Game Drive in Murchison Falls National Park
There is no complete safari without a game drive in Murchison Falls National Park, which is one of the top tourist activities that allows visitors to fully explore the park. This most visited and biggest park in the country, situated in the northwestern region of Uganda, covering an area of 3480 square kilometres. The River Nile bisects it into the southern and the northern banks. Murchison Falls National Park has diverse ecosystems, including woodlands, savannah grasslands, and riverine tropical forests that provide a habitat to various wildlife species.
It hosts over 144 mammal species, including the four members of the big five: elephant, leopard, lion and buffalo, 453 bird species, including migratory birds, forest birds and aquatic birds. The game drives are mostly done in the northern sector due to the high concentration of lions, elephants, leopards and antelopes which they feed on. There are well-maintained game tracks which are used for game drives in the park such as Buligi track, which is the most commonly used track, Pakuba track, Victoria track, Queen’s track, Chobe track, Tebita track, among others, which all provide a unique and memorable game drive safari experience.
Game Drive Experience in Murchison Falls National Park.
A game drive in Murchison Falls National Park is a guided activity led by a knowledgeable park guide who gives more information about the park’s inhabitants that you may encounter. There are three sessions of the game drive: the morning game drive which allows visitors to see lions wandering around with prey, antelopes hiding from predators, the evening game drive which gives a chance to see animals preparing to rest and the night game drive, which allows visitors to see nocturnal animals such as Leopards, Hyenas, bush babies, civets, and porcupines, which rest during day and are active at night. You will have a chance to see Leopards looking for prey, which is such a unique experience.
All game drives provide unique and memorable experiences, as bird lovers will call the park a paradise for bird watching, and they will spot various birds like Hornbill, Black and white Casqued Hornbill, Narina Trogon, African Dwarf Kingfisher, Blue-Blue-breasted Kingfisher, Chestnut Wattle-eye, among others. The pack has tracks, which are used for game drive, Pakuba track, Victoria track, and Chobe track, that provide a clear view of the savannah grasslands and various wildlife species such as Rothschild’s Giraffe, Oribi, Waterbuck, Olive Baboon, Patrol Monkeys, Vervet Monkeys, Giant Forest Hog, Side-striped Jackal, Aardvark, Serval Cats, Lions, Elephants, Leopard, Warthog, Uganda Kobs, Common Duiker among other species.
Best Time to do Game Drive
A game drive in Murchison Falls National Park can be done year-round, and the best time depends on the visitor’s preferences. The park experiences two seasons: the dry season and the wet season. The dry season runs from June to September and from December to February. During this season, the park experiences little to no rainfall, and the tracks are dry, making it easy to penetrate the park. The vegetation is short, which provides a clear view of the wildlife species and allows visitors to take clear pictures. However, visitors can do game drives during the wet season, which runs from March to May and October to November, which is characterised by heavy rainfall, dense vegetation cover, muddy and slippery tracks, making it challenging to penetrate into the park. This season favours budget travellers as lodges and Caracal Explorers give discounts to tourists during this period.
How to Access Murchison Falls National Park.
Murchison Falls National Park can be accessed by using both road and air transport. By road transport, it’s about 306 kilometres from Kampala to Masindi district, which is about a 5-6-hour scenic drive via the Kampala- Gulu highway to the park entrance in Masindi. By air transport, you will use a domestic flight from either Kajjansi Airstrip or Entebbe International Airport to Pakuba Airstrip, which is located within the park. This is the quickest way to reach the park and it takes about 1: 30 hours, which favours clients who don’t want to sit for long hours.
