Murchison Falls National Park

The day we left Gulu we were headed to Murchison Falls National Park, which is a game reserve in the same part of the country.  Most tourists sign up with a tour company and enter and exit the park through the south, which is closer to Kampala.  Since we were north of the park, we decided to find our way to the north entrance.  We knew virtually nothing about the park, but had planned to hire a safari vehicle and driver on Tuesday morning.  We figured it would take someone who knew the park inside and out in order to find the elusive animals. 

Elephant from highway

But the animals weren't so elusive!  Before we even found the north gate, we saw an elephant from the main highway.  What we didn't know at the time was that the northern side of the Victoria Nile (which bisects the park) is where all of the large game animals are.  As we drove through the park, we didn't see another car or person for miles and miles, but we did see elephant, giraffe, warthog, and several varieties of large and small antelope.

Since we were in a small Honda CRV with tinted windows and one window that doesn’t roll down, the kids decided to crawl out the windows and sit on the door frame to be able to see better.  At one point I heard Mary yell, “I was born to do this!!!”  I think we all felt that way.

Mary and Sam in their "safari" vehicle

At one point we tried to count the number of giraffe we saw in a group in a small valley.  The count ranged from fifteen to eighteen!  One of the most surprising things was that we were the only car in the whole place.  And there definitely weren’t any fences!  Just dirt roads and the African animals.

Murchison Falls from the Nile

We got to the ferry launch with a few minutes to spare before an afternoon boat ride to the base of the falls for which the park was named.  It was a fairly small, rickety boat, but it got the job done.  The ride to the falls took a little over an hour, and along the way we passed a huge bull elephant on the river bank; many, many, many hippos; crocodiles; several cape buffalo; many beautiful birds; and at least one crocodile sunning itself on a rock.  

Dave getting all the info he can

After taking the ferry across the river at sunset, we arrived at our “lodge” just up the hill from the river.  The Red Chilli Hideaway is a quaint mixture of tents and bandas, which are just small huts that sleep anywhere from two to five people.  Because Kathleen is so cheap, we booked two bandas with two twin beds in each, and Kathleen planned to sleep with Joe.  

Dinner at Red Chilli Hideaway

Joe washing his face and not looking forward to sharing that bed with Kathleen

They have a great open-air restaurant that overlooks the river.  We had a fantastic meal and went to work getting ready for bed.  We all remarked at the stunning beauty of the stars. It has been a long time since any of us were so far from light pollution.  The fireflies were a nice touch, too.  At one point Joe wanted to light the candle in our banda, so he took a flashlight and bravely went out into the dark to get the matches from Dave and Sam.  Within a minute he ran back into our room, quickly shut the door behind him, and whispered, “There’s a hippo right outside the door!”  He must have thought if he said it too loudly the hippo might have charged the door, although it wouldn’t have fit in the entire banda!  The hippo, about the size of our minivan, was indeed just munching on grass directly next to the tent that was pitched in front of our two bandas.  We had to convince Dave and Sam that getting up was worth the effort.  When I finally said, “There is a 10-foot-tall hippo out your front door,” they took me seriously.  We watched the hippo until it quietly grazed its way to the other side of the campground.  A little later, when Sam and I went to the bathrooms, we had to dodge not only the hippo but several warthogs as we made our way back to our bandas.  It was a little surreal.

Hippopotamus outside our banda!

After a long and very hot night (electricity for fans turned off at midnight), and after a giant breakfast, we decided to cut our trip a day short since we had already seen all the game in the park (except for a lion) and didn’t see the point of hiring a guide, crossing the river again, and then spending another night.  We left through the south gate, but not before taking a side route to the top of Murchison Falls.  The entire Victoria Nile flows through a few incredibly narrow canyons on its way to Lake Albert.  It is impossible to describe the power of the water being forced through that narrow opening. 

Hopefully the video will do it some justice.

Simply put, it was a fantastic few days.