Murchison Falls National Park , also called Kabalega Falls National Park, the Murchison Falls National Park is located in northwestern Uganda, about 90 kilometers from Masindi is the biggest national park in Uganda, and is comprised of Karuma plus Bugungu Wildlife Reserves, it was named Murchison Falls on which the longest river in the world, River Nile thunderously explodes through a 7 meters gorge on the Rift valley Escarpment and drops to 43 matters below through a series of cascades from here it becomes a calm river and its banks are crowded with giant crocodiles, buffalos, hippos as well as waterbucks. The park was established in 1952. It occupies an area of 1,483 square miles (3,840 km) of rolling grassland east of Lake Albert. The Victoria Nile bisects the park from east to west and travels through a rock cleft 23 feet (7 meters) wide over a cascade 141 feet (43 meters) high to form the Murchison falls. The eastern boundary of the park is Karuma Falls.
The Murchison vegetation is comprised of the woodland, savannah grasslands plus riverine forest. It has plenty of wildlife which includes the chimpanzees, tree climbing lions, Uganda Kobs, plus a variety of bird species among which are the uncommon shoebill.
Attractions in Murchison Falls National Park.
Wildlife.
Murchison falls national park is comprised of the woodland, wetland, savannah as well as tropical forests that are known to be a habitat of over 76 mammal species, the mammals in the park includes the hippo, Rothschild’s giraffe, warthog, cape buffalo, Uganda kob, hartebeest, elephants and many more.
It has a variety of primates that are over 800 chimpanzees, olive baboons black and white colobus monkeys, red tailed monkeys and many others found in Kaniyo Pabidi as well as the Budongo forest.
Bird species.
Murchison falls national park is among Uganda’s best birding spots with over 451 bird species which include; Albertine rift endemic birds, water birds and the savannah birds. The bird species in the park includes the Goliath Heron, African Quail-Finch, Grey Crowned Cranes, Blue-headed Coucal, White-browned Sparrow Weaver, African Jacana, Weaver birds and among many more.
Budongo Forest.
Budongo forest is among the major attractions in Murchison falls national park, the forest is found in southwestern part of this conservation area located close to the park, continuous with Kaniyo Pabidi forest, and encompassed by farmlands and villages on the other side, the forest acts as a habitat of wildlife that is over 24 mammals, 460 plus tree species, 360 types of birds, 287 butterfly species and many more.
Kaniyo Pabidi Forests.
The forest is located in the southern part of the Murchison falls conservation area, the forest offers the chimpanzee tracking in the Park as well other primates can be seen like the olive baboons, blue monkeys, black and white monkeys and many more living under Uganda’s largest remaining mahogany forest, bird watching is excellent done in the forest.
Karuma Waterfall.
Karuma waterfall comprises of the cascading natural rock-formations through which the water forces its way forming a characteristic white foam that is very impressive to be observed by the tourist, its prime location is great to do sport fishing in the Park, the areas around the falls is a home to some of the wildlife like the monkeys, hartebeest, various antelopes, lions, Uganda kob and many others.
Top of the Murchison Falls.
The most spectacular view of the waterfall is on the top of the Nile where the sight and sound of the Nile crashing through a small chasm make a memorable assault on your senses, the site can be reached either by a car or on a 30 minutes climb, from the boat at the bottom of the falls.
Buligi Game Area.
Buligi Game Area is located in the park, the area is best for game viewing during your tour in the park, it consists of the open savanna grasslands, riverine vegetation, woodland, and acacia, during your visit in Uganda, the Uganda Wildlife Authority gives you the ranger guide to help you on the most of your game drive.
River Nile.
River Nile is another major attraction in the park, the River Nile whose source is found in Uganda’s tourists town Jinja is popularly known as the longest river in the world as it flows through Murchison falls national park as surrounded by the streaming hippos, numerous giant crocodile seen along the sandbanks, animals species can be seen as well as the bird species as they are drinking in the Nile water.
Parra.
