Murchison Falls National Park

Murchison Falls National Park: Wishing I was back there...

There is one very visceral feeling from my time in Murchison that I hope never leaves me...we were maybe 40 minutes into our game drive through the wildlife reserve having already seen a number of giraffes and , the sun was on it's way to being fully up, but there was still a hint of the pinkish orange sky that enveloped us as the sun rose earlier that morning. The rest of my group had taken their seats again in our pop-up top van as our most excellent guide, Park Ranger Patricia was explaining we were heading to a different area of the reserve, in search of the big 5...it was a rare quiet moment with my normally chatty group (they were all friends/colleagues). I stood up, bracing myself against the side of the pop-up and with a clear view in all directions, saw that there was not another soul on the red dirt road ahead and no one coming behind us, the wind was blowing in my face and in the moment I felt like I was in a different world...

As you will see, I have given Uganda as a safari destination an "Excellent" rating.
While I do not have a frame of reference as this has been my only safari, it was everything I hoped for even in my most wistful imagination moments.

Wild Life:
On our game drive we saw 3 of the big 5...including a male and female lion...only the leopard eluded us, and as we were in north of the river, Rhinos are not found in the area we were in, and unfortunately my groups travel plans did not allow for another day of game driving on the reserve. There were numerous giraffes which were my personal favourite with their graceful necks and gentle eyes. Buffalos, Elephants and Hippos were also plentiful. Though part of being in Uganda for me was to disconnect from technology - it has its purpose...the drive was most exciting when our Ranger got a call on her cellphone of a lion spotted. Our great driver told us to hold tight as we took off to try and get a siting of the lions. We were very fortunate to come upon the lion pair after they had just mated (!) and made their way across about 100m open field to a thatch where they hid out and relaxed, post, ah coupling. There were also many other types of wildlife, the beautiful Ugandan Kob, the tini, very cute Oribi, the mighty looking waterbucks, slightly strange looking Jacklope as the Ugandans called them (aka Jackson's Hartebeest), warthogs, baby crocodiles were spotted as well as

Scenery:
From the view of the Nile Delta as we made our way through the park to our rest camp, to the sunrise as we completed our ferry crossing at Paraa to start the game drive, to the vistas across the wildlife reserve, the scenery was serene and breathtaking.

Weather:
Unbeatable - I don't know if we were just extraordinarily lucky, but the only time it rained was as we were driving from Masindi and as we entered the park in the late afternoon the day prior to our morning game drive. We were treated to a lightening show in the afternoon off in the distance over the river delta, and later again that night the lightening was off in the distance over the river. The days were sunny and warm but not too hot (coming from a Canadian), the nights were comfortable. I would say you need long pants and a light sweater at night and for the early part of the game drive as you will likely start just before or around sunrise.

Accommodation and Food:
We stayed at the Red Chilli Rest Camp approximately 70km inside the park from the Kichubanyobo entrance gate. The rest camp was staff were very friendly and welcoming, our group stayed in the Rest Camp tents which were also very comfortable. They were the heavy canvas army style tents, 2 regular twin sized beds were in each tent. There were also Yerts (fixed structures) available, or if you are prepared to camp, they provide a camping area to pitch your own tent. The food was also very good, while I do not have a picky palate and enjoyed more local authentic Ugandan cuisine, the Red Chilli does cater to a more westernized palate, you certainly will not go hungry as portions are usually quite large. And if you enjoy good coffee, make sure you try the "filtered African coffee" at some point, somewhere in Uganda, they have excellent coffee. (You must specify filtered coffee or they will give you regular instant coffee). Food prices were very reasonable and there was a good selection of beverages and beer!
There were clean, well kept, bathrooms with regular flush toilets and sinks as well as showers if you needed. Make sure you bring a flashlight or miner's headlight for night time. At the Red Chilli Rest camp, due to it's proximity to the river, Hippos come up and graze on the grass at the camp at night - so you need to be careful if you are making any night time bathroom trips. Baboons and warthogs are around during the day, so do not leave any food in your tent!

Important note - the Red Chilli rest camp has a charging station where you can plug in your various electronics and/or charges - i.e. camera, lap tops etc. Power can be an issue in Uganda as it seems a lot work is being done on their power systems so there are periods of power shedding/blackouts. When the Red Chilli had to switch to generator usually the charging station is off, but it is good to know, as I was worried about keeping my camera batteries charged after a long day of shooting on the game drive.

Transportation:
We were fortunate to travel in a pop up top mini van, this was perfect for the game drive, the side windows opened wide so for the photographers out there you had options to get good shots from all sides of the vehicle. As we were out on our drive, it was clear the limitation for others who may have been in a jeep type vehicle such as a Land/Range Rover with no open top capability, as you cannot get out of your vehicle on the reserve for obvious reasons (except one designated area at the river where hippos were resting) if you are not in a pop-up top vehicle, you will definitely be limited in photographic opportunities. Our vehicle was comfortable and we had a great driver, Phineus who seemed just as knowledgeable about the park as the ranger who accompanied us . He made sure to remind us to be up and ready early so that we could be first on the first ferry out of Paraa, as there were a number of vehicles and the ferry can only hold so many, late comers have no choice but to start their game drive later and of course there tends to be more animal movement earlier in the morning. The Red Chilli happens to be quite close to the crossing at Paraa.


