About the Park

Murchison Falls National Park is Uganda's largest protected area 3,840 square kilometres of savanna, riverine forest, and Nile floodplain in the northwest of the country. About five hours from Kampala by road, or a short charter flight into Pakuba or Chobe airstrip.

The Nile splits the park in two. The north bank is where most game drives happen. The south bank is wilder, less visited, and home to forest chimpanzees. The falls sit roughly in the middle, where the Victoria Nile forces itself through the Rift Valley escarpment.

The Boat Trip

The single best wildlife experience in Murchison, and arguably one of the best in Uganda.

The cruise runs two hours each way from Paraa upstream to the base of the falls. Hippos surface alongside the boat — sometimes dozens in the same pool, ears and eyes just above the waterline, occasionally yawning wide enough to show teeth the length of your forearm. Nile crocodiles line both banks. Elephants come down to drink. African fish eagles call from dead trees above the water.

As you approach the falls, the roar builds. The boat gets as close as it safely can, close enough to feel the spray.

Game Drives

Murchison's north bank savanna offers wide open grassland, acacia woodland, and unobstructed sightlines that make spotting wildlife straightforward.

You'll see Uganda kob, warthogs, elephants, buffalo, hippos, and Nile crocodiles along the river. Lions and leopards are present, early morning departures at 6:00am give you the best chance.

Rothschild giraffes deserve specific mention. Fewer than 3,000 remain in the wild globally. Murchison is one of the most important strongholds for the species. You will almost certainly see them, often in groups of eight to twelve, moving through the acacia in that slow, weightless way that makes them look like they're running on different gravity.

The Top of the Falls

Most visitors take the boat trip. Fewer walk to the top, which means you often have the viewpoint almost to yourself.

A 45-minute walk from the south bank trailhead follows the Nile to the point where the gorge narrows. The birdlife along the path is extraordinary: malachite kingfishers, grey-crowned cranes, and, if you're paying attention to the papyrus at the water's edge, the occasional shoebill.

From below, you feel the scale of the water. From above, you see the architecture of it. The Nile arrives calm, a broad deceptive sheet, then disappears into the gap. Looking straight down into the pool 43 metres below is something else entirely.