Things to do while in Murchison Falls National Park.
Activities in Murchison Falls National Park: Murchison Falls National Park is a famous, largest, oldest, and most visited park situated in the northeastern parts of Uganda in Amuru. It was formerly called Kabalega National Park. The park stands on the shores of Lake Albert, home of the scarce shoebill stork, occupying a total area of 3,840 km².
The park contains over 80 species of mammals, including the Big Five animals like rhinos, lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo, antelopes, impalas, and zebras; and over 450 bird species like water birds, savannah birds, Albertine endemic birds, and many more.
The park has different accommodations offering a comfortable stay to meet guests’ fondness, namely, budget, mid-range and luxury accommodations that are convenient and friendly to guests visiting the park.
The following are different activities to do while in Murchison Falls National Park.
Game viewing is one of the most popular activities in Murchison Falls National Park, which gives a chance to see a wide range of different wildlife species and other attractions in the national park. This activity takes place at different times, that is, morning game drives, evening game drives and full-day game drives.
During the morning game drives, a variety of wildlife species can be seen since they are more active at this time of day.
Evening game drives provide a wonderful opportunity to explore the beauty of Murchison Falls National Park and see the wildlife species while enjoying the sunset in the wild. These game drives take up to 3/4 hours as tourists explore the savannah plains in Murchison Falls National Park.
Full-day game drives take the whole day, and tourists are able to study the wildlife species while enjoying the game viewing activity. This increases the chances of seeing the wildlife species since tourists get to explore different parts of Murchison Falls National Park in search of wildlife.
A variety of wildlife species on a Uganda safari can be seen during game drives in Murchison Falls National Park, and they include four of the Big Five, that is, the lions, leopards, elephants and buffaloes. The rhinos can be seen on the way to the national park at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.
Other wildlife species in the park include hartebeest, jackals, hyenas, waterbucks, bushbucks, hippos, warthogs, oribis, antelopes, zebras, and impalas, among many others, and bird species like martial eagles and African jacanas, among others. Chimpanzees can be seen in the Budongo Forest as well as other primate species such as black and white colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys and many others. This activity is perfect during the dry season.
Boat trips in Murchison Falls National Park are carried out along the Nile, which gives an exciting panoramic view of the bottom of the mighty Murchison Falls, beautiful landscape and enables guests to cruise meters away and spot different aquatic animals like hippos, crocodiles at the river banks, water birds, etc.
This activity is conducted by the Uganda Wildlife Authority or Paraa Safari Lodge, and it’s done in two sessions (the morning session at 9 am and the afternoon session at 2 pm). Boat trips can be done any time but are perfect in the dry season from June to Sept. and then December to February.
Visiting/hiking on the top of the falls is another famous activity in Murchison Falls National Park since this is one of Africa’s most wonderful waterfalls, which roars with such intensity that the ground trembles around it. The waterfalls are breathtaking.
Birding in Murchison Falls National Park is home to over 450 bird species, which makes it a birding paradise in Uganda. Birding in the park can be done in different areas, such as northern savanna plains, at the River Nile, and in Budongo Forest, among others, and you will be able to view birds like shoebills, water birds, savanna birds, endemic birds, wattled plovers, open-billed storks, pied kingfishers, long-tailed cormorants, spur-winged plovers, pink-backed pelicans, and African fish eagles, among others.
Chimpanzee trekking is an interesting and second-best activity done in Uganda after gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Chimpanzee trekking in the park is carried out in Budongo Forest, where you find chimpanzees, monkeys, baboons, and birds, among others. Chimpanzee trekking is done in two sessions, the morning and the afternoon sessions, and takes about 2 to 4 hours trekking in the jungle or even more, depending on the location of the chimpanzees because they like to move deep into the forest in search of food. Once the chimpanzee family has been found, visitors will spend one hour in their presence, taking pictures, learning more about their behaviours, habits, and so on.
Nature walk: This is an adventurous activity where visitors explore the park on foot while feeling a cool breeze with great scenic views of birds, animals, and others. Nature walks in parks can be done in Kaniyo Babidi Forest, Rabongo Forest, and at the Nile riverbanks and the Delta, usually accompanied by armed ranger guides.
