Murchison Falls National Park in the northwest of Uganda offers some of the best night game drives in the country. A night game drive is the type that is conducted in a safari car in a national park or any other wildlife protected area, starting from dusk to spot nocturnal game in their natural homes. The starting time for a night game drive in Murchison Falls National Park ranges between 6:30 PM and 7:00 PM. This could go on for up to 3 hours.
A night game drive in Murchison Falls National Park is a massively big opportunity to see animals that would otherwise be difficult to see during a day game drive. Some of the animals you will get the privilege to see include the lions, leopards, and hyenas, etc. Though the mentioned are predators, you will also have a chance of seeing some herbivores that are trying their best to evade predation. These include the antelopes and warthogs among others.
Why are night game drives in Murchison Falls National Park unique?
A night game drive costs US$30 per person and you should be sleeping within Murchison Falls National Park to enjoy it. An experienced ranger from Uganda Wildlife Authority is exclusively allowed to guide you for the night game drive in Murchison Falls National Park. These guides have extensive knowledge about the nocturnal life in Murchison Falls National Park. Spotlights are the most important lighting tools for a night game drive in Murchison Falls National Park.
About Murchison Falls National Park?
In 1926, Murchison Falls National Park was first gazetted as a game reserve. Later in 1952, it achieved national park status, making it one of the oldest in Uganda. Currently, Murchison Falls National Park is nestled on around 3,840km2 of land in the Albertine Rift. The Nile River divides Murchison Falls National Park into the Northern and Southern sectors. Majority of the wild animals appear in the Northern sector, where night game drives are done.
Murchison Falls National Park has an altitudinal range of 127m to 1,187m above sea level in the Rift Valley region. Known for its beautiful ecosystem, Murchison Falls National Park has an assortment of habitats. These include savanna grassland and woodland, open water, tropical forest, and wetland, etc.
These various habitats ensure that Murchison Falls National Park shelters a variety of wildlife species. 70 mammal species reside in Murchison Falls National Park and include species like lions, leopards, African elephants, Rothchild’s giraffes, spotted hyenas, waterbucks, bushbucks, Jackson’s hartebeests, reedbucks, warthogs, bushpigs, olive baboons, Uganda kobs, cape buffaloes and hippopotamus etc.
476 bird species reside in Murchison Falls National Park, of which some are rare, endangered, migratory and endemic to the Albertine Rift. Some of the iconic birds in Murchison Falls National Park include Abyssinian Ground hornbill, yellow wagtail, saddle-billed stork, Pel’s fishing owl, shoebill stork, Abdim’s stork, great egret, grey heron, African darter, grey crowned crane, African skimmer, white-backed vulture, lesser jacana and pied kingfisher.
How to reach Murchison Falls National Park for a night game drive?
Murchison Falls National Park is accessible whether you are using road or air transport. By road, Standard Safaris recommends that you use the Kampala-Gulu highway towards the northwest from Uganda’s capital. You will branch off to Masindi and enter through the gate entrance at the park headquarters. The overall road distance from Kampala to Murchison Falls National Park is 380km.
For a quick journey to Murchison Falls National Park, air transport is more favorable. Daily flights from Entebbe International Airport to either Pakuba or Chobe Airstrips are offered by AeroLink. These scheduled flights take only an hour and 15 minutes and offer aerial views of Uganda’s beautiful habitats. Booking a ticket is more conveniently done with a reputable tour company like Standard Safaris.
Best time to travel to Murchison Falls National Park for a game drive?
On any day of the year, even during public holidays, you can enjoy a night game drive in Murchison Falls National Park. But, since Murchison Falls National Park experiences both wet and dry seasons, we at Standard Safaris highly recommend that you travel in the latter season. The game tracks inside and access roads to the park are relatively dry. This makes the movement of your safari car easier since muddy or slippery road conditions are avoided.
Vegetation cover is also sparse during the dry season since precipitation is too low to facilitate the development of most vegetation species. This situation offers better visibility in Murchison Falls National Park, even at night. You will therefore most likely see the nocturnal wildlife species. Another thing is that the dry season is characterised by low chances of rainfall. This offers a non-stop night game drive in Murchison Falls National Park.
Dry seasons in Murchison Falls National Park occur during the months of June to August and also December and February. The dry season is characterized by high temperatures and dry conditions. Average reading on the thermometer is around 31oC. The sky is mostly clear during the dry season in Murchison Falls National Park.
