Murchison falls national park

Murchison falls national park Safaris

Murchison falls national park is Uganda’s largest national park located in the northwestern got its name from its main tourist attraction where the magnificent water of the Albert nile pours with to form the Murchison falls. The 279.4km distance fro Kampala via Masindi takes about 4.5 hours.  Its nature offers a variety of bird species, giraffes, hippos, lions among others

Activities at Murchison falls national park.

Boat cruise in Murchison Falls national park

A 3-hour boat cruise along the nile to observe the falls and the wildlife at the river banks is conducted at 9:00- 14:00 everyday at a fee $30 for foreian non residents & foreign residents  and 30,000shs for east African citizens. The 17km trip starts at paraa landing area up to the falls. where r. nile pours into L. albert to the bottom  of the falls. Another boat cruise from paraa across the papyruses of river delta covers a distance of 28km for 4-5 hours down the nile where the river pours the water into L. Albert. Common  sightings of  water birds are the shoebill stalkl, cormorants, kingfisher among others . Fishing in designated areas is prohibited but prior booking is recommended for sport fishing and those interested in fishihing are advised to carry their fishing equipment.

Game drives in Murchison falls national park

The woodland, wetland, savannah and tropical rainforest in the same park are habitats for different mammals like the hippos, giraffes, jackson’s heartbeast, lions, leopards,elephants, about 450 species of birds, primates, reptiles. This provides a variety of game to sght while on game drives which are conducted in the morning and evening hours .

Nature walks and hikes in Murchison falls national park

Walking through Murchison falls national park makes tourists directly explore the wilderness when they enjoy beautiful sceneries, uninterrupted songs of birds and study about different plants and behaviors of animals. It’s more exciting to meet and watch different animals on the same ground. All nature walks are conducted with an armed ranger from the park at a fee of……

 Nature walks are done on top of the falls, there are trails through kaniyo pabidi,rabongo  forest , paraa winds area and the delta. Hiking to the top of the falls starts at “the bakers point”. it’s believed that it is the point where  sir Samuel baker stood in 1864 to admire and appreciate the beauty of the area and finally named the falls Murchison falls. the common sightings at this point are water birds like the kingfishers.  A walk through kaniyo pabidi forest in the south which is 8km from kuchumbanyobo main gate to Murchison falls national park gives high expectations of sighting various primates like chimpanzees, black and white monkeys, red tailed colobus monkeys, blue colobus monkeys olive baboons and birds like the horn bills, and may other forest birds. All these are featured by the beautiful light rays that go through the canopies of thick and tall mahogany and ironwood trees.  Rubongo forest ecotoiurism centre in the south east of Murchison falls conservation area is about one andahalf hours drive far from paraa and is surrounded by savannah grassland which sometimes attract lions and other cats to ease hunting. It is a recommended area for birding with the rare bird species of chocolate backed kingfisher, the white-thighed hornbill and puvell’s lladopist and also houses chimpanzees, monkeys, warthogs  among others.

The best time to do nature walks and hikes is during the dry season because the trails are dry and easy to pass through unlike the wet season when the heavy rains make trails are wet and slippery.

Bird watching in Murchison falls national park

Murchison falls conservation area has myriad spots for birding which exposes a tourist to a variety of bird species. The different landscapes and vegetation, that is: savannah, forests, wetlands all are homes to the variety of bird species. Birding can be done on a nature walk through the forests, along the nile and many others can be spotted between paraa rest camp and the ferry crossing. It can also be done in a safari car especially in areas with savannah and woodland vegetation. While on a boat cruise, several water birds are sighted for example the shoebill stalk, cormorants, fish eagles, bee-eaters and many more.