Other Highlights:
We also took a boat tour on the White Nile with Nile River Tours (I think-hope that is the name of the operator). At any rate there were of course big boats, however, our group of ten preferred the smaller boats, easier to get closer to the shore and see the wildlife from that perspective. Our group was divided 8 of us were in one boat, and 2 paired up with another foursome in a smaller boat of 6. Our river guide was excellent, knowledgeable, funny and interesting. He was able to not only talk about the wildlife but the geography and history of the park and the immediate area. The boat left from just south of the Paraa ferry dock, travelled up the river to Murchison Falls and then back down again. The trip was about 2-2.5 hours, it could have gone on longer, I would not have minded, though there were not bathrooms on board so, my bladder may have eventually complained.

The boat tour was fantastic and I would highly recommend it, especially if you are a photographer, amateur or professional - but as I said, try getting on a smaller boat. I was able to get some fantastic shots. There were a couple of huge herds of elephants that came down to the river to drink, buffalos as well and in the smaller boat we could get quite close to the shore to get a close look. Though I wasn't fast enough to get a photo, we saw a massive crocodile take down a baby hippo on the river bank.

Finally, on the morning before our departure, we took a relatively short hike, about an hour total, up the top of Murchison Falls. We drove up to a certain point, it was not a long drive. The hike was not too physically demanding and you have a choice actually to skip the hike and just go straight to the falls. But the path again allowed for some more interesting photo opportunities to shoot down river, where we were on the boat the day before. The path has a steep point, that is short, just make sure to wear sturdy shoes (i.e. no flip flops/thongs), but even those who are less fit can easily do it, just go slowly. Once at the top their is a level foot path that goes along the river canyon that you can follow, they we turn back, the path diverges and we had towards the top of the falls. Be Careful - there aren't really any barriers or fences, so you can essentially walk right up to the edge of the falls - the water is extremely powerful and mesmorizing.

Uganda on a whole was a wonderful experience, the purpose of my trip was in part work/volunteering with an NGO, so I was constrained with how much time I could spend, but I definitely could have spent at least another day on a game drive. Overall, I would have loved to have spent more time in Uganda but alas I had to return to Canada. I would have also been very interested in visiting one of the other parks, to the south east where the zebras and rhinos can be found. I heard wonderful feedback from some of my colleagues who were able to stay longer and head to southwest for some rest and relaxation at Lake Bunyonyi and do some gorilla tracking/trekking in Bwindi NP.
I cannot say it enough, I would go back in a heartbeat.

Great wildlife and sceneries, good accomodation and food, a strong bush vibe.

Excellent safari location!

I visited Murchison Falls National Park in July 2010 for my first safari experience ever. I'm from the U.S. and had never been to Africa, so this was a really fun new experience for me. I stayed at the Paraa Safari Lodge, which was very comfortable: clean rooms, good selection of food (compared to other places in Uganda), and a swimming pool!

The weather was warm, 80-85 degrees, and was a mix of sunny and overcast throughout the five days I was there. I was on the trip with my father, who had a personal friend who was also a guide take us out on the safari. This was nice, because it was just the three of us in the vehicle and we could go out for however long we wished, and stop for whatever my father and I wanted to look at.

The wildlife was beautiful... fifteen minutes into our first drive out we had to stop for a giraffe crossing the road right in front of us. We saw dozens of giraffes, elephants, baboons, water buffalo, hippos, and more. The only popular animal we didn't see was a lion... they are really tricky to spot, considering they are the best predator out there. However, when my brother made the same trip with my father a month later, they saw a lion, so they can be found, you just have to be patient and look!

Overall, it was a fantastic experience. I have hundreds of photos and video footage to keep forever. My tips would be to pack plenty of clean clothes you can sweat in. I completely changed outfits 2-3 times a day from being so covered in dirt, sunscreen, and sweat. Driving out in the bush will get you very dirty. Also, bring long shirts, pants, and bug spray. My father got malaria from a mosquito bite out there and was dangerously ill for weeks. Visit a doctor and get malaria pills to take before this trip!

We had been booked us directly for 3 days in the Paara Safari Lodge on the River Nile. A first class hotel safari that leaves no wish unfulfilled. A few feet away from the hippos, who laugh at night, sometimes funny and jump into the pool. The rooms are decorated in colonial style with fans and mosquito nets over each bed. you can close like curtains around the beds. Power is up by 23 clock in the evening. The food buffet is always fresh, and European. During a 6-hour safari, we have all seen animals including lions up close. The Murchison Falls are worth seeing. Overall, the National Park and the Paara Lodge is highly recommended.

Many animals can be seen here like giraffes, Patas monkeys and lots of smaller bucks. There are some nice lodges to stay at and camping is there also. Be sure to book the boat ride to the falls to see some spectacular bird life and huge crocodiles.

I havent any other experience to compare it to however, this trip met and exceeded all my expectations.

Walking between chimps, floading neur hippo's en crocodiles, leopard in de bushes one meter beside the car, this is all uforgettible.