Murchison falls national park

Murchison falls national park also known as Kabalega national park is the oldest national park in Uganda covering an area of 3895 sq km making it the largest since it was extended to the near district such as Masindi, Buliisa, Kilyadongo and Nwoya. It is located in the northwestern part of Uganda at the northern part of the Albertine rift valley. It is mainly known for its powerful waters that force their way through George rocks a narrow gap which is seven meters wide at a volume of 300 metres per second.

Due to its diverse vegetation such as savannah grassland, wetlands, open plains and woodlands, the park is home to over 76 mammal species such as elephants, lions, leopards, buffaloes, Uganda kobs, giraffes, forest primates like chimpanzees, red-tailed monkeys, black and white monkey and over 450 bird species

Chimpanzee trekking in Budongo forest.

Budongo forest is a tropical rainforest located in the Murchison falls national park in the northwestern part of Uganda and covers an area of 825 sq km. it is home to forest primates such as chimpanzees, monkeys, bird species, tree species and various butterfly species. The main activity carried out in the budongo forest is chimpanzee trekking

Two chimpanzee trekking sessions in Budongo forest are the morning session which starts at 8 am and the afternoon session which starts at 2 pm. This activity begins with a briefing about the rules and regulations getting a park guide, and ranger, group with other trackers then starting the trek to the forest. on finding them, visitors are allowed to spend one hour learning their behaviours, watching them feeding, playing, resting and as well as taking pictures.

Cost of chimpanzee trekking permits in Budongo forest

chimpanzee trekking permits are legal documents issued by the Uganda wildlife authority allowing people to go see chimpanzees in different national parks. this document can be got through the Uganda wildlife authority directly or through a trusted tour company. chimpanzee trekking permits for the budongo forest cost $ USD 80

 

Other activities done in Murchison falls national park

Boat cruise. visitors can sail along the waters, seeing various water animals like Nile crocodiles, hippos, water birds such as the fish eagles, ducks, and kingfishers among others and as well as visiting animals for water such as elephants, buffaloes among others

Hiking the falls. This enables the visitors to have a beautiful view of the fall

Game drives, with the company of a park guide, visitors drive through the park to view the various mammals in the park such as elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, lions, leopards, and Uganda kobs among others. This is mainly done along the Nile delta.

Fishing. This is mainly done around 9 am and 4 pm along the Victoria Nile where visitors caught fish like tilapia, catfish, and mudfish among others

Nature walks. This is an exciting experience as visitors walk through the park on foot seeing different creatures such as forest primates such as chimpanzees, red-tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, vervet monkeys, different trees, butterflies, birds such as the little green sunbirds, crowned eagle, grey-headed sunbirds among others. This activity can be conducted in the budongo forest, Kabongo forest using the trails beneath the mahogany trees of the budongo forest, the para winds trail

Bird watching since Murchison falls is one of the largest national parks in Uganda, it has a variety of bird-watching sites namely outside the lodge, forest, river Nile and the savannah grasslands. There are a variety of bird species in the park such as beautiful sunbirds, African jacana, giant kingfisher grey crowned crane, grey-headed bush shrike, long-tailed mightier, and red-throated bee-eater among others

Hot air ballooning. This activity begins with a briefing about the dos and don’ts during the activity. On setting off the visitors can have an aero view of the park, see different animals and as well as taking pictures.

How to get to Murchison falls national park

Murchison falls national park can be accessed using both road and air transport

By air transport, visitors can fly to the park using a chartered airstrip from Entebbe or kajjansi airstrip to Chobe airstrip

By road transport, the park can be accessed through Gulu highway via the Kampala Masindi route which is a 305 km distance to the park

Where to stay

there are many lodges around Murchison falls national park ranging from luxury, midrange and budget lodges which all offer different services

Pakuba safari lodge, bakers lodge, budongo ecolodge, twiga safari lodge, Murchison river lodge, Nile safari lodge, Chobe safari lodge, paraa safari lodge, kabalega wilderness lodge

Best time to visit Murchison falls national park

Uganda is located along the equator gives it a good climate throughout the year thus enabling a visitor to come any time of the year since each season has an advantage over the other that is each has activities that can be done and those that cannot be done

During the dry season (December to February and June to august), the number of rainfalls is little leading to the dry-up of water holes and grasses making the spotting of the animals in the park easy since they move to the main water bodies for water. Also, the roads in the park are passable and thus not muddy

During the wet season, grasses grow up, and water holes fill up making it hard to see the animals but on spotting them there is less competition and abstraction since there are few visitors and also the prices of the lodges are low. The volumes of water in the river are increased since the park receives a lot of rainfall making the waterfalls more powerful hence a great experience