The Nile, Uganda's Largest Park

As the River Nile meanders its way nearly 300 kilometers north from Jinja it reaches a tiny gorge, just seven meters wide, where the massive volume of water cascades 45 meters down to the rocks below.  This is the famous Murchison Falls, the focal point of the national park.

Murchison Falls occupies more than 1500 square miles   of grassy savanna on the banks of the Victoria Nile.  There, the fast moving young river is funneled through a 20 foot fissure in the African bedrock, to plunge 150 vertical feet in the celebrated Murchison Falls.  After its awesome drop, the river continues to its junction with Lake Albert, from which it immediately exits northward and is re-christened the Albert Nile. 

Murchison Falls National Park was once one of Africa's premier wildlife paradises.  Its plains were well stocked with elephant, white rhino, Uganda kob, oribi, Rothschild's giraffe, and Jackson's hartebeest.  But the glory of the park was the animal life on the Nile itself.  Boats carried visitors on a 7-mile journey to the foot of the falls, passing hundreds of hippos and monster crocodiles on route.

Today elephants are rare and rhinos are gone, but the aquatic animals and small game are recouping their numbers.  The Nile boats still operate and the ride is as thrilling as ever.