Parra is one of the top areas of interest in Murchison falls, the word Paraa comes from the local Luo language meaning the home of hippos and this is where all the park’s access roads converge as the northern and southern banks are connected by a passenger ferry and a number of hotels and safari lodges are located nearby.
Rabongo forest.
Rabongo Forest covers 4km2, Rabongo forest is the most birding paradise because of the endangered species are found here, the forest is ideal for educational tours as it provides opportunities to identify animals, birds, medicinal plants and trees. As well the visitors can camp and enjoy picnics by the Wairingo River.
Activities in Murchison Falls National Park.
Chimpanzee trekking.
Chimpanzee trekking in Murchison falls national park is especially done in the Budongo forest, the activity takes around 30 to 4 hours depending on where the chimpanzees slept the previous day. The activity starts with a briefing the tourists where they can be divided into a group of 6 people and each group is allocated to a chimpanzee family to go for trekking.
Bird watching.
The park is a home of over 451 recorded bird species with the migratory, Albertine rift endemic, savanna and water birds. Bird watching in the park includes the spotting of bird species like the shoebill stork, black headed lapwing, yellow fronted tinker bird, black billed barbet, long toed plover and many more, some of the bird species can be spotted during the game driving, during nature walks and in the boat cruise to the bottom of the falls and along the Victoria Nile delta.
Game viewing.
Game viewing in the Murchison falls national park gives the opportunity to the tourists to explore the wildlife in the park while in 4WD safari vehicles. The park offers three game driving that is the Morning, Afternoon and the Night game drives, all the game driving in the park are rewarding with the various animal species during your visit like the elephants, buffalos, waterbucks, big cats, lions, civet, genets, bush babies, night jar and many others.
Boat cruise.
Boat cruise is the most of the interesting activity in the Murchison Falls National Park, the park offers two boat cruises that is boat cruise upstream to the bottom of the falls and the boat cruise downstream to the Victoria Nile delta stretching to the shores of Lake Albert.
Nature walks.
Nature walks are the most interesting activity in the Murchison Falls National Park, this is where the tourists can explore the nature of the park on foot and armed by the game ranger, these are mostly done in the Kaniyo Pabidi and Rabongo forest as the tourist come closer to the wildlife to the chimpanzees, black and white colobus monkeys, red tailed monkeys and a variety of bird species.
Best time to visit Murchison Falls National Park.
Murchison Falls National Park is enjoyable all the year but December through to February is considered the best time to visit the park. June to September is another great window to visit the park.
Where to stay in Murchison falls national park.
The accommodation facilities to the tourists in the park are grouped into Budget, Mid-range, Budget accommodations that includes the Budongo Eco lodge, Fort Murchison, Simbiya River lodge, Murchison Backpackers Hostel and many more.
Entrance fees of Murchison falls National Park.
| Category | Foreign non-residents(USD) | Foreign Residents(USD) | East African Citizens(UGX) |
| Adult | 45 | 35 | 25000 |
| Child | 25 | 15 | 10000 |
How to get to Murchison Falls national park.
Murchison Falls National Park can be accessed by both the air, road means of transport from Kampala to the Park.
By Air transport.
You can access the park by air transport through Pakuba, bugungu and chobe air fields. Bugungu is a few kilometers from Paraa Uganda Wildlife Authority headquarters.
By Road transport.
The park can be reached by bus from Kampala or by the private means, it’s a three hour’s drive of 305km distance to Masindi town, from Masindi town, the main route enters Kachumabnyobo gate, it is about 85km from Masandi, and goes through Kaniyo Pabidi forest to paraa in the southern park of Murchison falls national park.
Murchison falls national park is among the Uganda’s best birding spots with over 451 bird species which includes the Albertine rift endemic, migratory, savanna, water birds. The Murchison falls national park provides the best tour in that the park has the world’s most powerful waterfall that emits large voles of water about 300 cubic meters per second or 11,000 ft3/s at a very powerful pressure that cause the surrounding to tremble.
