the magnificent Murchison falls from which it attains its name, the park was initially called Kabalega national park by the late Idi Amin dada however during his downfall, it re-attained Murchison falls national park called by the first European explorer sir Samuel baker who first found d the water fall.
The presence of the Nile presents an opportunity to have a boat cruise to the bottom of the thunderous Murchison falls, boat trips are arranged beginning from the Para section it takes 2hours on the Nile while enjoying the breathtaking views of the environment, there are plenty of water birds that can be spotted including the African fish eagle, king fishers, famous shoe bill, sunbirds among the 451 bird species of the national park, mammals like hippos, Nile crocodiles along the banks of river Nile can easily be seen, water bucks and warthogs. Boat cruises are done in the morning or on evening sundowners, tourist can choose to come back with the boat or hike to the top of the waterfalls, hiking to the top of the waterfall means your tour guide waiting to drive you back from the top. Reservations can be made under the Uganda wildlife authority or wild frontiers to book the convenient time to do the boat trip private boats can be hired on order.
Besides boat cruise, there are several tourism activities that can be participated in while at Murchison for example, game drives, hiking, chimpanzee tracking, nature walks, birding to mention a few, the park is home to quite a good number of animals such as Rothschild’s giraffes, lions, leopards, elephants, Jackson Harte beats, oribi, Uganda kobs, it’s the only park where it is possible to see all the Big five ounce your travel plan include the Ziwa rhino sanctuary for Rhinos, it is managed under the Uganda wildlife authority part of the Murchison falls conservation area together with the Karuma and Bugungu waterfall . The parks vegetative cover comprises of Borassus palms, Acacia trees, thickets, bushes, savannah and forest which are homes to the wild animals that live within the national park.
Murchison falls national park is approximately five hours drive from Entebbe by road chatter flights can be organized to the nearest airstrip Pakuba from Entebbe or Kajansi, the parks accommodation is on both the south and northern banks facilities ranging from luxury to the best budget, it best time to visit is during the dry season of December –February and June to mid-September this is a peak season for tourism in the national park.
Please book with Lionking safaris Uganda.