Wild Route Trips

Uganda

Murchison Falls

The whole Nile, through a gap you could jump across.

See the journeys

Why Murchison

Most people photograph the falls
from the wrong place.

The Victoria Nile is 50 metres wide above the falls. At the falls it is forced through a cleft seven metres across and drops 43 metres. You hear it a long time before you see it, and you feel it through the rock.

There are two ways to see Murchison and the trip only works if you do both. The boat comes up the Nile from Paraa to the base of the falls, through water thick with hippo and crocodile, and stops where the spray starts. From there the falls are a wall of white above you.

Then you walk up the side of them to the top, which takes about 45 minutes, and stand at the gap itself. Seven metres. The entire river. It is the single most physical piece of landscape in the country and the photographs do not carry it.

The park is also Uganda's largest at 3,840 square kilometres, and the northern bank is proper savanna: Rothschild's giraffe in numbers you will not see elsewhere, elephant, lion, and the Albert delta for shoebill, which is the bird every serious birder comes to Uganda for.

Need to know
Known forRothschild's giraffe, elephant, lion, Nile crocodile, shoebill
Best monthsDecember to February, June to September
Quietest monthsApril, May, November
Time neededTwo nights
Getting there5 hours from Kampala, or fly to Pakuba
AltitudeAround 700 metres
Plan a trip here
Where to go

The places worth the drive

Three hours, upstream

The boat to the falls

From Paraa to the foot of the falls and back, past hippo, crocodile and elephant coming down to drink.

Afternoon departures put the light behind you on the way up.

A 45 minute walk

The top of the falls

Up the gorge from the boat landing to stand beside the gap itself. Loud, wet, and the reason to come.

Done as a one-way walk with the vehicle meeting you at the top.

Savanna game drives

The northern bank

Open grassland for Rothschild's giraffe, elephant, buffalo, lion and the Ugandan kob.

Early morning is the only time worth doing it.

Shoebill

The Albert delta

Where the Nile enters Lake Albert, in papyrus. The most reliable shoebill stork sighting in Uganda.

A separate, slower boat, and a dawn start.

When to go

The year in Murchison Falls

June to September

The long dry season

Firm trails, short grass and predictable roads. The busiest stretch of the year and the easiest walking.

Gorilla permits for these months sell out first, so they are booked before flights rather than after.

October and November

The short rains

Rain arrives in the afternoon and rarely lasts the day. Green country, few vehicles.

November carries the USD 600 gorilla permit. If your dates move, this is the best value in the calendar.

December to February

The second dry season

Hot and clear. Busy over Christmas and the new year, then quiet through January and February.

February is the driest month in the south and the strongest window for the Rwenzori.

March to May

The long rains

The wettest stretch. Harder underfoot, some northern tracks go difficult, a few lodges close.

April and May carry the USD 600 permit, birding peaks, and you will have the forest very nearly to yourself.

Before you go

What we tell everyone about Murchison

01
Do the boat and the top of the falls on the same afternoon. Boat up, walk out at the top, vehicle meets you. Doing them on separate days wastes half a day and splits the one experience in two.
02
The shoebill boat is a different trip from the falls boat, leaves earlier and goes the other way. If the shoebill matters to you, say so when the itinerary is being built rather than on the morning.
03
The ferry at Paraa runs to a timetable and crossing between banks costs you an hour if you miss it. It shapes how the days are ordered.
04
Five hours from Kampala, and the road is good. Flying to Pakuba saves most of a day each way if the trip is short.
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