About the Park
Murchison Falls National Park covers an area of 1,557 square miles (3,860 square kilometers) and is situated in northwestern Uganda. It is bisected by the Victoria Nile from Karuma Falls at its eastern border to Lake Albert in the west.
Murchison Falls National park is sometimes referred to as Kabarega National Park, who was the Omukama of Bunyoro Kingdom and is famed for resisting colonization by the British before he was arrested. Kabalega was exiled by the British Colonial Government to the island nation of the Seychelles. In Uganda’s history, he is famous for having resisted colonization. He later died died in Jinja on his return to his kingdom in 1923 en-route to Bunyoro from the exile.
The park is bisected by the Victoria Nile which first races down 80km of whitewater rapids before plunging 40m over the remnant rift valley wall at Murchison Falls, the centerpiece of the park. This waterfall was named in 1864 by the explorer Samuel Baker who considered it ‘the most important object through the entire course of the river.’ The Falls drains the last of the river’s energy, transforming it into a broad, placid stream that flows quietly across the rift valley floor for 55km to Lake Albert.
This stretch of river provides one of Uganda’s most memorable wildlife spectacles that you can ever have on a Uganda safari. Regular visitors include elephant, giraffe and buffalo while hippopotamus and Nile crocodile are permanent residents.The park covers 3,893km2 and is Uganda’s largest protected area.
Today it is part of the even larger Murchison Falls Protected Area (5,072km2) which includes the adjoining Karuma and Bugungu wildlife reserves.The Albert Nile corridor is Uganda’s lowest area (612m at Delta Point) and temperatures can be hot with a mean maximum of 29°C. The hottest times are mid December to mid February and June-July, tempered by rainy seasons in April and November.
Quick Facts
Location: Central Uganda (300 km from Kampala, 630 km from Kigali)
Size: 3800 kilometers squared
Famous for: Murchison falls, game drives, giraffes
Murchison Falls National Park is the largest of Uganda’s ten National Parks and one of the most spectacular parks in all of Africa. Renown for its scenic beauty and the eponymous waterfalls, this park and the greater Murchison Falls Conservation Area support a mind-boggling abundance of flora and fauna, boasting 76 mammalian, ten primate, 250 butterfly and more than 465 plant species. From rolling savannah and tall grasslands to thick bush and woodlands, the biodiversity of this park never ceases to amaze visitors and residents alike.
Murchison Falls’ rich biodiversity
A visit to this National Park is incomplete without seeing the magnificent falls. At the top of the falls where the Nile River narrows, one can watch the dramatic water crashes through a seven-meter gorge and tumbles 45 meters to the rocks below.
The plethora of mammals, reptiles and birds can be seen during game drives. Larger habituated mammals include the cape buffalo, Rothschild’s giraffe, Ugandan job, hartebeest and waterbuck. Other species such as oribi, bushbuck, Bohor reedbuck, the shy sitatunga, bush duiker, warthog and bush pig also live in the region. Fierce lions, leopards and spotted hyenas comprise the large carnivorous population. The Park is home to six species of primates, most commonly chimpanzees and olive baboons. Crocodiles and hippopotamuses patrol the river banks of the Nile, which hosts species of birds such as the Goliath heron, Egyptian geese, pelican, bee-eaters, kingfishers, hornbill, cormorant, saddle-bill stork and the rare Shoebill stork.
Quick Facts About Murchison Falls National Park
Murchison National Park lies at the northern end of the Albertine Rift Valley, where the sweeping Bunyoro escarpment tumbles into vast, palm-dotted savanna. First gazetted as a game reserve in 1926, it is Uganda’s largest and oldest conservation area, hosting 76 species of mammals and 451 birds.
Murchison Falls National Park covers four districts namely: Bulisa, Nwoya, Kiryandono and Masindi. The driving distance from Masindi, the nearest large town, to the Kibanda area of the national park is about 72 kilometres (45 mi). This area is about 283 kilometres, by road, north-west of Kampala, the capital and largest city of Uganda.
In terms of distance, its approximately 227Km from Entebbe to Murchison Falls National Park (3-4hrs drive). That means, Murchison Falls National Park is among the easily reached game reserves in Uganda. The roads are clear from Entebbe – Kampala – Nakasongola- Masindi to the park.
Murchison Falls national park is the largest in Uganda covering 3840 square Kilometres. Its one of the oldest national Parks in Uganda which was officially launched in 1952. Murchison Falls national Park is followed by Queen Elizabeth National Park covering 1978 square Kilometres.
Murchison Falls national Park is a savannah park characterized by woodlands- grassland ecosystem. The trees are spaced forming open canopies. The savannah grassland facilitates survival of wild animals like elephants, buffaloes, antelopes, Giraffes and bushbucks among others. For that case, many wildlife continues staying Murchison falls national Park and indeed, Murchison hosts the largest number of wild animals in Uganda.
Murchison Falls National Park is managed by Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) is a semi-autonomous government agency that conserves and manages Uganda’s wildlife for the people of Uganda and the whole world. This agency was established in 1996 after the merger of the Uganda National Parks and the Game Department, and the enactment of the Uganda Wildlife Statute, which became an Act in 2000. UWA is mandated to ensure sustainable management of wildlife resources and supervise wildlife activities in Uganda both within and outside the protected areas.
The Albert Nile corridor is on the low plains of about 612m at delta point. The temperatures tend to be hot with a maximum of 29 degrees Celsius and the affected months are December, mid- February, June as well as July. The rainy season is between April and November.
Besides wild animals like Giraffes, Elephants, Buffaloes, Hippos, crocodiles among others, Murchison Falls National Park also covers Budongo Forest reserve which is a home to chimpanzees and other primates like monkeys. In Budongo Forest, guests can do chimpanzee trekking and or Chimpanzee Habituation, birding, forest walks and so on.
Major tourist activities done in Murchison Falls National Park include Game drive, boat cruise, birding, chimpanzee trekking, chimpanzee habituation, Nature walks, community tours, culture trips among others.
Having the strongest water falls in Uganda makes Murchison Falls National Park special from other parks. Murchison Falls, you can also call it Kabalega Falls which is a waterfall between Lake Kyoga and Lake Albert on the Victoria Nile in Uganda. At the top of Murchison Falls, the Nile forces its way through a gap in the rocks, only 7 m wide, and tumbles 43 m, before flowing westward into Lake Albert. The outlet of Lake Victoria sends around 300 cubic meters per second (11,000 ft³/s) of water over the falls, squeezed into a gorge less than 10 m wide.