Murchison Falls National Park

Formerly known as Kabalega Falls, Murchison Falls is a movie-like scene of a spectacular waterfall where the White Nile bursts through a narrow rocky gauge and thunderously tumbles down 140 feet (42 meters) into a pool known as “The Devil’s Cauldron” before flowing through Victoria Nile into the tranquil Lake Albert.

The first English explorers Samuel and Florence Baker named Murchison Falls after the president of the, then, Royal Geographical Society, Roderick Murchison. The former rejected local name, Kabalega Falls, is a remnant of the 1970’s Ugandan military officer and former president Idi Amin’s regime. Amin unofficially renamed Murchison Falls to Kabalega Falls in reference to Omukama Kabalega of Bunyoro, the late-19th-century king of Bunyoro Kingdom in Western Uganda.

Murchison Falls encompuses the picturesque surrounding region, that forms the Murchison Falls National Park. Established in 1926, the park is sited in the Albertine Rift Valley’s picturesque northern end and today serves as the oldest and largest reserve of its kind in the nation.

Murchison Falls National Park is made up of Bugungu Wildlife Reserve, and the Karuma Falls Wildlife Reserve and Murchison Falls Conservation Area and is home to more than 70 mammal species and 450 species of birds. The Nile bisects the park into two (Northern & Southern) with its riverbanks dotted with buffalo, hippos, and crocodiles, African elephants, lions, leopards, chimpanzees, and giraffes roam the forests and savannas.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill visited what is now the National Park in 1907, and notably remarked that the landscape reminded him of a wild Kew Gardens which contributed to later referring to Uganda as the “Pearl of Africa. Other visitors of historical significance include Ernest Hemingway, who supposedly crashed a plane near the falls in 1954, and former United States President Theodore Roosevelt. The area also makes an appearance in the 1951 film, The African Queen.

When To Go

Murchison Falls National Park is accessible by car and by plane. The National Park is a popular site for wildlife viewing, hiking, and bird watching. Hot air balloon rides are also offered for an aerial view of the landscape. The park is open year-round, but visits are particularly recommended between January and March, June and late September. Several options for safari are available to prospective visitors.