Safari activities in Murchison Falls National Park 2024

Safari activities in Murchison Falls National Park 2024 : Murchison Falls National Park is the largest protected safari destination in Uganda. It is in the northwestern part of the country, in the districts of Bulisa, Kiryadongo, and Nwoya. The national park was established in 1952, which makes it one of Uganda’s first national parks. It has a total area of 3,840 square kilometres and is made up of savannah vegetation, riverine forests, forest patches, and acacia trees, which provide a home for wildlife. Murchison falls national park is a home of 76 mammal species including the big four of the big five mammals which are the lions, elephants, buffaloes and leopards, other animals like waterbucks, Uganda kobs, Oribi, Jackson’s hartebeest, giraffes, hippos, Nile crocodiles, primates like chimpanzees, red tailed monkeys, olive baboons and over 451 bird species including black headed gonolek, Abyssinian ground hornbill, malachite kingfisher among others. During your safari, you can do a number of interesting activities in Murchison Falls National Park, including,

Activities to do in Murchison falls national park.

Game drives in Murchison falls national park.

Game drive is the main safari activity to do in Murchison Falls National Park. Visitors can explore the park with a professional driver guide in a comfortable 4WD pop-up safari car. You can go on game drives in the park either very early in the morning, when the animals are most active, or in the late afternoon, when they are heading back to their hiding areas. During the game drive safari which takes about 4 to 5 hours, you will follow different game tracks like Buligi track, Victoria track, Albert track among others where you will be rewarded with great views of animals like buffaloes, Jackson’s hartebeest, Uganda kobs, oribi, giraffes, warthogs, waterbucks, elephants, bushbucks, view predators like lions, leopards, hyenas, jackals among others if you are lucky, view different bird species among others.

Murchison Falls National Park permits visitors go on night game drives with an armed park guard and spotlight torches to see animals that only come out at night. During the night game drive safari, which starts around 8:00 pm after dinner, you can see nocturnal animals like civet, lions, leopards, genets, porcupines, hyenas, night jars, bush babies, hippos, and enjoy the beautiful scenery under the stars, among other things.

Boat cruise in Murchison falls national park.

During your safari in Murchison falls National Park, you shouldn’t miss a boat cruise, which is another exciting Uganda safari activity. In the park, there are two boat cruises: one along the Victoria Nile to the bottom of the Murchison Falls, which takes about 2 to 3 hours, and another along the Nile delta, which takes about 4 to 5 hours. Boat cruise in Murchison falls national park starts at Paraa jetty landing site and it gives you an opportunity to view large herds of hippos and Nile crocodiles in water, view other animals like elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, waterbucks, warthogs drinking water along the shores, view water birds like open billed stork, papyrus gonolek, goliath heron, malachite kingfisher, red throated bee-eater, saddle billed stork, African jacana, papyrus gonolek among others.

Bird watching in Murchison falls national park.

Murchison Falls National Park is one of the best places to go a bird watching safari in Uganda. It is home to more than 451 bird species, including birds that are only found in the Albertine Rift, savannah birds, and water birds, among others. Murchison Falls National Park has many different kinds of birds that can be seen on game drives, boat cruises, and nature walks. These birds include the prehistoric shoebill stork, giant kingfisher, yellow-billed stork, black-headed lapwing, yellow-fronted tinkerbird, black-billed barbet, long-tailed nightjar, veracious dove, long-toed plover, Abyssinian ground hornbill and many others.

Nature walk/ hiking in Murchison falls national park.

When travelers go on a nature walk in Murchison Falls National Park, they get out of their safari vehicle and walk around the park with an experienced park guide and an armed park ranger. In Murchison Falls National Park, there are many hiking and nature walk tracks that go through Kaniyo Pabidi forest, Rabongo forest, Albert delta area, top of the falls, and other places. During the guided nature walk, you will get up close and personal with elephants, warthogs, primates like blue monkeys, olive baboons, red tailed monkeys, and black and white colobus monkeys, view different bird species, enjoy the cool breeze, listen to the sweet sounds of bird species, and take beautiful pictures, among other things.

Chimpanzee trekking in Budongo forest Murchison falls national park.

Chimpanzee trekking safari is an exciting activity in which people walk through the forest in search of habituated chimps and then spend an hour with them in their natural environment. Chimpanzee trekking safari in Murchison Falls National Park takes place in Budongo Forest. The activity begins with a briefing at the park offices very early in the morning. After the briefing, you’ll start trekking in the jungles with a trained park guide who knows the best trails to see chimpanzees. Chimpanzee trekking in Budongo forest takes about 30 minutes to 4 hours, based on where the chimpanzees are. This is because chimpanzees like to move around in search of food, so they are often in different places at the same time.  During trekking, you’ll be able to see other primate species, different plant species, and birds, among other things. Once you find the chimpanzees, you’ll be able to spend an hour with them in their natural habitat, which gives you a chance to learn about their habits, watch them eat, breastfeed, hunt, fight, play, rest, groom their young, and do other things.

Best time to visit Murchison falls national park.

Murchison Falls National Park can be viewed at any time of the year, but the best time is during the dry season, which is June, July, August, September, December, January, and February. This is also called the peak season. During the dry season, the park gets less rain, so there won’t be as much greenery. This makes it easier to see different kinds of wildlife, and most animals gather around water sources to drink, giving you the chance to see a lot of different kinds of wildlife.

Murchison Falls National Park can also be visited during the wet season, from March to May and November. This is the best time to see migratory bird species while bird watching.

How to get to Murchison falls national park.

Murchison falls national park is situated in northwestern part of Uganda and can be reached by road transport means whereby you will drive from Kampala or Entebbe via Masindi to Murchison falls national park through one of the gates such as Chobe, Wankar, Tangi, Kichumbanyobo or Bugungu gate which takes about 5 to 6 hours’ drive.

Murchison falls national park can also be reached by air transport means whereby you will book charter or scheduled flights with Aerolink Uganda from Entebbe international airport or Kajjansi airfield to Chobe, Pakuba or Bugungu airfields and then connect to the lodge or park headquarters by road.

Where to stay during your safari in Murchison falls national park.

There are an extensive variety of accommodation facilities in Murchison falls national park where you can stay during your Uganda wildlife safari. The accommodations range from luxury, midrange, budget and campsites including Nile Safari lodge, Paraa Safari Lodge, Chobe Safari Lodge, Pakuba Safari Lodge, Fort Murchison Safari Lodge, Murchison River Lodge, Bwana Tembo Safari Camp, Heritage Safari Lodge, Kabalega Wilderness Lodge, Twiga Safari Lodge, Masindi Hotel, Parkside Safari Lodge, Red Chilli Rest Camp, and among others