Red Chilli Rest Camp is at the south-bank of the Nile at Paraa in the bush. The accommodation has facilities like the bar and restaurant that are fully stocked. The other facility is the camping facilities with modern showers and toilet that are newly built, provision for disabled visitors, cooking area and security lights.

All bandas have beds, beddings, towels and mosquito nets, but the tents do not have mosquito nets and are not provided with towels.
For your Murchison falls tour visit the Mountain gorilla and chimpanzee tour operator

Paara Safari lodge is situated on the north bank of the Nile. It consists of large luxurious and self contained rooms with mosquito nets and private balcony that face the river. The bath or showers are spacious and they also cater for the disabled people in that they do have 2 rooms for them.

They do prepare International cuisines and the daily choice for vegetarians, but besides that, they have good snacks for casual, which are not expensive. They also have a curvaceous swimming pool, which is well maintained and cleaned on a daily basis,
giving you an opportunity to relax along day.

Access to Paara Safari Lodge
By Road Transport
A 3 hour drive from Kampala to Masindi, 217 km on tarmac and 40 km on high grade murram. The Masindi-Paraa road through Kichumbanyobo gate is the direct road to Paraa Rest Camp. All the roads in Murchison Falls National Park have been recently upgraded as have the park access roads. The scenic approach from Masindi to the park is to use the escarpment road along Lake Edward.

By Air Travel
Bugungu airfield is located only a few kilometers from the park headquarters at Paraa on the Southern side of the River Nile to cater for safari tourists visiting the park and staying at Nile Safari Camp, the Red Chili Rest Camp and Sambiya River Lodge. It is the second major field in the park after Pakuba airfield, which is partly tarmacked located on the North bank providing access to Paraa Lodge.

It’s a luxury-tented lodge with wooden chalets and luxury tents personalized with a compelling bush character. Nile Safari Lodge has a class of its own because of its uniqueness, you are brought closer to nature. It has air-conditioning, giving you an opportunity to experience this ultimate bush adventure and its situated in a short distance west of the park boundary on the Southern bank of the Nile.

Nile Safari Lodge facilities include; an ambient bar/lounge, a restaurant and a superb extended deck. The crystal clear swimming pool offers the best reprieve from the hot equatorial sun after a day of activities in the National park and surrounding areas.

The lodge has ten self-contained rooms including 5 wooden chalets and 5 luxury tents. The en suite toilet and shower plus a private veranda over looking the Nile. The balcony of each room gives you an opportunity to enjoy an early morning tea and coffee served by your personal waiter.
For your Murchison falls tour visit the Mountain gorilla and chimpanzee primates Safari Company

Accommodation Facilities
Murchison falls has a variety of accommodation facilities ranging from luxury safari lodges to basic campsites. Campsites are available at Top of the Falls, Rabongo Forest and Paraa. Toilets or pit latrines/showers or bathing shelters are provided at these sites.

Luxury Safari Lodges
Nile Safari Lodge
Paraa Safari Lodge

Medium Accommodation
Sambiya River Lodge

Budget and Camping Accommodation
Red Chilli Rest Camp

Accommodation en-route to the park
Karuma Falls Campsite
Busingiro Ecotourism site
Lake Albert View Tourist Campsite
Masindi Hotel
Lake Albert View Tourist Campsite
Karuma Falls Campsite

For the benefit of both the travellers and wildlife, parks have set up rules and regulation to follow when on a holiday tour. The rules help in the conservation of the endangered wildlife in their natural environment without being disturbed.

Dos and Don'ts While in Murchison Falls Park

§ Enter the Protected Area through Kichumbanyobo, Bugungu or Tangi gate.
§ Retain all official receipts issued for park activities.
§ Drive only on designated roads.
§ Drive only between 6:30 am and 6:30pm.
§ Firearms or ammunition are not allowed in the protected area.
§ Do not pick flowers, do not cut plants nor destroy any vegetation.
§ A guide should accompany visitors on nature walks and game drives.
§ Walk only on designated trails.
§ Do not litter.
§ Camp only at designated campsites.
§ Dogs or any other domestic animals are not allowed the protected area.
§ Light fires only at the fire rings at the campsites.
§ Do not sound your horn.

Birding is one of the main activities in Murchison Falls wildlife safari park. A diversity of birds have become residents to this park due to its diversity of vegetation, land scape and features. To bird lovers, this is perfect.
Birds viewed on a Murchison Falls field trip

Herons
These birds are found in wetlands and feed on fish, frogs and other aquatic species. Others like the Cattle Egret and Clack-headed Heron take large insects and are less tied to watery environments. Herons fly with their necks retracted, not outstretched and they have powder down, making them different from the other birds that they resemble, like the Ibises, storks and spoon bills. They are sometimes called the Egrets or Bitterns and are in the family of the Ardeidae and known as the Wading birds.

Bee-eaters
They live in burrows tunnelled into the side of sandy banks and they produce 2-9 eggs per clutch and are white in colour. They have monogamous families with bi-parental care of the young ones. They eat and feed on insects for example bees, wasps and hornets. They feed by removing the sting and hitting the insect on a hard surface. And they catch them in the air by sailies from an open perch.

Shoe Bill
Its name was derived from its massive shoe-shaped bill and lives on the Nile, below the Murchison Falls. Its a very large grey swamp-dweller and ranges from 1.2m (4 ft) tall, 5.6 Kg (12.3 lb) and 2.33m (7.7 ft) across the wings. The show bill nests on the ground, laying 2 eggs and feed on Lungfish and similar fish.

