Murchison Falls

We had been given the tip to stay at Murchison River Lodge (MRL) just outside Murchison Falls National Park. And it was a very good tip. This lovely lodge is situated directly on the Victoria Nile, it is filled with bird life and you can watch the game in the National Park on the opposite side of the Nile River, while having a couple of beers at the bar.

We felt so comfortable here we ended up staying for five nights and loved every minute of it, whether we were enjoying the view of the Nile, or relaxing at the pool.

Here we also got our first glimpse of the infamous “Piet-My-Vrou”, or Red-Chested Cukoo, which is notoriously difficult to spot. Just to make it worse (or better) this specific pair of Piet-My-Vrou’s were always out in the open, posing beautifully for us and our cameras.

While enjoying a drink at the bar, Chris (the owner of MRL), made sure that we were going to go into the park itself, as we were at that point still weighing up the cost of entering and staying in the park, or saving that money for another day and bypassing the park. Thanks to Chris’ support, we decided to pay up and spend a few days in the Murchison Falls National Park.

So after saying our goodbyes to another great place we headed off to the park. Our plan was to camp at the “Top of the Falls”, and to spend our first night in the park right next to the incredible Murchison Falls.

Although the falls drop a mere 40m, the real mind boggler is that 300m³ a second are forced through a 7m wide gap and that the entire (!) Nile then pommels through 60m of a narrow gorge before becoming once again the deceptively slow moving Nile. Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe/Zambia left us awestruck and amazed by its beauty, but Murchison Falls made the knees quiver with the amount of power thundering below. An amazing sight and you literally cannot close your mouth when first confronted with their full intensity.

Camping next to the falls, we were permanently surrounded by the sound of the crashing water in the background, and thus decided to have a relatively quiet sundowner further downriver. Off we went at dusk (armed with our drinks) to look for the Bat Hawk, but unfortunately saw none. Just knowing they are there is a very pleasing thought though.

The next morning after one last view of the falls, we headed for the northern bank of the Nile via the Parra Ferry. In this northern section of the park is the delta, which is formed by the Victoria Nile flowing into Lake Albert and the Albert Nile flowing back out again. This northern section of the park holds most of the water and thus the game, making it ideal for bird and game viewing.

Shortly after arriving at our campsite we spotted a Shoebill right in front of our camp, which overlooks the Nile. What a special place! We continued on a game drive and took some spectacular photos of the amazing scenery. Without really trying, we racked up our bird count and even stumbled across the Abyssinian Ground Hornbill. The drive through the delta was great and before we knew it, we had spent six hours in the car.

We spent another two nights in the same River Camp, enjoying spectacular sunsets over the Nile with the customary sundowners. Each morning we were woken by the sunrise and the hippos and each day found that the Shoebill was still there, waiting for us. 🙂

Thank you again to Chris for talking us into going and making sure that we knew what we’d be missing! We would all love to do it again!