Country Safaris
Murchison Falls Protected Area (MFPA)
Murchison Falls Protected Area (MFPA) encompasses Murchison Falls National Park (MFNP), Bugungu and Karuma Wildlife Reserves.
MFPA can be gained access to by road. Paraa is a 4½ hours drive from Kampala through Masindi (Kichumbanyobo gate), 2 hours on tarmac and 2½ hours on murram roads. A 4 x 4 is recommended.
There is a ferry at Paraa which operates on schedule. Charter services are also available. At the Top of the Falls, Rabongo Forest, Paraa and delta area, campsites are available.
Toilets or pit latrines/ showers or bathing shelters are provided. Red Chilli Rest Camp is endowed with traditional and self-contained bandas. Nile Safari camp, Sambiya River Lodge and Paraa Safari Lodges avail luxurious accommodation. Obtainable, are meals and beverages. MFNP derives its name from the Murchison Falls where River Nile detonates through a constricted gorge and flows down to become a tranquil river.
The banks of this placid river are a host for bloats of hippos, crocodiles, waterbucks and buffaloes. The vegetation is typified by savannah, riverine forest and woodland. Wildlife takes account of lions, leopards, elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, hartebeests, oribis, Uganda Kob, chimpanzees and bird species including the rare shoebill.
Launch Trips on the Nile
The Launch trip from Paraa to the base of Murchison Falls is one of the places of interest at MFNP. Here, you will see bloats of hippos, crocodiles, buffaloes, waterbucks, and a diversity of birds like herons, cormorants, ducks, bee-eaters, fish eagles, kingfishers, and at times the rare shoebill.
Nature Walks
MFPA offers the opportunity for one to explore the wild on foot and intimately and in silence observe animals, plants and birds.
Trails around the top of the Falls go right up to the water's periphery. One can hike to the top of the falls from the boat landing and get to the constricted gorge through which the river detonates into the falls. Here, campsites, picnic sites and walking safaris are available.
There is a serene Kaniyo Pabidi of natural forest within Budongo Forest Reserve. You can walk beneath mahogany and iron wood trees. The eminent bustle is chimpanzee tracking. Chocolate-backed kingfisher, white-thighed hornbill, puvel's illadopsis and many forest birds are found nowhere in East Africa but in this serene natural forest.The protected area has Rabongo Forest Ecotourism Centre situated in an island of tropical riverine in the southeast.
Primates like black and white colobus monkeys, ed-tailed monkeys, baboons and sporadically chimpanzees are spotted and birds, medicinal plants and trees are identified while exploring the forest with the help of guides. The forest is 1½ hour drive from Paraa and is surrounded by savannah grassland. Picnicking and camping are possible by the Wairingo River.
Sport Fishing
Anglers are granted an exhilarating challenge by the Nile Perch and tiger-fish. River sections above and below the falls make sport fishing sites available. Prior booking is necessary.
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