Murchison Falls National Park

Pros & Cons

• Top wildlife viewing
• Very scenic park with East Africa's most spectacular waterfall
• One of the few places to find the shoebill
• Boat trip to the falls and the Lake Albert delta available
• A long drive from Kampala and far away from the other parks
• Some roads may become impassable during the Wet season
• Some areas have high densities of tsetse fly

Wildlife

Four of the Big Five can be seen, but rhino are absent. Huge herds of elephant and buffalo are common, and lion are quite easily spotted. Antelope include Jackson's hartebeest, waterbuck and Uganda kob. Large herds of Rothschild's giraffe are a specialty. Chimpanzee and several other primates can be tracked in Budongo Forest, in the south of the greater Murchison Falls Conservation Area.

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Scenery

The park is divided by the very scenic Victoria Nile. A boat trip takes you to the base of the Murchison Falls where you can see the Nile squeezing through a narrow gorge before dropping down into the ‘Devil's Cauldron’. North of the river is a savannah habitat that's dominated by grassland and dotted with borassus palms. South of the river, the habitat changes to woodland with forest patches.

Weather & Climate

Murchison Falls has a consistently hot climate. The minimal variation in temperature is due to the park’s equatorial setting. It does, however, get noticeably hotter during the relatively brief Dry season (December to February). Light rain is usual in the Wet season (March to November), with the occasional storm blowing through. Temperatures are also affected by the wide variation in altitude across the park.

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Best Time To Visit

Wildlife spotting is easiest in the Dry season (December to February), when animals congregate at waterholes and there’s little undergrowth for them to hide in. But bring a broad-brim hat and plenty of sunscreen to ward off the fierce sunshine. Most visitors tend to go in search of lions, elephants and other animals from June to September, when it’s cooler and the rain isn’t that bothersome.

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