The beauty of spending time in Murchison Falls throughout the year is the privilege to see how the park changes with seasons. In fact, every time we visit and do our adventure safaris, we are amazed by how nature changes with something new always revealed. Water holes dry up, the grass changes in different areas with controlled burns. Animal grazing shiofts and seasonal river level goes up or down depending on rains. All of this impacts greatly how wildlife behaves and we experience on our guided safari tours.
March heralds the end of the main long dry season in Murchison. Usually, the park is very dry with no rain at all especially in January and February. Uganda Wildlife Authority conducts controlled burning this time of the year, when certain sections of the park are burnt. This burning is actually very healthy for ecosystem and mimics the natural cycle of African bush. Fire, when managed well, is beneficial for vegetation regeneration, regrowth of some plants; as well as for controlling parasites present in the area. The renewed vegetation following the fire also attracts variety of wildlife looking for fresh grass. The season is also good for best walking safaris, as the grass is usually short in most areas – an added bonus to make your Uganda wildlife tours enjoyable.
On our recent trip, it was exceptionally dry with most usual water holes completely dry. This is a stark contrast to prior years, whereby most waterholes retained water or were at least muddy. On our walks, we were actually quite surprised to see very few buffaloes, who obviously must have relocated to other areas with more water. Walking in the dry river bed was however very enjoyable with very little water.
We have seen at least 7-8 groups of elephants in two days, who are also attracted to the area this time of the year due to ripening borassus palm fruits. On our walks, we often walk in the trails made by elephants that literally lead you from one palm tree to another. As the season is also warmer than usual, we were also lucky to observe a herd of elephants resting in the shade during the middle of the day just from our camp. Elephants usually do that for several hours a day. Bird-lovers can also find beauty this time of the year, as many observed birds in the area are seasonal migrants. One special treat is to observe flocks of Abdim Storks around the remaining water points.
The dry season makes this Uganda wildlife tour one of the best guided safari tours in Africa as well as one of the best walking safari experiences.
