Murchision Falls National Park

Murchison Falls Conservation Area is one of the oldest, and is the largest, protected area (PA) in Uganda. It is comprised of Murchison Falls National Park, Bugungu Wildlife Refuge and Karuma Wildlife Refuge. Currently, the national park itself encompasses 3,893 sq.km. Bugungu Wildlife Refuge (501 sq.km) and Karuma Wildlife Refuge (678 sq.km) are adjacent and act as buffer zones for the park. In addition is Budongo Forest Reserve which overlaps parts of both wildlife reserves, and covers an additional 591 sq.km. This makes a total of 5,663 sq.km of space that is under some level of protection through controlled use. The national park and the two wildlife reserves are managed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) as the Murchison Falls Conservation Area (MFCA) and the Budongo Forest Reserve is managed by the National Forestry Association except where it overlaps with UWA-managed lands.

Between the years of 1907 and 1912, the inhabitants of an area of about 13,000 sq.km were evacuated due to sleeping sickness spread by tse-tse flies. This paved the way for the establishment of the Bunyoro Game Reserve in 1910, which encompassed roughly the area south of the Nile River that is now part of the National Park in Masindi District. In 1928 the boundaries were extended into Gulu District north of the river, and the resulting protected area (PA) became known as the Bunyoro-Gulu Game Reserve. As the human population had already been evacuated due to sleeping sickness, it was possible to establish this game reserve without displacing any of the local people for the sake of the park. In 1932, the Budongo Forest Reserve was established. This became the first commercial logging concession in Uganda, and to date is one of the most intensively studied “working” forests in the world. The boundaries of this forest continued to expand over the next thirty years until they reached the current size of 825 sq.km. Much animosity was created by this process as locals lost land and never quite knew where the boundaries were due to the frequent changes.

In 1952, the British administration established the National Parks Act of Uganda. After forty years of reduced hunting in the Bunyoro-Gulu Game Reserve, the animal populations had expanded to an extent that justified upgrading the reserve, which became Murchison Falls National Park, one of the first two national parks, along with Queen Elizabeth NP. By the mid-1960’s, Murchison Falls had become the premier safari destination in all of East Africa, with over 60,000 visitors per year. - See more at: http://www.ugandawildlife.org/explore-our-parks/parks-by-name-a-z/murchison-falls-national-park#sthash.Lb57Zs6z.dpuf

Murchison National Park information. This information will greatly assist you in your preparations to visit Murchison Falls, finding where to stay, safari companies, map, getting there and so much more

Murchison Falls Conservation Area ( MFCA ) comprises of Murchison Falls National Park, Bugungu and Karuma Falls Wildlife Reserves. This is where the Nile explodes through a narrow gorge and cascades down to become a placid river whose banks are thronged with hippos and crocodiles, waterbucks and buffaloes. The vegetation is characterised by savannah, riverine forest and woodland. Wildlife includes lions, leopards, elephants, giraffes, hartebeests, oribis, Uganda kobs, chimpanzees, and many bird species.

The Murchison Falls, also referred to as the Kabarega Falls, is a waterfall found on the course of the great Nile. It actually breaks the stunning Victoria Nile, that flows across Uganda’s northern region from the vast Lake Victoria to the deep Lake Kyoga and continuing to the northern tip of Lake Albert within the western arm of the great East African Rift. right on the peak of the Murchison Falls, the waters of the Nile force their way through a small slit within the rocks, which is just 7 meters or 23 feet wide, and topples to 43 meters or 141 feet below with a thunderous roar forming a residual water stray that forms a beautiful rainbow; the view is very breathtaking! From here it then continues its westward into the stunning Lake Albert.

The Lake Victoria outlet sends about 300 cubic meters per second or 11,000 ft³/s of water to these falls and all this volumes squeezed through this gorge that is actually less than 10 meters or 30 feet wide.These waterfalls are located within the Murchison National park which was actually named after these eye- catching waterfalls. The park is located in the northern region of the Albertine Rift Valley. This is the area where the huge Bunyoro escarpment joins together into the vast Acholi plains. The park is recognized as one of the best National parks in Uganda and as well it is well visited. In 1926, the park was a game reserve established to shelter the savannah grassland which was pointed out by Winston Church chill in the year 1907 as the grand Kew Gardens together with the wildlife combined on an confined land.

Most of the visitors to this great park often come from various destinations to trek the gorillas within this very country but in another park called Bwindi. If you have more days to visit East Africa, A safari in Tanzania can be combined with Rwanda safari & gorilla trekking. Most safari companies offer packages that include various destinations within the great lakes East African region.