While at Murchison Falls National Park, your Game Safari will be a memorable one if you got to know these things before entering the park to avoid any disappointments. Murchison Falls National Park became one of Uganda’s national parks in 1962 and is size 3840 sq km which makes it the biggest.
The northern section of the park contains savannah and Borassus palms, acacia trees, and riverine woodland. The south is dominated by woodland & forest patches.
There are a number of routes that can be used to reach the Nile at Paraa at the heart of the Murchison fall conservation area. You will have to use a ferry to cross the river which runs at intervals throughout the day.
The Best time to visit Murchison falls national park would be during the dry seasons from December to Late February and from June to September because the animals congregate around the water bodies making them easier to observe.
Visiting Murchison Falls National Park
These are some five things you should know before visiting the park or while you are already there;
1. Drive carefully
Driving at a higher speed for instance 100 km/hr is dangerous in the park as you could encounter a blind road corner and maybe meet some of the animals crossing the road and you end up causing an accident. But at a controlled speed of 40km/hr, you are able to avoid knocking dead these animals or killing yourself.
2. Keep on Track
While at Murchison, consider your impact on the environment. The park authorities have designed a number of game drive tracks that are already at the carrying capacity of this place.
When we are off track, we put more pressure on the already fragile environment. It is therefore our obligation as visitors to abide by the park’s restrictions of driving along existing tracks only, avoiding off-tracking.
3. Take nothing but photos
When we carelessly dispose of trash along roads, campsites & lodges, animals such as baboons, warthogs, elephants & buffaloes tend to pick up such trash and eat them. In the case of plastic materials, they get stuck along with their digestive system, often resulting in the death of the animal. Thus it’s our obligation as park users to avoid littering.
4. Keep the wildlife wild
Feeding wildlife on human food in a national park is one of the worse games we can play. When such animals get used to such foods they really become a nuisance.
Elephants, Baboons, velvet monkeys, and mongooses tend to break into tents, cars, and hotels to look for yellow bananas, mangoes, or biscuits when they are used to them. It is therefore everyone’s obligation not to feed any animal at any time.
5. Keep a respectful distance
All the wildlife in Murchison Falls National Park is wild and potentially dangerous. For your own safety, never harass, provoke, or get too close to them, especially when taking photos.
Remember, we enter national parks at our own risk, the above guidelines are there for you to enhance your enjoyment of Murchison Falls National Park while protecting its flora and fauna while minding your safety too.
