Location and brief description of the Murchison Falls:
Located in northwestern Uganda, in the heart of Uganda’s oldest and largest national park – Murchison Falls National Park, the spectacular Murchison Falls formerly known as Kabalega Falls is a waterfall between Lake Kyoga and Lake Albert on the Victoria Nile in Uganda.
This is the greatest waterfall on the world’s longest River, Nile River. At the top of Murchison Falls, the Nile forces its way through a gap in the rocks, only 7 meters (23 feet) wide, and tumbles 43 meters (141 feet), before flowing westwards into Lake Albert. The Murchison Falls National Park was also named after this eye catching waterfall.
The outlet of Lake Victoria sends around 300 cubic meters per second (11,000 ft³/s) of water over the falls, squeezed into a gorge with a width of less than 10 meter (33 ft).
The Murchison Falls is perhaps the most powerful waterfall in the world with its beautiful sound of waters roaring, and crashing on the rocks below the vulnerable, cold ice mist that takes everyone’s breath away!
Naming of the Murchison Falls:
Samuel Baker and his wife Florence Baker were the first Europeans to sight the Murchison Falls. Samuel Baker went on to use this chance of naming the falls after a geologist by names of Roderick Murchison, the by then President of the Royal Geographical Society.
Being the major tourist feature in Uganda’s oldest national park, the falls shares the name with the Park – Murchison Falls National Park.
As already mentioned above, the Murchison Falls is nestled in the northwestern region of Uganda, in the Bunyoro Kingdom – Masindi, and so the falls were renamed after the by-then King of Bunyoro, Omukama Chwa II Kabalega during the Idi Amin regime.
However, this name was never legally promulgated thus the name retrogressed to Murchison Falls following the overthrow of President Idi Amin. To date, the falls still have a main name of Murchison Falls though occasionally it is referred to as Kabalega Falls.
A Tourism Site:
The highlight of any visit to the Murchison Falls National Park is always exploring the top of the magnificent Murchison Falls.
Any trip in the Park without visiting the top of the Murchison Falls is surely very lacking as you will have missed a lot of uniqueness this stunning falls boasts. Hiking to the top of the falls is such a memorable and fun-filled adventure!
The intrigue hike with an experienced and knowledgeable guide to the top of the breathtaking Murchison Falls allows you to observe the beautiful scenery. During your hike, you will have a great time watching rolling hills, vegetation types, birds, and you will keep hearing the thunderous roars of the falls.
When you reach the top, it’s really breathtaking to watch the white foam that these falls make, as water break through a narrow gap of 7 meters and at this point you can see a permanent rainbow at the falls, it’s really breathtaking and eye catching!!
Cruising beneath the Murchison Falls, you will spot a variety of water birds and wildlife such as Nile Crocodiles and Hippos, as well as Elephants and Cape Buffaloes which always visit the shores to chill out and drink water.
Still in the Park, during your game drive, you will spot very many other animals like Lions, Savanna Elephants, Cape Buffaloes, Leopards, Rothschild’s Giraffes, and very many antelope species.