Murchison falls national park
Murchison falls national park is the largest park in uganda with an area cover of 3840 square kilometers. The national park is regularly visited for Uganda safari tours because of its powerful waterfall that pours out large volumes of water and its various safari activities plus its wildlife. Murchison falls was before called kabalega national park and it was gazette in 1927. There are a number of attractions and activities within the park as talked about below.
ATTRACTIONS AT MURCHISON FALLS NATIONAL PARK
MURCHISON FALLS
This is the major and greatest attraction in Murchison falls national park. This amazing fall which is called kabalega fall lies in between lake Kyoga and lake albert on Victoria Nile. Murchison falls was created by waters of river Nile forcing their wat through the rocks forcing 7 meters wide 43meters waterfall. As tourists come to tour Murchison falls national park it becomes so hard to miss out on visiting the amazing feature which flows westward into lake albert.
NILE-LAKE ALBERT DELTA
The delta is situated on the low land in the south western side of Murchison falls national park where the Victoria Nile enters lake albert. The delta is good at having birds and thus making it a best place for a birding safari. The Victoria Nile pours its waters into lake albert whereas the delta has a beautiful and pleasing view with vegetation and river Nile as it splits into small tributaries plus small islands as they flow into lake albert.
BULIGI GAME TRACKS
The tracks extend between Victoria and albert Nile. Buligi game tracks is where the game drives take place within Murchison falls where tourists get to see a number of animals within the park. The game tracks are 120-170 kilometers in length that run through the savannah grassland, riverine, woodland and acacia vegetation. The game drives shouldn’t miss as when engages in the game drives and these take place in the morning and evening depending on the tourist’s decision.
KARUMA FALLS
The falls are also another attraction that one shouldn’t miss within Murchison falls national park. The Karuma falls are found in Chobe region in the northern region of the national park. The falls are also found on Victoria Nile as they pass through a number of hard rocks and forms ripples and white foam appearance as it flows which looks amazing to see. This is also considered as the best place for sport fishing safari within the national park.
PARAA
This is also one of the major attractions within the national park. This is where all routes that are used to access the park meet that is to say it connects the north and south banks by a ferry. The name paraa is derived from a Luo word meaning `home of hippos’. Therefore, with the many hippos around the lace makes it attractive plus the many hotels and safari lodge this makes it a good accommodation Centre. Therefore, paraa facilitates most of the game drives, nature walks and lunch trips within the park.
BUDONGO FOREST
The budongo forest is found in the southwestern region of Murchison falls national park. The forest is a habitant for primates and a ryal mile that is good for birding. The forest is a great habitant for over 800 chimpanzees and 360 bird species and these include African dwarf kingfisher, black-eared ground thrush, blue-breasted kingfisher, chestnut-capped flycatcher, chocolate-backed kingfisher, little green sunbird, olive-breasted greenbul among others. The forest has 24 mammals and 9 primates such as chimpanzees, black and white colobus monkeys, blue monkey, potto, olive baboons and galago species.
RABONGO FOREST
This is a green forest that covers an area of 4 square kilometers and its just 1-2 hours drive from paara to the forest. Rabongo forest is a hoe to a variety of bird species such as yellow-footed flycatcher, ituri batis, white thitghed horn bill among others, the forest is also a home to many primates such as blue monkeys, baboons, red tailed monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys among others.
KANIYO PABIDI FOREST
The forest is located 5 kilometers from kichumbanyobo gate which is the best for chimpanzee tracking activity. The kaniyo pabidi is found in in the south region of the park and its also a home to habituated chimpanzees that are ready to be tracked by the tourists. Besides the chimpanzees the forest is a home to primates such as black and white colobus monkeys, olive baboons and blue monkeys. Its also a birding venture and these can be viewed while on having nature walks. There is also wildlife within the park such as buffaloes, elephants, lions and leopards.
ACTIVITIES IN MURCHISON FALLS NATIONAL PARK
GAME DRIVES
The tourists get a chance to explore the national park through game drives which are done in a 4wd safari vehicles. The game drives are put into 3 categories that is in the morning, afternoon and night
Morning game drives; these are done in the morning after breakfast and these ae very rewarding in that tourists get to see animals in their active period as they are grazing on the savannah plains as others are looking for what to hunt. Animals such as waterbucks, buffaloes, giraffes, Uganda kob, warthogs, elephants, Jacksons hartebeest and the big cats such as lions, leopards among others.
wildlife in Murchison falls national park
Afternoon game drives are done after lunch but these aren’t much rewarding due to the fact that the big cats are hiding from the hot weather and this makes it difficult to see them. Whereas the night game drives are after diner. He tourists get a chance to view the nocturnal animals such as lions, hyena, civet, bush babies, night jar, leopards among others, grazers like hippos, elephants, waterbucks among others which makes the game drive safari a great experience.
BOAT CRUISE
The boat cruise activity is an amazing one which is also carried in two phases that is upstream boat cruise and downstream to the Victoria delta up to the lake albert shores. The boat cruise to the bottom of the falls has two different sessions thus one in the morning and starts at 9am and the afternoon session that begins at 2pm. The boat cruise sessions take 2-3 hours ride
The Nile delta boat cruise is done in phases too but each session takes 4 -5 hours. These boat cruise begin from paraa landing site which gives it a joyful experience as they enjoy viewing the falls, herds of hippos, crocodiles, elephants, Uganda kob, warthogs as they drink water, bird species such as African jacana, saddle bellied stork, open billed stork, goliath heron, yellow footed kingfisher among others
CHIMPANZEE TREKKING
The chimpanzee trekking activity is done within budongo forest which is known to be the biggest mahogany forest in Uganda. The trekking takes about 30 minutes – 4 hours depending where the chimpanzees had their night and it’s a group of 6 individuals that are allowed to trek a chimpanzee family. During the trek the tourists are able to see primate species, birds, butterflies and various tree species. The tourists are then allowed to spend hours with the chimpanzees and get a chance to learn their behaviors, watching them play, feed, breast feed, hunt and also take pictures with them.
NATURE WALKS
The tourists get a chance to explore the national park on foot with a park guide or armed ranger. The nature walks are greatly done in kaniyo pabidi and Rabongo forest. Here the tourists get in touch with wildlife, mammals and primates like chimpanzees, red tailed monkeys black and white colobus monkeys and a number of bird species.
The other hike is also done on top of the falls and it’s done after a boa cruise session to the bottom of the falls. This hike takes around 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on the physical fitness and speed of the hikers. The tourists will be able to have an amazing view of sceneries, listening to the swashing waters among others.
BIRDING
Murchison falls national park is also a home to over 450 bird species which include migratory, Albertine endemic, savannah and water birds. These bird species can be seen while on game drives, nature walks and boat cruise along the Victoria Nile delta. Bird species such as shoebill, yellow billed stork, grey crowned crane, pied kingfisher, weaver birds, silver bird, martial eagle, yellow fronted tinkerbird, black headed lapwing, giant kingfisher among others.
SPORT FISHING
Tourists majorly take part in this activity with the help of a guide but with hopes of capturing fish species such as ngara, tiger fish, cat fish, tilapia and Nile perch. The national park has various spots for fishing and when a fish is caught, the tourists are free to take it for roasting and they eat it.
