Activities in Murchison Falls National Park

Activities in Murchison Falls National Park are the unique experience of the Ugandan’s best wildlife national park. Murchison national park is not only unique and scenic but also among the oldest and largest national park. The park is bisected by the worlds second longest River after Amazon River that is River Nile. The park hosts the thunderous waterfall also called “the devil corridor” where the majestic River Nile squeezes itself through a narrow gorge making it the most powerful waterfall in the world.

Murchison falls National Park is one of the unmissable tourist destination in Uganda during your Uganda safari. It is endowed with large number of attractions that have created a wide range of activities in Murchison Falls National Park to be done and enjoyed by tourists. There are many things to do and see during your Uganda safari in Murchison Falls National park. It’s the largest game reserve in Uganda. Its one of the three national parks in Uganda that homes Rothschild Giraffes.  The park hosts are animals in large numbers like Leopards, Lions, Elephants, Buffaloes, Patas Monkey, different species of Antelopes, Hyenas and many others.

The park was named after the great British explore Sir Roderick Murchison by another British Explorer Sir Samuel Baker in 1864. However when Idi Amin became the president of Uganda, after his visit to the park he renamed it as Kabalega falls. This name did take longer after his downfall the park name was reverted to Murchison Falls national park.

Murchison Falls became a movie star when the movie  “African Queen” was filmed here with Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart starring. Wiston Churchill visited here in 1907, a journey he wrote about in his Book “My African Journey, published in 1908.  The American Conservation President Theodore Roosevelt shot his ways through this park, killing everything in sight in 1909.  Royalty and Commoner have all flocked to Murchison Falls. In 2018 Kanye West Kim Kardashian, the rapper Sean Paul all visited Murchison Falls Park

Top things to do and see in and near Murchison Falls National park (Activities in Murchison Falls National Park)

Game drives

Gifted by nature, game drive is one of the key activities in Murchison Falls National Park. All game drives at the park are done in the Northern part of the park. Meaning if your staying in the lodges from the Southern part of the park you have to wake up early for a ferry crossing. With our experienced driver guides you will explore the vast park with our open roof safari cars.  The game drives are done in the morning hours as well as evening. The morning game drives are more rewarding when nature is still active.  During the game drives you will enjoy close view of wildlife in their natural habitat. Some of the most thought game during your Murchison falls safari include: Lions, Leopards, Buffaloes, Bushbucks, Rothschild Giraffes, Jackson’s hartebeest, Uganda Kob, Warthogs, Dikdik, Elephants, Hippos, Patas Monkey and many others.

Bird watching (Birding)

Murchison Falls national park has over 451 bird species that are distributed to the different habitats. Birding is one of the best wildlife experience in Uganda especially in Murchison falls national park. Its among the few destinations where you can have a chance to see the great Shoebill.  Other birds seen include: White Thi hornbill, Yellow-billed stork, Adbims stork, Secretary bird, Osprey, African Dater, Goliath Heron, Veracious Dove, Long-Toed Plover and many more.

Boat at the bottom of the falls

Boat cruise at the bottom of the falls is one of the highlights of  activities in Murchison Falls National Park. Cruising down to the bottom of the world’s powerful waterfall as you feel the breeze of the water. The boat cruise is normally done in the afternoon lasting for two hours as you watch the large Nile Crocodiles, Hippos and other animals that come to quench their thirst like Buffaloes, Elephants and many others.

Hiking to the top of the falls

Hiking to the top of the falls is one of the activities in Murchison Falls National Park. Take the 45-minute hike up to the falls and be refreshed by the mist, feel the ground shake and vibrate under your feet – a most fantastic experience. The hike starts from the bottom of the falls, the guide will pick you up from the boat. The waterfall hike is a guided hike, and the very path you are taken up, Winston Churchill came down and boarded a boat for Sudan. The trail is also part of the famed Baker Trail, named after Samuel and Florence Baker. There is another fall in the distance, and that is Uhuru Falls, which means in English – Freedom Falls. The Falls hike has become a favorite with visitors to the park.

Nile Delta cruise

Nile Delta Cruise is one of the great activity which is much enjoyed by birders in their safari in Murchison falls. The boat takes you to the joint in which the Nile joins the Albert lake, this is a home of the giant Shoebill. You also have great view of the African sunset while on the Nile Delta boat cruise.

Hot Air Balloon Safaris

Hot Air balloon safaris in Murchison. can now be taken in Murchison Falls Park.  It is the only park in Uganda where you can take a hot air balloon wildlife Safari.

Rise at dawn over the savannah – watch the sunrise and then glide over the park above the tree-tops where you can see the most wildlife like: buffaloes, elephants, giraffes, antelopes. Watch the predators below as they come home from a night’s hunt. Afterward, it is a one of a kind in Uganda.

Chimpanzee Tracking

Budongo Forest is an excellent area for Chimpanzee Tracking, it is a Jane Goodall Chimpanzee Research Station, and you have a unique opportunity here to track Chimpanzees. During the off-season, you can even do an all-day Chimpanzee Habituation here.  Budongo Forest an excellent place for chimpanzee tracking and chimpanzee habituation experience, birding and hiking, and nature walks from a few hours to all-day hikes on the trails of Budongo Forest.

Chimpanzee tracking is best done by adding a day to your Murchison Falls Park safari. We can add on the first or last day in Murchison Falls Park. Enjoying viewing this playful appes in their natural humans. They leave in families like humans headed by the adult dominant male. They hunt in groups which are sub divided in to sections according to their roles in the hunt : the Chasers which are more aggressive, the Runners which are first movers and the killers where the dominant male is found.

Rhino Tracking

Next to Murchison national park is Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, it  is not a part of Murchison Falls Park but can be easily visited on the way to or from Murchison Falls National Park.  Here you track Rhinos on foot with guides, which is a most exhilarating experience.

Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is on a large estate that is similar to Murchison Falls, where eventually, some of the Rhinos will be released to when the numbers of them reach over 20. This is the only place in Uganda where you can see Rhinos in their natural habitats. Uganda safari to Murchison falls through Ziwa sanctuary is the only safari where you will see all the African big 5.