Murchison Falls National Park Game Drive

Murchison Falls National Park is Uganda’s largest protected area, with the Victoria Nile running through the park. The Victoria Nile is an awesome sight and as it weaves its way through the park, it creates the stunning Murchison Falls. The park is located in the northwest of the country, about 300km from Kampala and is easily reached by road. On the way to the park we stopped for a short hike along the ridge of the hills bordering the falls. The path was rocky and it was literally like a sauna. Our driver claimed that the rock did not absorb the sun, thus reflecting it back and creating the sauna-like environment. The view was beautiful though the heat was unbearable.

View of the Victoria Nile as it winds through the hills.

Murchison Falls! The falls on the left hand side of the frame apparently dry up in the dry season. 

Our driver, looking downriver. 

Some English guy navigating around at the head of the falls. The concrete block in the right side of the picture is the remnants of a bridge. 

We continued through the park and had a pretty nice game drive. As we passed through the open landscape, I realized that I was no longer as thrilled as I once was to “go on safari.” I was certainly enjoying myself and I enjoy viewing animals, but the whole excitement of seeing specific animals didn’t appeal to me. There were some people with us that were hell bent on seeing lions (we didn’t see any) and I thought how ridiculous it seemed to me. The game drive would maybe stop for 10 minutes maximum to view the animals. It’s almost as if people simply want to say “I saw wild elephants” but for me it seemed cheap and distracted me from appreciating the overall landscape. The parks that I have visited are beautiful places, whether you see animals or not. And sure, it’s fun to see animals in their natural habitat but the short viewing time frustrates me. I’m much more interested in watching an animal for a prolonged period of time. Still, this is just personal opinion and I enjoyed the game drive nonetheless. Plus, I was blown away by seeing a giraffe run, something that was certainly a near psychedelic experience. I’ll let the pictures do the talking regarding the content of the drive!

Elephants grazing on some grass. 

The overall landscape of the north of the park. This view is facing south. 

I think these are Oribi, though I'm not sure. 

Wildlife in the fore, and background, of this picture. 

All those little dots in the pond are hippos!

Slender billed storks. Awesome beaks. 

Marakite king fisher, once again, my favorite family of birds. 

Landscape of the park facing north. 

Giraffes grazing. 

A large group of giraffes.

Elephant and palm tree. Elephants love to eat this species of palm, as do villagers (see blog entry: Mystery Fruit) and they will plant them via their feces (as seen in the background of this picture).