How to get to Murchison falls National Park.

Getting to Murchison falls National Park is not just a road drive, but rather a tandem experience of Africa’s culture and it’s cuisines along the open baked dusty roads. The park has about six gates you can use to enter. The park is bisected by the Nile and therefore has the Northern and Southern sections. Both sections have different gates that help you access the park. In the northern  section we have the Chobe, Wankwar, Mubako and Tangi gates. These are usually used when coming from the North of Uganda like the areas of Gulu or Kidepo Valley National Park using the Kampala – Pakwach road which crosses the Nile at the Karuma bridge in the extreme Eastern corner of the park. The gates this side are about 260km from Kampala.

We also have the southern section of the park that has the mostly used gates which are the Kichumbanyombo that leads you to pass through Kaniyo Pidi forest as you approach Paraa, this route is about 85km from Masindi town. Still in the Southern section we have the Bugungu gate that leads you to a more scenetic path through the Budongo forest, however this is a much longer route about 135km from Masindi.

To approach these gates you can use the Acholibur-Gulu-Olwiyo road and Karuma-Olwiyo-Pakwach-Nebbi-Arua road. Within the park in the Paraa area, there is a vehicle ferry that helps passengers and vehicles cross the Nile, it is scheduled hourly.

Another way to get to the Murchison falls National park is by air. There is an airfield at Pakuba and also Chobe. You can use a chartered flight from either Entebbe International airport of Kajansi airfield.

When you reach any point of entrance into the park, you should ensure that you pay the park entry fees, activity fees from the gates with the park officials otherwise you will be penalised on your way out. You should also carry your identification card or passport as you enter the park