Visiting Murchison falls national park in the rainy season
Visiting Murchison falls national park is the rainy season is possible as the park is open all throughout the year for all tourism activities. The rainy season is also referred to as the low season and this is because a few travelers visit the park. Not so many tourists are within the park and the few who try to visit get discount offers from the accommodation facilities as well as the tour operators.
Murchison falls park is located in a tropical climatic area which means it receives rainfall at any time of the year. The rains are too much during the months of March to May and October to November which made the months be named rainy season months. These months receive too much rainfall most of the days of the month and these hinder a lot of activities within the park.
Murchison falls national park comprises of savannah, riverine and woodland vegetation cover which is always green during the rainy season. The vegetation is a habitat for over 76 mammals, 13 primate species, and over 451 bird species which can be seen all throughout the year.
Benefits of visiting Murchison falls national park in the rainy season
Visiting Murchison falls national park might not be the best time but it comes with some benefits and among these include discounted accommodation. The accommodation facilities let it be budget, mid-range, or luxury options are discounted by their owners and it is believed they do so to attract the few tourists that are within the park.
During the rainy season, you don’t have to worry about booking accommodation facilities of Murchison falls national park like tourists d in the dry season. A few weeks to the safari day the lodges will still be available for booking as a few tourists visit the park. The other good thing with Murchison falls national park is that no congestion in the park during most of the activities let it be game drives or boat cruises.
Challenges of visiting Murchison falls national park in the rainy season
There are lots of challenges that come with visiting Murchison falls park during the rainy season and it’s because of this that a few tourists visit the park. The rainy season we are talking if months that receive plenty of rainfall and these are March, April, May, October, and November.
During the rainy season, the roads that connect tourists to the park are very muddy and slippery due to plenty of rainfall. These roads we mean those that are from the main routes or high ways to the park. Even good safari vehicles tend to get problems during the rainy season and this delays the time taken to access the national park
During the rainy season, the game trucks inside the park are very muddy and slippery which affects the movement of the safari vehicles to most of the park areas. This limits the number of animals that are seen during the game drives as game drives are done in a few areas of the park. There are times when the safari vehicles get stuck during the game drives especially when the rain was so heavy.
Visiting Murchison falls national park in the rainy season will not give you the best chances of game viewing and this is because the vegetation inside the park is very tall and thick. Because of the tall vegetation, the animals are not seen clearly, especially the tinny animals and those that are very far from the game trucks.
The rainy season stops pr delays some of the park activities among which include boat cruises, hot air balloon, and white water rafting. When the rainfall is heavy and the wind is much hot air balloon safaris can’t be done, when the water levels are much and water is running at a very high speed boat cruises and white water rafting are postponed or cancelled.
Best activities to do in Murchison falls national park during the rainy season
Bird watching: Birding is the best activity travelers can do in Murchison falls national park during the rainy season. During the rainy season, it’s when migratory birds are in the park and it’s also a breeding season for some of the birds. Alot of birds are within the park during this period because there is plenty of food for them in the park.
There are over 451 bird species in Murchison falls national park and these can be seen during game drives, boat cruises and nature walk activities. The birds of Murchison falls national park include African darter, Vaseline masked weaver, red-throated bee-eater, northern shoveler, rock pratincole, black-billed barbet, black-headed gonoleck, long-toed plover, speckle-fronted weaver, piapiac, double toothed barbet, silver bird, white-fronted black chat, yellow fronted tinkerbird, and whistling cisticola.
Other common bird species in Murchison falls national park include black-headed batis, beautiful sunbird, Abyssinian ground hornbill, white-browed sparrow weaver, malachite kingfisher, grey-headed bush shrike, giant kingfisher, blue-naped moosebird, pennant winged nightjar, red-winged grey warbler, marabou stork, rock pratincole, vinaceous dove, secretary bird, pel’s fishing owl, common teal, pied kingfisher, and grey crowned cranes among others.
Chimpanzee trekking: Not the best activity to do in the rainy season but tourists get one benefit which is locating chimpanzees faster. This is because these apes don’t move far from the starting points because there is plenty of food everywhere within the park. The trekking trails are always muddy and slippery but tourists won’t take long to locate the chimpanzees.
The above might be the only activities to enjoy in Murchison falls national park during the rainy season however other activities can still be done. These include game drives where tourists get to see different wildlife within the park, boat cruises to the Nile delta or bottom of the falls, white water rafting, sport fishing, nature walks, and hot air balloon.
