Murchison Falls National Park

Hey there,

A friend of mine is soon leaving the country and we decided to check out a national park together. It was too late to go for Easter so we opted to go the weekend after. We got lucky and a friend of mine had similar plans with her boyfriend so we hitched together and planned a trip to the Murchison National Park. As the person familiar with driving a car on the left, I was the elected driver with potential help outside the madness of Kampala traffic.

I managed to get Friday off so half of us ate breakfast together while we were waiting for our car. We headed out of Kampala at 12.32 to avoid the afternoon traffic. There was still a bunch of cars on the road but luckily, the Gulu road is the newest in Uganda. With a little interaction with the police (about potential speeding) we managed to arrive at the main/south gate of the park within 4 h 33 min. The park gates close at 6 pm and the last ferry over the Nile within the park is at 7 pm.

The Nile is between us and the light in the horizon 

Due to preferences, we stayed at two different camps; one on the south side of the river and one on the north. I feel that they don’t really explain the ferry and the sides well online so let me fix that situation and hope that it will be clear to others in the future; The park is currently undergoing a lot of changes due to oil that they have found on the delta and are planning on pulling up in the next few years. The road from the south gate is fully under construction and in a badish shape. There are pretty much zero animals on the south side even though most of the lodges are on that side. Dut to the oil being in the north, they are now relocating some of the animals to the south but besides owls, baboons, rabbits and a fox, there was nothing to see. The ferry is publically managed, costs 20 000 UGX per car and a driver and takes about 5 min. The ‘issue’ is that the ferry starts working at 7 am in the morning and runs for the next 12 h once every two hours (with lunchtime exceptions) and can only take eight cars at a time. Which means that 1) you cannot do a sunrise or set game drive unless you stay on the north side of the river (read: you won’t see a lion or a leopard) 2) if you are not there early enough, you must wait an hour or two for the next ferry and 3) the boat cruise bookings and departures are mainly on the north side.

On the ferry. 

Now that that is sorted, let me tell you about our wonderful trip. We settled in on Friday night and watched the sunset by a bonfire in our camp. The camps are famous for having hippos run through at night but sadly, we didn’t see any there. I know hippos are super dangerous but I also think they are pretty awesome. In the morning, we watched the sunrise and headed for the first ferry. There were huge hippo footprints all over the roads. As we united with our friends on the other side, we hired a guide to come with us to the park (20 USD/ 75 000 UGX per car). This is not compulsory, unlike some camps try to advertise, but will increase your chances of seeing a lion. We got really lucky and a male lion called Tony happened to be wandering far from his usual territory and walked right past our car as we started our journey. We spent the morning driving around the park spotting numerous giraffes, elephants, buffalos and antelopes as well as hundreds of amazing bird. Sadly, Tony was our only lion sighting.

We enjoyed lunchtime at my friends’ pool followed by a three-hour afternoon cruise up the Nile to the actual 70 m Murchison Waterfalls. The boat cannot get right up to the falls but the view is amazing and on the way up, we saw thousands of hippos and three crocodiles. Did you know that crocodiles chill with their mouth wide open after they eat in order to warm up their body to digest the food? And that hippos can dive up to seven minutes but some of their fights can take place underwater for 45 minutes? The boat cruise was followed by a loop around the place we saw Tony before in hopes of another glance which never happened and then we were forced to go catch our ferry.

The best thing about staying on the south side of the river is that the falls are actually located/ only accessible from the south. We woke up at 4.50 am on Sunday morning and drove a real dirt road for an hour to reach a parking lot at the back of the falls. We didn’t see any hippos there but other lovely nigh animals such as foxes. It is also possible to hike the falls but only from the boat cruise and then you must organise someone to come pick you up from the top of the falls. The parking lot was a little confusing in the dark but we managed to find a ‘path’ and followed the sound of the rushing water. At first, it was a little like ‘this is it?’ but as we climbed higher and the sun rose. Yeah, totally worth everything and more. It is definitely wet up there which is nice and refreshing and the shower is surprisingly warm. The drive back was much swifter and we were on time to catch breakfast and a ferry.

Since some of the tour companies had the eastern gate and Karuma falls on their itinerary, we decided to follow a path on the northern shore to exit from the east from Chobe gate while seeing some more animals on the way. After a while, we saw the sign of Chobe gate 73 km and proceeded. I was informed that the drive should be maybe two hours to the gate. The views were amazing and the land completely untouched. We didn’t see any other cars but multiple times over the animals we had seen before.

They are so beautiful, right? 

After two and a half hours, we started wondering how long the route actually is. We hadn’t prepared enough petrol for a long trip and the road was in worse condition than the others so we were forced to drive with care. At one point, a tree had fallen in the middle. We got out of the car to lift it but it had rooted in its new position and we had to get creative to get around it. Increasingly, the road looked like very little travelled which was also evident from the animals; plenty and rather curious about the car. At some points, the road had nearly grown shut. With the little worry over the petrol and the complete lack of all phone signal, the situation was definitely interesting. Long story short, we just made it out of the park when the car died in the middle of the Karuma waterfalls. Luckily, it was a public road and we were able to get a boda to drive my friend to a petrol station and back.

Back to Kampala, please. 

All in all, an absolutely fantastic trip!

Best wishes, Mira

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