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The Murchison Falls National Park is Uganda’s largest protected area (3840m²) and with its spanning altitudes of 600m to 1300m it is low lying by Ugandan standards, which lets it become very hot in the summer. The Victoria Nile divides the park into two parts. On the north side of the river green grasslands dominate with isolated borassus palms and acacia trees. The south is characterized by denser woodland. The biggest sight of the park are the awesome Murchison Falls, where the Nile passes a gorge that’s just 6m wide and makes it one of the most powerful natural surges of water. Several footpaths, which offer sensory overload, lead from the top of the falls to several viewpoints and to their base. There’s no wildlife here, so you’re allowed to walk on your own. Apart from this a very popular boat trip, where hippos and crocodiles are a regular sight, leads from Paraa to the base of the Falls.
 

According to conservationists the park used to be one of the continent’s best national parks with the problem of overpopulation of several species till the seventies.  In 1972, when international visitors were banned from Uganda during the Amin area a mass slaughter of the park’s wildlife began, which wiped out the park’s rhino population and decimated game populations heavily. This trend was stopped in the early nineties and today wildlife has visibly recovered. Nowadays it’s easy again to spot elephants, buffalos, lions, kobs, oribis or hartebeests on a game drive. A striking feature of the area is its giraffe herds, which sometimes number 30 or more, something you find rarely elsewhere in Africa. Stay on the north side of the Victoria Nile, as there is very little wildlife south of the river! If the area remains stable politically and the park continues to recover, it has enormous potential to become a very popular tourist destination once again.
 

All travellers heading to Murchison Falls from Kampala must drive at first to Masindi, which lies about 215km north of the capital. From Masindi it’s another 85km on a mud road to the park entrance gate. This road can become quite slippery after rain and accidents happen regularly. For me it was an adventure to get there, because I had two flat tyres and only one spare wheel (stupid amateur J). Luckily a big military pick up truck passed the way and loaded my four by four on the cargo area. The Paraa area is considered safe today and even locals don’t have any compunctions to visit the Pakuba area. The areas further north are still not open to the public, so check the latest security situation in Kampala before setting off.