Murchison Falls, Waterfall on Victoria Nile River, Uganda.
Murchison Falls is a waterfall on the Victoria Nile in northern Uganda, where the entire river is compressed through a narrow rocky gap just 7 meters wide. The water plunges approximately 43 meters down, creating a natural barrier that forces all of the river's flow through a single point.
Samuel and Florence Baker discovered these falls in the 1860s and named them after Roderick Murchison, President of the Royal Geographical Society. The explorer couple first brought international attention to this remote section of the Nile River.
The falls carry two names: Murchison Falls and Kabalega Falls, the latter honoring a former king of the Bunyoro kingdom in Uganda. Local communities connect this place to their heritage and their relationship with Africa's mightiest river.
You can reach the falls by taking boat tours from Paraa Landing Site or by driving to the top viewpoint within Murchison Falls National Park. Each route offers a different view of the falling water and the landscape around it.
The entire volume of the Nile is forced through this narrow rocky gap, creating the strongest water pressure at any point along the entire river. This makes it a hydrographic anomaly on what is otherwise a wide and gentle river.
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Uganda sits at the heart of East Africa, where dense tropical forests meet open savanna and the Nile River begins its long journey north. The landscape rises from the shores of Lake Victoria through rolling green hills to mountain ranges that touch over 5,000 meters, high enough to hold glaciers...
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