Murchison Falls National Park
This is one of the oldest and one of the largest national parks in Uganda located in the east African rift valley. It is also known locally as Kabalega falls and lies in the northwestern part of the country in the North-West part of the country.
 Murchison Falls National Park covers a number of districts in northern Uganda such as Kiryandongo , Masindi, Buyisa and Nwoya .
The Murchison falls national park is a popular tourist attraction with many attractions to enjoy as well as adventure activities to participate in. The park is divided by the Victoria Nile into two sectors, namely the southern sector and the northern sector with a wide range of activities and attractions available for visitors.
The park inhabits a variety of wildlife species. It is most popular for habiting four out of five big five Animals mammals such as Elephants, Buffalos, Lions, leopards, other animals like Rothschild giraffes, bushbucks, Hippos, Crocodiles, Waterbucks, Jackson’s hartebeest, warthogs, Uganda Kobs, bushbuck antelopes, Oribis, primates such as monkeys, blue monkeys, Red tailed monkeys, black and white colobus and among others.
The park is also a birders haven which is an amazing destination for birding safaris with over 450 bird species categorised into the water birds and the open land birds. These include the shoebill stork, the hornbill stork, the grey crowned crown, the pied kingfisher, yellow feet fly catcher, marabou stork, sandpipers, African jacana, Denham’s bastards, silvers bird, blue headed coucal, black headed gonolek, eastern grey plantain eater and herons Black-headed Gondola, Black-headed Plover, Black-lored Babbler, Blue-headed Coucal, Blue-naped Moosebird, Bluff-bellied Warbler
Things to do in Murchison Falls National Park
Game drives
The game drives in Murchison falls take place both in the morning and in the evening, giving tourists the chance to experience up-close views of different wildlife species while they are on the tour. Game viewing areas in the park include, Buligi Peninsular, Delta area, and the southern sector. While carrying out game drives you will be able to spot animals such as giraffes, warthogs, elephants, buffaloes, Uganda kobs, bushbucks, Jacksons hartebeest, oribi, waterbucks grazing in the savannah grassland plains as well as view different bird species.
Sport fishing
Murchison falls national park offers sport fishing along the rocky banks of the Nile below Murchison falls. At the Banks, you will be able to catch a variety of fish species like tiger fish, tilapia, cat fish, Nile perch and tilapia using different sport fishing methods such as hooks, spinning methods, and casting lures. You will be able to catch tiger fish, tilapia, catfish, and burgeon during your sport fishing trip.
Boat Cruise
Boat cruise on Murchison falls national park is carried out on the Nile. The Murchison Falls National Park consists of two boat cruises. The first boat cruise goes upstream to the bottom of the falls while the second boat cruise goes downstream to the Victoria Nile delta stretching all the way to the shores of Lake Albert. The boat cruise offers tourists the opportunity to see large concentrations of hippopotamus, crocodiles basking on the shores, animal species such as elephants, buffaloes, and waterbucks, as well as animals such as elephants, buffaloes, and waterbucks drinking water along the shoreline.
Chimpanzee trekking
Chimpanzee trekking is done at Budongo Forest which is located in the southern part of Murchison falls national park. In Budongo forest, chimpanzee trekking is one of the most popular activities. At the headquarters of Budongo forest, a briefing about the rules and regulations about chimpanzee trekking takes place in the early morning hours. As soon as you have been briefed, you will be assigned a habituated chimpanzee family and a park guide who is knowledgeable about the trails in the forest. It takes about 30 minutes to 4hrs depending on the location where chimps are.
Hot air balloon Rides
Hot air balloon safaris in Murchison falls national park are carried out by Dream Balloons company. There are two sessions for this activity that is the sunrise session at 5:00a.m and the sunset session which starts at 4:00pm and ends at 6:30 pm. During hot air balloon rides, tourists will have spectacular views of Murchison falls national park, wildlife, vegetation, Birds, Murchison falls and Lake Albert
Park Entrance Fees
Adults: East Africans are charges 25,000 UGX; Foreign non-residents are charged 45 USD Per person and foreign residents are charged 35 USD
Children: East Africans are charges 10,000 UGX; Foreign non-residents are charged 25 USD Per person and foreign residents are charged 15 USD
Vehicle: Vehicles are charged 10USD For foreign registered vehicles and 10,000 UGX for Registered vehicles.
Best time to visit Murchison falls National Park
Murchison falls national park can be visited all the year around. In order to get the best experience of the park, it is best to visit between June and October and December to February, when there is less rain and the roads through the park are accessible and do not cause any problems with slipping. This also gives high chances of spotting wildlife and taking good photography.
