Murchison Falls National Park – Kitagata Safaris Uganda
The sprawling 3,840 square kilometers of Murchison Falls National Park, found 300-plus kilometers northwest of Kampala, makes it Uganda’s largest protected natural area. It is also the oldest, originally established in 1952.
Famous as the location of Murchison Falls—the thunderous cataract where the Nile River squeezes through a six-meter gap and then plunges 43 meters—the park is also a magnet for birders and animal lovers. The 450 species of fowl recorded here include the rare shoebill stork and many endemics, while the 76 mammals include four of the Big Five (all but the rhinoceros, which live in specially protected isolation at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary).
Although game drives are a customary means of scouting for wildlife here, a special game cruise on the Nile is a relaxing way to take in the park’s changing landscape. The views of the water’s edge and up to the falls are not to be forgotten, as is the hike from the boat landing to the falls, which are visible from below and above.
