One of Uganda’s most famous national parks is located in the far north western corner of the country – Murchison Falls National Park. Known for its rich wildlife as well as the falls giving the park its name, travellers are sometimes not sure whether to visit or not to visit the park formerly known as Kabalega National Park because of the distance from Kampala.
Murchison Falls National Park (also known as Kabalega National Park) is the country’s largest national park with a size of 3877 square kilometres. Being located in Masindi district, the park is far from Kampala, Uganda’s capital, but fairly easy to reach by car. Murchison Falls National Park spreads from the shores of Lake Albert around the Victoria Nile.
The Murchison Falls themselves are a rock formation directing the river Nile through a narrow gate of solid rocks over a 40 meter drop. On the popular boat launch, you will be guided near the falls and feel the cool mist coming from these powerful falls. The Karuma Falls are not far from Murchison and mark a passage on the Nile where 23 kilometers of rapids create some extraordinary white water rafting settings. The entire park is known for its rich wildlife including crocodiles, hippos, lions, giraffes, buffaloes, antelopes and birds, as well as elephants. With Instinct Safaris, you have the chance to discover the wildlife of the region on day game drives and even evening game walks.
For those who want to break the trip to Masindi up into two parts, we recommend Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, which is about half way – or three hours – from Kampala by our Land Rover safari vehicles. With not only mountain gorillas being an endangered species in the region, the Rhino Fund is doing great work protecting rhinos from poaching and the fund delivers educational programmes locally.
So what are you waiting for? Murchison Falls National Park is definitely worth a visit and at least two full days should be used to get the most out of your stay!
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