Activities in Murchison Falls National Park
Activities in Murchison Falls National Park are the different Ventures that travellers can engage in when they visit the park to spice up their Uganda Safari. Visiting the top of the falls provides with spectacular viewing of waterfalls as you listen to the sound of the Nile roaring through a wide. To reach the top of falls it takes 30 minutes by drive or you can reach there by use of a boat cruise from the main point at paraa.
Below are the thrilling and rewarding activities to be done in Murchison falls national park and these include; Game drives, guided nature walks and hiking, Launch trips, bird watching, Hot air balloons, Sport Fishing, Cultural encounter among others and all these mentioned activities can make your safari to Murchison a worth visit.
Murchison falls national park is located in the north-western region of Uganda, approximately 4 to 5 hours by road from Uganda’s capital city Kampala. The park is on the list of Uganda Wildlife Authority and become a world heritage site in 1991.
Game drives: Murchison falls national park rewards with game viewing which can be enjoyed on a game drive on the largest scale land in different designated game drive areas. To note, the park comprises of savannah grassland, woodland, wetland as well as the tropical forest which are habitant to different bird species and animals. The variety of mammal species which can be seen here include; Lions, Rothschild’s giraffe, warthog, Cape buffalo, Uganda kob, elephants, hippos, Jacksons hartebeest, Uganda kobs, dik-dik and many more. The best main areas to do game drive is along Nile delta where there are great chances of seeing the king of jungles ‘’lions in wait for prey as they concentrate to drink water, and other places to spot in wildlife is Buligi peninsula and the southern sector knowns as the heart of Murchison.
Launch trips/Boat Cruise: The lunch trip starts upstream from the Paraa landing site at the point where river Nile enters into lake Albert and takes you to the bottom of the top of the falls. As you hike to the top of the falls, there is a display of wildlife species and provides a memorable frontal view of the falls. While on your boat cruise sailing slowly waters of the Victoria Nile, you get rewardable sighting of water species like hippos, crocodile, waterbucks, other animals along the banks of the river such as elephants, buffaloes. To those who love birding just engage in Nile cruise to the downstream along the Nile lake Albert Delta, where you can sightsee water birds like the unique shoe bill, ducks, kingfishers, bee-eaters, cormorants, fish eagles many more. You can as well enjoy sundowner cruise along the Nile offering a spectacular viewing of an equatorial sunset reflected on the river. The cruise in Murchison falls national park starts in the morning hours at around 9 am and evening hours begins at 2pm on daily basis and it takes about 4 to 5 hours which starts from paraa to River Delta, to note the exceptional schedules can be arranged with the park management.
Bird watching: Bird watching around here starts between at paraa Rest Camp and Ferry crossing and can be best done in morning hours, such birds to be spotted include; Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-weaver Black-headed Gonolek, Green-winged ptyilia, Black headed Batis, Vitelline Masked Weaver, Silver bird, Bluff-bellied Warbler ,white-rumped seed-eater .Travellers sometime decide to done birding in the evening time and these are the common Nocturnal species in this area such as Verreax’s owl ,Nightjars like pennant-winged nightjar and long-tailed. The best bird watching season is between the months of March –September and November to February. Other spotted bird species include; White African fish eagle, long-toed plover, African Skimmer, Gray Crowned crane, Goliath Heron among others.
Nature walks: Nature walk is the best amazing activity that brings out hidden features of the park which can be explored on foot while in Murchison falls Conservation area. There is a unique trail at paraa winds throughout low hills and forest around the River. The guided nature walk done in Murchison fall national park is so impressive where a traveller can come across several species along the top of the falls ,kaniyo pabidi and Rabongo forest .Nature walk can also be conducted in Rabongo Forest Ecotourism Centre which sits in an island of tropical river forest in the south-east of the conservation area ,the forest is surrounded with savannah grasslands. While a traveller enjoying the nature walk accompanied by a tour guide ,you can be able to explore variety of primates like black and white colored monkey ,Red tailed monkeys , Chimpanzees, birds, trees and medicinal plant species. You can as well carry out nature walk through the trails to the beneath mature Mahogany and Ironwood trees of budongo forest reserve .As you continue to enjoy your walk ,you can be able to see forest birds such as white-thighed Hornbill ,Chocolate backed kingfisher ,African dwarf kingfisher ,Blue-breasted kingfisher ,Lemon-bellied crombec ,Olive-breasted green bull , Chestnut-capped flycatcher ,little green sunbird ,Grey-headed sunbird ,Crowned eagle ,Pavel’s illadopsis which are not found elsewhere in East Africa.
Sport fishing: This is exciting experience done along Victoria Nile which starts at 9am and 4pm in the evening, the best sport fishing activity is conducted in the river section above and below the falls and the caught fish species include; Nile perch, Tilapia, Catfish, Tigerfish, mudfish and many more. But travellers are recommended to carry their owned fishing equipment.
Hot Air Balloon Wildlife Safari: Hot Air balloon wildlife safaris offer rewardable Aerial views of the Murchison falls national park and Uganda this is the only park where you can carry out this marvellous hot air balloon experience. Along the sky a traveller can be able to view such wildlife species like herds of buffaloes, giraffes, elephants, antelopes many more.
Accommodations in the park
Murchison falls national park offers a choice of lodges with comfortable beds ranging between Mid-range and luxury such lodges include; Parkside Safari lodge, Shoebill Campsite, Paraa Safari Lodge, Pakuba Safari Lodge, Murchison Tree House, Chobe Safari Lodge, Fort Murchison Safari lodge, Budongo Eco lodge all these unique accommodation facilities can make your safari to the park awesome encounter.
Accessing Murchison Falls National Park
The park can be easily accessed from Kampala city approximately 4hours by drive to reach to the main destination. Alternatively, you can fly from Entebbe Airport to and from through landing to pakuba Airstrip within 1:10 hour by Air.
