Murchison Falls National Park is one of the oldest and largest National Park measuring 3,840km2. It was initially gazetted as a game reserve in 1926 and later becoming one of Uganda’s first national parks in 1952. It boasts over 76 species of mammals and 451 birds. This park is arguably one of Uganda’s best park with a variety to offer ranging from river cruises along the River Nile to Chimpanzee tracking in the nearby Budongo Forest alongside the game drives within the park on the Savannah grasslands. Wildlife include elephant, lion, Cape buffalo, Rothschild’s giraffe, hartebeest, Oribi, bushbuck, Uganda Kob, Bohor reedbuck, spotted hyena and if lucky you could even spot the leopard amongst others. You can either begin or end your day with a river cruise along the mighty Nile that boasts some of the largest crocodiles in the entire continent. The fit ones or “adventurous ones” can combine the river cruises with a 1.5 hrs hike to the top of the falls for better views of the falls. At Murchison Falls, the Nile squeezes through an 8m wide gorge and plunges with a thunderous roar into the “Devil’s Cauldron”, creating a trademark rainbow
This park has two distinctive parts i.e. the northern section of the park contains savanna and borassus palms, acacia trees and riverine woodland which is an excellent area for game viewing while the south is dominated by woodland and forest patches extending to the Budongo Forest where Chimps tracking takes place.