Safari to Murchison Falls

the point where the White Nile leaves Lake Albert

At 3893 square kilometres, Murchison Falls National Park is a very substantial but relatively remote and little-visited wildlife reserve in the northwest of Uganda.

The national park itself forms a major part of the very substantial 5,308 square kilometres Murchison Falls Conservation Area, which also includes the Bugungu Wildlife Reserve (748 square kilometres) and the Karuma Wildlife Reserve (720 square kilometres).

The greater area contains a very wide range of forest, savanna and riverine ecosystems.

The area is bisected by the Victoria Nile, which plunges over the Murchison Falls, being restricted to a turbulent seven metre wide channel, before plunging 43 metres. The falls lie 35 km upstream from Lake Albert, from where the Albert Nile heads out on its 3500 km journey to the Mediterranean.

Despite heavy poaching during the 1980’s, this very scenic area has now recovered to provide some decent wildlife viewing. The 76 mammal species include elephants, lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, giraffes, Jackson’s hartebeest, oribis, buffaloes, hippopotamuses and Nile crocodiles.

Over 450 bird species are present, with highlights including shoe-billed storks, dwarf kingfishers, goliath herons, white-thighed hornbills and great blue turacos.

Murchison Falls tends to feature relatively rarely in trips, since most people have run out of time after travelling north through Bwindi Forest, Queen Elizabeth and Kibale Forest, which usually occupies 8-10 nights. If you have two weeks, then you could certainly look at adding either this area or Kidepo Valley to the north.

The usual stay duration is 3 nights.

Seasonality

Murchison Falls is usually best visited during Dec-Mar, when the long grasses should have dropped, leading to easier wildlife viewing.

The area has a surprisingly different climate to the nearby Bwindi Forest and Kibale Forest, which makes for slightly complicated trip planning when travelling through the area.

Getting around

Up to around 2015 getting around Uganda was something of a mission. The only real option was to travel by guided overland safari, which might sound great, but the reality was that most of the hard miles were on relatively uninteresting main roads rather than interesting safari areas. It was both tiresome, time consuming and, for smaller groups, surprisingly expensive.

Fortunately there is now a reliable schedule of light aircraft flights connecting the main safari areas, operating out of the hub airport at Entebbe and visiting Bwindi Forest, QENP, Kibale Forest, Murchison Falls and Kidepo Valley.

The Murchison Falls area can therefore be connected by light aircraft, usually in a clockwise loop, preceded by Bwindi Forest, QE and Kibale Forest, then returning back to Entebbe. There are multiple airstrips in the area to serve the various lodge locations.

Sometimes the flight connections between Kibale Forest and Murchison Falls are routed back through Entebbe, which is a bit mad and certainly aesthetically disadvantageous.

Where to stay

The majority of the accommodation options in the Kibale Forest are clustered around the park headquarters on the western flank of the reserve.

Although there’s a couple of decent options, they are small and are unable to cater to the demand during the high seasons. The remainder of visitors are obliged to stay in a handful or rather simple facilities.

It is noticeable that no major safari companies have yet constructed a major development in this area, presumably due to the shortcomings of the protection provided by the parks authority and the resulting lack of reassurance to potential long term investors.

The stand-out option is undoubtedly the intimate Ndali Lodge.

a contrary season, best Dec-Mar