"A Spectacular Pause" Murchison Falls National Park Travelogue by glabah

All of my travels so far (October 2003) have involved church related missions projects of some type or another, with some recreational travel thrown in. (With the proportion of time spent in recreational travel varying greatly from trip to trip.)

The 2003 Uganda trip was no exception. We were working on a church, but the project reached a point where the concrete needed to dry for several days. Therefore, we took off to Merchison Falls for those several days.

As the wildlife is more active during the days, early in the morning we crossed the Nile River and saw a number of animals, including elephants and giraffes.

The Paraa Ferry

We crossed the Nile River on this ferry. There is a huge outboard engine on each side of the Paraa Ferry.

On the other side of the river, we started the animal safari.

Murchison Falls

The falls themselves are not to be missed. Murchison Falls are on the Victorian Branch of the Nile River.

The typical afternoon activity at the park is a boat trip along the Nile River, where we watched a number of different animals cool themselves from the heat of the day in and around the river.

Murchison Falls from the Boat

The boat trip ends at a point where it is possible to see the falls.

Main Section of Merchison Falls

This narrow channel was the main part of the falls until a flood in 1967 created a different channel for the river.

To get this picture from the boat, I used fairly high speed film and a telephoto lens.

I don't know what to say to digital people, other than the digital cameras I have used would not have done very well with this due to the exposure speed. Remember that this is taken from a moving boat in heavy current, and so a tripod was not an option. I highly suggest being prepared, and for your camera if that means bringing high speed film and a film camera to try stuff like this, then so be it.

Group Photo Time!!!!

but you don't want to get into that high-speed water.