3 Days Murchison Falls Mid-Range Safari

This is the version of the classic Murchison Falls safari that most of our guests book. You travel in a private four-wheel-drive throughout, stay two nights at an established mid-range lodge with a pool, en-suite rooms and a terrace over the river, and cover every highlight of the park without cutting a single corner. Over three days you track rhino on foot at Ziwa, drive the northern plains for lion, giraffe and the great herds, take the Victoria Nile launch cruise to the foot of the falls, and hike to the top. It gives you almost everything the luxury trip does – the wildlife, the comfort, the food, the view – at a price that leaves room in the budget for another day or a second park.

Kampala to Murchison Falls, via Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

You leave Kampala or Entebbe by about 06:30 to clear the city traffic, and drive north on tarmac through Luweero and Nakasongola. Around the halfway point you turn in to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary to track wild southern white rhino on foot with a ranger – Uganda’s only wild rhino, reintroduced after the species was poached out in the 1980s, and now numbering more than thirty. The walk is flat and usually an hour or two, ending within twenty or thirty metres of a grazing rhino. After lunch at Ziwa or in Masindi you continue into the park through Kichumbanyobo Gate, where the country opens into borassus-palm savanna, and if the timing works your guide drives you to the top of the falls for a first, thunderous look before you check in to your lodge. Dinner and overnight.

Northern game drive and the Victoria Nile launch cruise

You are out at first light for the Paraa ferry and a morning on the Buligi, Victoria and Albert tracks – a loop of short-grass plains between the Nile and the Lake Albert delta that carries some of the highest wildlife densities in East Africa. You look for elephant and buffalo herds moving to the river, Jackson’s hartebeest, Uganda kob and oribi on the open ground, Rothschild’s giraffe browsing the acacia, and the resident lion prides, most often lying up near the palm groves; leopard need luck and a good guide. Back to the lodge for a late breakfast and a rest through the heat, then in the early afternoon the three-hour launch cruise upstream, past hippo pods and basking crocodiles and the papyrus birdlife, finishing beneath the full force of the water where the whole Nile is forced through a seven-metre gap.

The top of the falls and the drive back to Kampala

After breakfast you drive to the trailhead on the south bank and walk the short, steep path – about 45 minutes – to the viewpoints directly above the main drop, close enough to feel the spray, with a rainbow in it on most sunny mornings. From here you begin the drive south with a lunch stop in Masindi, reaching Kampala or Entebbe in the late afternoon or early evening.

Getting there and travel times

Murchison Falls is a five to six hour drive north of Kampala or Entebbe on good roads, and almost every trip breaks the journey with rhino tracking at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, roughly halfway. If you would rather not drive, scheduled and charter light aircraft reach the Pakuba and Bugungu airstrips inside the park in about an hour from Entebbe, and a fly-in works well for a short trip or as one leg of a longer route. We confirm all transfers, ferry timings and internal flights before you travel.

Where you stay

Two nights at an established mid-range lodge – en-suite rooms or well-built permanent tents, a swimming pool, hot water and reliable power, and a wide terrace over the river or the plains. Options sit either on a rise above the Paraa ferry, minutes from the northern game tracks, or in gardens on the quieter south bank near the falls trail; your guide advises which suits your itinerary. This is the standard most guests choose because it gives you almost everything the luxury lodges do at a price that leaves room in the budget for an extra day or a second park.

What it costs, as a guide

Because every trip is private and tailored there is no fixed price, but as a rough guide a mid-range-level version of this itinerary works out at around US$800 to US$1,150 per person, based on two people sharing and covering your private 4×4, fuel, driver-guide, all park entry fees, full-board accommodation and the activities in the plan. Solo travellers and very small groups pay more per head; four or more sharing pay less. Rates move with the season, so the figure in your quote is the real one, confirmed for your exact dates. The prices shown here are indicative and for planning only – always ask us for a firm quote.

What’s included

• A private 4×4 safari vehicle with a pop-up roof for photography, all fuel, and an experienced English-speaking Ugandan driver-guide who stays with you for the whole trip
• All national park and reserve entry fees for the days shown in the itinerary
• Every activity named in the day-by-day plan above – game drives, boat cruises, guided walks and any tracking permits listed
• Accommodation on a full-board basis: breakfast, lunch and dinner each day, plus a packed breakfast or lunch box whenever an early start means you miss a meal at the lodge
• Bottled drinking water in the vehicle throughout, all current government taxes, and our full planning, booking and 24-hour support service

What’s not included

• International flights to and from Entebbe, and the Uganda entry visa (easy to obtain online in advance)
• Comprehensive travel and medical insurance, which is a condition of booking
• Drinks with meals, and tips for your guide and the lodge staff
• Laundry, phone calls, curios and other items of a personal nature
• Optional extras not named in the itinerary, such as a hot air balloon flight, a nature walk, sport fishing, or additional trekking permits
• Anything arising from circumstances beyond our control, such as flight schedule changes, road closures or weather

Good to know before you travel

The park is rewarding all year. June to September and December to February are driest, with the firmest tracks and the most predictable game viewing; March to May and October to November are greener and quieter, with the best birding and lower lodge rates, in exchange for short heavy afternoon showers. Pack neutral-coloured layers for cool mornings and hot afternoons, a wide-brimmed hat and high-factor sunscreen, binoculars, a good insect repellent, a light rain jacket and a dry bag for boat trips. A yellow-fever certificate is required to enter Uganda, and malaria prophylaxis is strongly recommended for the whole country. The top-of-the-falls hike takes about 45 minutes on a steep path and needs closed shoes and reasonable fitness – it can always be skipped. Game drives and boat cruises have no minimum age. Uganda is a stable, welcoming country to travel in, and your guide carries a first-aid kit and stays in radio and phone contact throughout.

Request a quote for this safari

Every trip is private and built around your dates, your group and how you like to travel, so there is no fixed price and no set departure to fit around. Send us your rough dates and the lodge level you have in mind and a planner who has driven these tracks will reply within 24 hours with a tailored day-by-day itinerary and a clear, itemised quote – no deposit and no obligation to enquire. Read our full guide to Murchison Falls National Park for background on the wildlife and the falls, browse the rest of our Murchison Falls safaris, or get in touch now.