Murchison Falls park: Our garden of Eden
Dec 26, 2003
Our convoy had been running for about six hours before stopping next to a river. "Welcome to Nile Safari Camp lodge," said some smiling waiters in green as they offered us wet towels to mop our faces. This is the moment they had waited for anxiously for three months.
Our convoy had been running for about six hours before stopping next to a river. "Welcome to Nile Safari Camp lodge," said some smiling waiters in green as they offered us wet towels to mop our faces. This is the moment they had waited for anxiously for three months.
Over 360kms from Kampala, the Nile Safari Camp lies along the banks of the River Nile, half way between Murchison falls and Lake Albert. Its charming setting blends discreetly with the riverine forest offering a breathtaking view of the mighty Nile and the Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda's largest game reserve.
The last time we had such a treat was at the Masindi hotel where we stopped over for lunch. The head of our entourage is Aysha Sauma Nassanga, Uganda's reigning beauty queen.
Nassanga is not here as tourist but as an ambassador of peace. To tell the whole world that Murchison Falls Conservation Area (MFCA) is now safe to visit after the unfortunate March 2001 massacre of a principal and students inside the park by rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).
Jimmy Ssekasi of Jimmy Ssekasi Institute of Catering, nine of his students and a park guide met their death at Pakuba, about 19kms northwest of Paraa Safari Lodge, along the Karuma-Pakwach Road, while viewing the park's spectacular scenery.
According to records only 30% of Uganda's population ever visits the game reserves. I too, had no reason to visit this beautiful place and it was only when I joined Nassanga's entourage that I came to appreciate Uganda's largest protected territory covering 5081sq.km.
Historical facts of Emin Pasha, the Portuguese who ruled this area with Gen. Charles Gordon, while it was under Egyptian colonisation, came flooding back. I also recalled that the Nile basin was once called Equatoria with its capital at Wadilai along the Albert Nile.
In this area as well, Omukama Kabalega of Bunyoro waged several fearless wars against Henry Stanley and Sir Samuel Baker.
The beauty here is awesome and only comparable to the "garden of Eden." It comprises the Murchison Falls National Park and the Bugungu and Karuma wildlife reserves. It is here that the Nile explodes through a narrow gorge cascading to a placid river whose banks are thronged with hippos, crocodiles, waterbucks and buffaloes.
The vegetation here is characterised by Savannah, riverine forest and woodlands harbouring lions, leopards, elephants, giraffes, hartebeests, oribis, the Uganda Kob, chimpanzee and many bird species, including the rare shoebill.
From the spacious verandas of Nile Safari Camp perched on the edge of self-contained double tents and traditional log chalets, we watch all sorts of animals emerge from the thick papyrus beds to drink.
"What a beautiful, peaceful place! I feel safer here than in Kampala. The service is impeccable," remarks, Nassanga.
Geordie Stewart, the Nile Safari Camp manager, who assured everyone of comfort, later echoed her words.
"If there was a security problem here, I would have advised you not to come," he adds.
As the water from the showers in the ensuite bathrooms rolled down our backs, the beat of the larakaraka dance filter in from the Acholi music group invited to entertain us. Their singing and drumming concentrated around the camp fire paints an ideal picture of African society free from stress.
The rich, irresistible beat occasionally led Nassanga to the dance floor.
"I am overwhelmed, she's finally here with us! It was not easy getting her here," remarked Emily Wissanji the General Manager Inns of Uganda, the proprietors of Nile Safari Camp and our hosts.
As the music fades, the night air is filled with the chorus of frog and insect calls, regularly interrupted by the grunting of the prolific Nile hippopotamus. "The true spirit of unspolit tropical Africa," I whispered to myself before sinking deep into my bed.
Knock, Knock. "Good morning sir, a warm bath and breakfast are ready," says a voice outside my door the following morning. It is yet another day to feed the eye with the stunning fauna and flora around the camp. Colourful birds, beautiful butterflies and the small, timid creatures walking over the dry leaves.
The taste of the park is in the launch trip. A popular boat ride from Paraa lodge to the foot of the might Murchison falls. Just the thought of Sir Samuel Baker, the great European explorer, standing in this spot for the first time in 1863-64, and naming the falls is historic. Murchison falls is surely another wonder of the world.
As our boat engine propels towards the falls, Bruhan Taban, our ranger guide, points out the breathtaking scenes along the Nile.
At one spot we came across one of the oldest crocodiles in the Nile called Etroma.
A few metres away, is a small herd of elephants led by Matriarch, an old female. "The oldest females are revered because they have the best memories," says Taban.
The "devil's cauldron," a metre away from the falls, was named so by fishermen because this is where the biggest Nile perch and cut fish are found.