Cormorant
These are medium-to-large seabirds and the name was derived from a Latin one known as Corvus marinus, which means “Sea raven”. Their scientific genus name is Latinised from Phalakuos and Korax. Their skins are coloured with red, bright blue, yellow, orange and they become more brightly coloured in the breeding season. In the 16th Century, the Cormorants were related to ravens.

Their feet are four-toed and webbed, with long bill, thin and sharply hooked. They feed on small eels, water snakes and fish. They get their food by diving into the water where they propel themselves with their feet.

Fish Eagles
These stay near fresh water lakes, reservoirs or rivers and coast, at the mouths of rivers or lagoons. They breed during dry season when the water levels are low.
Fish Eagles are large birds, but the females are usually larger than the males in such a way that the females have wingspans of more than 2.4m (8 feet) and are distinctive with a large brown body and powerful black wings. The males have a wingspan of about 2m (6 feet). The breast, tail and head are snow white in colour, with the hook-shaped beak which is yellow in colour and a black tip.

Female fish eagle lays white eggs, but few are reddish speckles from the number of 1 to 3 eggs. The females do the incubation and lasts for 42 to 45 days, the male can come in when the female leaves to hunt. When the eggs hatch, the younger chicks will be killed by the eldest chick. These chicks feed themselves after 8 weeks and will begin to venture outside of the nest 2 weeks later. Meanwhile, the fish eagle feeds on the fish.

King Fishers
The habitats of the King fisher are in the woodland and in the wetland. Those that live in the wetland hunt for small fish, Cray fish, frogs and insects as their prey, by diving for them. While those that live in the woodland eat reptiles.
King fishers have short legs, heads, pointed sharp bills, large and stubby tails and they have three families which are Alcedinidae the river King fishers, Halcyonidae the tree King fishers and Cerylidae the water King fishers.
Uganda birding safaris and tours

This park is located in the northwestern part of Uganda, sprawling inland from the shore of Lake Albert around the Victoria Nile. It derives its name from the Murchison Falls water fall, where the mighty River Nile explodes through a narrow gorge and flows down to become a placid river whose banks are patronized by hippos, crocodiles, waterbucks, and buffaloes. The vegetation is mainly savannah, riverine forest and woodland. Wildlife includes; Lions, Leopards, elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, hartebeests, oribis, Uganda kobs, chimpanzees and many bird species including the rare shoebill.

It is comprised of Murchison Falls National Park, Bugungu Refuge and Karuma Wildlife Refuge. This park is believed to be the oldest protected area in Uganda. It covers a total area of 3,893km2, with Bugungu Wildlife Refuge, Karuma Wildlife Refuge and Budongo Forest Reserve covering 510Km2, 678Km2, and 591Km2 respectively. While the National Park and the two wildlife reserves are under the auspices of the Uganda Wildlife Authority and Murchison Falls Conservation Area, Budongo Forest Reserve is managed by the National Forest Association.

Sleeping sickness decimated the inhabitants of an area of approximately 13,000Km2 during the period of 1907 and 1912.
This paved way for the establishment of the Bunyoro Game Reserve in 1910, which is now part of the National Park in Masindi District. With time, the boundaries were extended into Gulu district, north of the river, and the resulting protected area became known as the Bunyoro-Gulu Game Reserve in 1928.

Established in 1932, Budongo Forest Reserve became the first commercial logging concession in Uganda and is one of the most intensively studied “working” Forest in the world to date.

The frontiers of this forest continued to expand over the next thirty years until their reached the current size of 825Km2. As the locals continued to lose hand, a lot of animosity was created as people never quite knew where the boundaries ended due to the frequent changes. Because of the reduction of hunting in the Bunyoro-Gulu Game Reserve, the animal population increased, which justified upgrading the reserve to Murchison Falls national Park. In 1952, the British administration established the National Parks Act of Uganda. By the mid 1960’s, Murchison Falls had become the prime safari destination in all of East Africa, with well over 60,000 visitors annually.

When the sleeping sickness outbreak was put into check, people began to populate the areas around the new park. It was deemed prudent to establish a buffer zone of controlled-use lands around the park, to mitigate encroachment and poaching pressures. In 1963, the Karuma and Bugungu Controlled Hunting Areas, which were later upgraded to game Reserves, were established. Karuma was upgraded in 1964 while Bugungu in 1968. The establishment if the National parks Act led to the forced eviction of come of the villages and new moratoriums on hunting.

From the late 1970s to the mid 1980s, the increasing number of mammals came to an abrupt end as Amin and later Milton Obote’s armies started shooting animals either for target practice or for food. A combination of political mayhem and decreasing numbers of animals in the 1970’s and 80s, led to a sharp decline in the number of visitors. But the numbers are now steadily increasing due to political stability.

Murchison falls is a park, which is surrounded by lands that are not suitable for farming, which has availed less chances of converting the protected area to farmland except in the Karuma Wild Reserve. This gives it a unique position. Since the population around here is still low, a pro-active and inclusive approach can be devised to involve the locals in wildlife management.

The park is a viable breeding population of many rare mammals and bird species which will continue to draw tourists and yet the populations are still well below the carrying capacity of the land. There has been a period of over 20 years of very low impact by animals on the ecosystem due to political mayhem. This means that the park will grow and at the same time create an excellent laboratory to study the resilience of faunal species after a rapid decline, as well as vegetation succession patterns.
This is necessary because almost no ecological research is being done in the conservation area currently.