Murchison Falls NP
For my last month end off I joined a group heading to Murchison Falls National Park in the Northwest area of Uganda. The group consisted of 5 of the girls, one of the girl’s parents, and me. Needless to say, it was a different group dynamic than I am used to. Overall the trip was very good with lots of interesting animals and scenery. Murchison Falls is located on the Nile River just upstream of Lake Albert. The park is the largest in the country and encompasses the end of the Victoria Nile entering Lake Albert and the start of the Albert Nile exiting Lake Albert. Most of the game we saw in the area between the two parts of the river and around the delta of the Victoria Nile. We also had a boat cruise up the Victoria Nile to the bottom of Murchison Falls. The entire Nile River is squeezed through a 6 meter wide gap and, although it doesn’t drop a huge distance, is quite an impressive sight mainly for the power exacted by it.
Our trip started Friday with a bus ride to Kampala where we spent the night. The Last King of Scotland just opened in Kampala so I got a chance to watch it. It’s quite a movie, all the more interesting being in the country. Being that it was filmed here, and ignoring the main plot of the movie, the movie gives a pretty good impression of modern Uganda. The movie itself is amazing primarily because it is quite realistic as far as my knowledge of the history is concerned. Anyways, back on topic, Saturday was spent driving to the park. Sunday morning was a game drive and Sunday afternoon was the boat cruise. Monday morning we did a short hike to the top of the falls before returning to Kampala. Tuesday morning we were back on the bus to Mbarara and back to the camp in the afternoon. A lot of road travel but worthwhile. It is amazing but we have less than 3 weeks left before we are finished our terms here.
There is a family of warthogs living around the camp where we stayed
We saw a leopard which was pretty cool. Generally hard to see I think. This was the final animal of the big 5 for me to see
(Photo: Melanie)
A lion couple
We spooked this hippo and got to watch it run off in panic
Lots of elephant up close
A large lizard
A giraffe in the distance
One of the guides
A buffalo at the edge of the river
A crocodile on the bank
We saw an incredible number of hippos in the river
Lots of crocodiles just below the falls
The falls viewed from the boat cruise
The top of the falls. It is incredible how close they let you go to such a dangerous place
Our trip started Friday with a bus ride to Kampala where we spent the night. The Last King of Scotland just opened in Kampala so I got a chance to watch it. It’s quite a movie, all the more interesting being in the country. Being that it was filmed here, and ignoring the main plot of the movie, the movie gives a pretty good impression of modern Uganda. The movie itself is amazing primarily because it is quite realistic as far as my knowledge of the history is concerned. Anyways, back on topic, Saturday was spent driving to the park. Sunday morning was a game drive and Sunday afternoon was the boat cruise. Monday morning we did a short hike to the top of the falls before returning to Kampala. Tuesday morning we were back on the bus to Mbarara and back to the camp in the afternoon. A lot of road travel but worthwhile. It is amazing but we have less than 3 weeks left before we are finished our terms here.
There is a family of warthogs living around the camp where we stayed
We saw a leopard which was pretty cool. Generally hard to see I think. This was the final animal of the big 5 for me to see(Photo: Melanie)
A lion couple
We spooked this hippo and got to watch it run off in panic
Lots of elephant up close
A large lizard
A giraffe in the distance
One of the guides
A buffalo at the edge of the river
A crocodile on the bank
We saw an incredible number of hippos in the river
Lots of crocodiles just below the falls
The top of the falls. It is incredible how close they let you go to such a dangerous place
posted by ryanbuhler at 10:43 AM
1 Comments:
These are amazing photos! I can't wait to hear some of the stories that go with them. Anyways, have fun for the last couple of weeks, and it looks like i will probably be here working, so i'll see you soon!
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