To the right is the spot where Ernest Hamminghway crushed in 1951, when the wigs of his aircraft got caught in the telephone wires at Fajao.
As the boat changes its course on the sunset cruise, the sun splashes a palette of colours across the sky as the melodies of the Mubako adungu dance group bid us farewell.
Over 360kms from Kampala, the Nile Safari Camp lies along the banks of the River Nile, half way between Murchison falls and Lake Albert. Its charming setting blends discreetly with the riverine forest offering a breathtaking view of the mighty Nile and the Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda's largest game reserve.
The last time we had such a treat was at the Masindi hotel where we stopped over for lunch. The head of our entourage is Aysha Sauma Nassanga, Uganda's reigning beauty queen.
Nassanga is not here as tourist but as an ambassador of peace. To tell the whole world that Murchison Falls Conservation Area (MFCA) is now safe to visit after the unfortunate March 2001 massacre of a principal and students inside the park by rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).
Jimmy Ssekasi of Jimmy Ssekasi Institute of Catering, nine of his students and a park guide met their death at Pakuba, about 19kms northwest of Paraa Safari Lodge, along the Karuma-Pakwach Road, while viewing the park's spectacular scenery.
According to records only 30% of Uganda's population ever visits the game reserves. I too, had no reason to visit this beautiful place and it was only when I joined Nassanga's entourage that I came to appreciate Uganda's largest protected territory covering 5081sq.km.
Historical facts of Emin Pasha, the Portuguese who ruled this area with Gen. Charles Gordon, while it was under Egyptian colonisation, came flooding back. I also recalled that the Nile basin was once called Equatoria with its capital at Wadilai along the Albert Nile.
In this area as well, Omukama Kabalega of Bunyoro waged several fearless wars against Henry Stanley and Sir Samuel Baker.
The beauty here is awesome and only comparable to the "garden of Eden." It comprises the Murchison Falls National Park and the Bugungu and Karuma wildlife reserves. It is here that the Nile explodes through a narrow gorge cascading to a placid river whose banks are thronged with hippos, crocodiles, waterbucks and buffaloes.
The vegetation here is characterised by Savannah, riverine forest and woodlands harbouring lions, leopards, elephants, giraffes, hartebeests, oribis, the Uganda Kob, chimpanzee and many bird species, including the rare shoebill.
From the spacious verandas of Nile Safari Camp perched on the edge of self-contained double tents and traditional log chalets, we watch all sorts of animals emerge from the thick papyrus beds to drink.
"What a beautiful, peaceful place! I feel safer here than in Kampala. The service is impeccable," remarks, Nassanga.
Geordie Stewart, the Nile Safari Camp manager, who assured everyone of comfort, later echoed her words.
"If there was a security problem here, I would have advised you not to come," he adds.
As the water from the showers in the ensuite bathrooms rolled down our backs, the beat of the larakaraka dance filter in from the Acholi music group invited to entertain us. Their singing and drumming concentrated around the camp fire paints an ideal picture of African society free from stress.
The rich, irresistible beat occasionally led Nassanga to the dance floor.
"I am overwhelmed, she's finally here with us! It was not easy getting her here," remarked Emily Wissanji the General Manager Inns of Uganda, the proprietors of Nile Safari Camp and our hosts.
As the music fades, the night air is filled with the chorus of frog and insect calls, regularly interrupted by the grunting of the prolific Nile hippopotamus. "The true spirit of unspolit tropical Africa," I whispered to myself before sinking deep into my bed.
Knock, Knock. "Good morning sir, a warm bath and breakfast are ready," says a voice outside my door the following morning. It is yet another day to feed the eye with the stunning fauna and flora around the camp. Colourful birds, beautiful butterflies and the small, timid creatures walking over the dry leaves.
The taste of the park is in the launch trip. A popular boat ride from Paraa lodge to the foot of the might Murchison falls. Just the thought of Sir Samuel Baker, the great European explorer, standing in this spot for the first time in 1863-64, and naming the falls is historic. Murchison falls is surely another wonder of the world.
As our boat engine propels towards the falls, Bruhan Taban, our ranger guide, points out the breathtaking scenes along the Nile.
At one spot we came across one of the oldest crocodiles in the Nile called Etroma.
A few metres away, is a small herd of elephants led by Matriarch, an old female. "The oldest females are revered because they have the best memories," says Taban.
The "devil's cauldron," a metre away from the falls, was named so by fishermen because this is where the biggest Nile perch and cut fish are found.
To the right is the spot where Ernest Hamminghway crushed in 1951, when the wigs of his aircraft got caught in the telephone wires at Fajao.
As the boat changes its course on the sunset cruise, the sun splashes a palette of colours across the sky as the melodies of the Mubako adungu dance group bid us farewell.