This is Uganda’s largest pro­tect­ed area, and well worth the vis­it. Most peo­ple go there to view the impres­sive Murchi­son Falls as the mighty Vic­to­ria Nile Riv­er forces its way through a 7‑metre chan­nel before plung­ing down a cliff face and into a rag­ing caul­dron at the foot of the falls.

And yet this bio­di­verse area is much more than that, with game dri­ves offer­ing four of the Big 5, hip­po, croc­o­diles, giraffes, spot­ted hye­na and many oth­er species. There is also an impres­sive bird list of 451 record­ed species, includ­ing the star­tling shoe­bill stork which can be spot­ted in the thick papyrus beds in the delta area down­stream of the falls.

Budon­go For­est, which bor­ders on Murchi­son Falls Nation­al Park, offers chim­panzee trekking as well as excel­lent bird­watch­ing (up to 360 species).