Kabalega Wilderness Lodge
Kabalega Wilderness Lodge is one of the mid-range accommodation facilities in Murchison falls national park. This mid-range accommodation facility is found on the southern bank of River Nile inside the national park. The lodge was named after the former king of Bunyoro called Omukama Chwa 11 Kabalega.
Kabalega Wilderness Lodge has private cabins giving you a comfortable stay while on your safari in Murchison falls national park. The lodge has 2 cabin designs that are styled in an African style with mud, wood, and grass from the neighboring areas. The rooms at this lodge are self-contained with flushing toilets, en suite bathrooms, and African-styled furniture on the private verandas where you get great views of the surrounding areas.
Kabalega Wilderness Lodge has an on site restaurant with delicious food that is prepared by professional chefs, there is a well-stocked bar with soft and hard drinks, and they have a campfire area where you can relax and watch the stars while getting some warmth. Tourists who want to stay at this lodge can infirm their local tour operators to book this lodge in particular.
Activities to do while staying at Kabalega Wilderness Lodge
Bird watching: With over 51 bird species recorded in Murchison falls national park, tourists staying at Kabalega wilderness camp can be part of the birding activity to see a number of them. Bird watching from Kabalega Wilderness Camp can be done around the lodge or different areas of the park to enable tourists encounter as many bird species as they can.
Bird lovers from this mid-range accommodation facility will be able to see birds such as yellow-billed stork, white-faced whistling duck, grey-headed bush shrike, hugli’s francolin, spotted thick-knee, long-toed plover, veracious dove, northern spotted morning thrush, spur-winger geese, white-rumped seedeater, black-headed batis, bar-breasted firefinch, red-throated bee-eater, chestnut-crowned sparrow weaver, piapiac, beautiful sunbird, black-billed barbet, dwarf kingfisher, yellow fronted tinkerbird, and whistling cisticola.
Game drives: Day game drives or night game drives from Kabalega Wilderness Lodge is one of the best ways to see different wildlife that is said to be living in this park. Tourists will be driven through different game tracks to see different wild animals in the savannah, woodland, and riverine forests trying to graze or rest.
The animals to see during a game drive in Murchison falls national park include lions, giraffes, duikers, leopards, Uganda kobs, hyenas, giant forest hogs, waterbucks, hippos, bushbucks, topis, oribis, buffaloes, elephants, sitatungas, monkeys, olive baboons, and birds among others. The game drives give tourists an opportunity to see the River Nile flow through Murchison falls national park.
Bottom of the falls boat cruise: The bottom of the falls boat cruise is one of the activities that can be done by travelers staying at Kabalega Wilderness Lodge. The activity starts at Paraa dock and lasts for 2-3 hours with opportunities of encountering different wildlife in the water as well as around the river. During the boat cruise, tourists will be able to see hippos, crocodiles, water birds, and Murchison falls. Tourists will also be able to see different animals along the river, especially in the dry season.
Nature walks: While staying at Kabalega Wilderness Lodge, tourists can be part of the nature walk activities where they will get to r the wilderness on foot. The nature walk activities can be around the lodge or around the national park and they must be guided because most of the dangerous animals do live in the park. During the nature walks, different animals, birds, vegetation, and River Nile are seen.
Culture tours: Taking a visit to neighboring communities of Murchison falls national park is one of the activities tourists staying at Kabalega Wilderness Lodge can do after a successful major activity. The community tours around Murchison falls national park gives tourists an opportunity to spend some time with the local people and get to know how they live their day to day life, be part of the community activities, visit orphanages, and get entertained by traditional dancers.
When to stay at Kabalega Wilderness Lodge
Travelers can stay at Kabalega Wilderness Lodge at any time of the year however there are months that are better than the rest. It’s better to stay at this lodge when it’s the best time to visit the park because you will enjoy the park activities and get back to the lodge for a good stay. The dry season is from June to September and December to February since its characterized by little or no rainfall.
Travelers can still stay at Kabalega Wilderness Lodge during the rainy season from March to May and October to November because the lodge is open. These months are called low season months because they attract a few tourists with in the park and this forces the lodges to reduce costs to attract the few therefore tourists will be able to enjoy huge discounts on mid-range accommodation facilities.
Getting to Kabalega Wilderness Lodge
To get to Kabalega Wilderness Lodge, you need to first access Murchison falls national park because the lodge is found within the park. To get to Murchison you can drive from Entebbe/Kampala via Luwero, Nakasongola, Masindi where you access the park and this takes 4-5 hours using Kichumbanyobo gate or Bugungu gate.
Tourists to stay at Kabalega Wilderness Lodge can fly to Murchison falls national park in just 1 hour. The flights are organized by Aerolink Uganda, and Bar Aviation Uganda from Kajjansi airstrip or Entebbe international airport to Bugugu airstrip in the southern sector of the park or Pakuba airstrip if you are to use the ferry crossing.