Murchinson Falls

 Uganda's largest national park protects a chunk of untamed African savannah bisected by the mighty river Nile.

It is named for the dramatic Murchison Falls, where the world's longest river explodes violently through a narrow cleft in the Rift Valley escarpment to plunge into a frothing pool 43m below. Wildlife populations have largely recovered from the poaching of the 1980s; in the lush borassus grassland to the north of the Nile, elephant, buffalo, giraffe and a variety of antelope are regularly encountered on game drives, while lion are seen with increasing frequency.

In the southeast, Rabongo Forest is home to chimps and other rainforest creatures.

The Nile itself hosts one of Africa's densest hippo and crocodile populations, and a dazzling variety of water birds including the world's most accessible wild population of the rare shoebill stork.

SIZE:
3840 sq km

LOCATION:
In the northwest, approximately 90km from Masindi

WHAT TO DO:
Regular to the base of the falls offer fine and. Boat trips to the Lake Albert delta provide the best chance in Africa of sighting shoebills.
at Rabongo Forest, and en route from Masindi in the Budongo Forest. on a good network of roads.
WHEN TO VISIT:
Any time of year.