There is a good reason why Murchison Falls features on most Uganda safari itineraries. Not only is it the country’s biggest national park (3,893 km²), but it is also endowed with a rich mix of both beauty and wildlife as comprised of over 120 mammal species, 556 bird species, 51 reptile species, and 51 Amphibians. Regardless of which time of the year you choose to visit this park, you are assured of an impressive experience, with a great number of African elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, Uganda kobs, bushbucks, waterbucks. Leopards are not as many, and thus rarely spotted especially due to their shy nature. However, they’re here too, as are most of the other typical large predators; lions, hyenas. Generally, most of the park’s animals are in its Northern zone, a vast open savannah grassland that is beautifully dotted with borassus palms.
In contrast, the southern zone is largely wood-land with forest patches. It is here that you find Budongo Forest, a tropical gem that is home to the second biggest population of chimpanzees in Uganda, numbering over 700. Here, you can trek habituated families at any time of the year.
Beyond having game drives in the north and nature walks in the south, there are two things every visitor should do at the park. One is to pursue a boat trip up the Nile River, the world’s longest river (it is what separates the North from South). During this activity, you’ll cruise past plentiful crocs, hippos, buffaloes, and elephants having a refreshing bath.
This can be crowned with a sightseeing hike to the top of the falls where you will experience its sheer power of nature as you watch the river explode through a narrow cavity in the rock and drops 45 meters down a gorge. From here, it continues to flow downstream into the western arm of the river valley. It might not be the earth’s biggest waterfall, however, it’s definitely one of the most powerful and jaw dropping spectacles.
Of the Big 5 animals, the only not present in the park are the rhinos, however, they can be encountered en-route at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary as you journey from Kampala.
