Paraa Safari Lodge
Strategically built along the Victoria Nile downstream about 20km from the magnificent Murchison Falls, Paraa safari lodge is a popular luxury safari accommodation in Murchison Falls National Park. Its classic explorer decor and infused design offer exclusive creature comforts in the savannah bush.
Built in the 1950s, Paraa Safari Lodge maintained its historic properties through Uganda’s unstable past and it still provides the classic safari luxury amenities that most travel to Africa for. If someone told you that Sir Samuel Baker slept at Paraa Safari Lodge, you wouldn’t have a second thought about it.
With 54 room, Paraa Safari Lodge is a lot bigger than most safari lodges with amenities aplenty. A vast pool with a swim-up bar is the guests’ favourite on hot summer afternoons. Each room has an ensuite bathroom and a balcony with a view. Bookers can choose from room types including cottage, suites, double, twin, and single rooms.
If you’re planning a Uganda safari in Murchison for large numbers of guest and would want to also host business conferences mid-safari, Paraa Safari Lodge is your choice.
The safari lodge is located on the northern bank, which comes with benefits like easy access to the northern game tracks where tourists find most of the animals in Murchison Falls National Park.
Murchison Falls National Park is a well known but relatively remote wildlife reserve in northwestern Uganda between Lake Albert and Lake Kyoga, bisected by the Victoria Nile. The Park is centred on a major Nile river waterfall, the Murchison Falls, and has a reasonable amount of wildlife, including elephants, hippos, Rothschild’s giraffe, buffalo, crocodile and lions. The Paraa stretch boat safari cruise along the Nile to the waterfall base is one of the most popular ways to see the park’s vast richness. The Nile delta is where birdwatchers will find the most sought after shoebill stork.
Murchison Falls National Park itself forms a major part of the very substantial 5,308 square kilometres Murchison Falls Conservation Area, which contains a wide range of forest, savanna and riverine landscapes and is particularly pretty in parts.
The Lodge is located a 5-hour (305 km/189 mi) drive from Kampala via Masindi, Kichumbanyobo Gate, Mubako Gate through the park. For the more adventurous, one can also access the lodge via the escarpment road passing through Bulisa and Wanseko.
Paraa Safari Lodge has a helipad for private helicopters, GPS coordinates 2°15’08.7” N 31°31’10.2”E, and can arrange a jet-ranger helicopter for 3 passengers at $3900. For small chartered flights from Entebbe International Airport, the nearest airstrip is Bugungu Airstrip, about 25 minutes drive to the lodge.
Accommodation
36 standard rooms, 15 deluxe rooms, 2 suites, 3 safari tents, 1 cottage
Rate Includes: All meals
Standard rooms are sold as single, double and twin rooms with a comfortable, simple safari atmosphere. Each of the standard rooms has a swimming pool and winding Nile views.
Nile Safari Lodge offers the Queen’s cottages that give guests a different world of experience, novelty and exclusivity for ultimate comfort. The unique architecture peacefully blends into the landscaped environment and expansive savannah plains views. The grand balconies boast spectacular views of lush vegetation and rich wildlife, as well as the famous River Nile.
The safari suites are the perfect Murchison Falls accommodation for guests who want a little more space and privacy to relax during their Uganda Safari holiday. Each suite has a spacious living room with comfortable sofas and a refreshment minibar for a long day out on the game tracks.
There are 3 standard tents located a short walking distance from the main lodge building. The tents are perfect for a more authentic ‘classic safari’ experience. Even so, the tents are superbly furnished with modern interiors and linens – still reflecting and creating a mood of being ‘in the wild’.
Food
The house chef prepares great meals with special dietary inclusions served in the main building. The Captain’s Table restaurant located on the upper floor is good to try out for a raised view of the expansive savannah plains. Elephant herds are easily seen on the plains. Memorable barbecues and traditional dancers make a Saturday evening at Paraa Safari Lodge an occasion to remember.
Brighten up your evenings at the Explorer’s Bar and pop up a couple of Martinis. Lazy lax on the soft couches or catch up with other explores around the bar. There’s so much to talk about in Africa, especially if you’re spending a night in the bush.
Ammenities
Laundry services
En-suite Bathroom
Restaurant & Snack Bar
Swimming Pool
Private Deck
Wi-Fi (complimentary)
Wellness Spa
Drinks at the bar
Mosquito net
Mini Fridge
Activities
The Lodge’s vantage point provides access to a wide range of guided activities. However, the lodge may include most of them on your room’s price. Please make sure you check with your tour operator like Vibrant Holiday Safaris.
Motorboat safari to the base of the waterfalls
The motorboat safari up the Victoria Nile to the base of the Murchison Falls, a three-hour round trip, is a must-do activity for anyone visiting Murchison Falls National Park. You’ll, most probably, catch sight of the hippos, crocodiles, buffalo, Rothschild’s giraffe, elephants, and lions along the Nile banks.
Motorboat safari to the Nile Delta
A 3-hour motorboat safari in the other direction, downstream towards the delta at Lake Albert, is a tranquil trip to find the rare shoebill storks and other papyrus endemic bird species. Guests can take an early morning ride and have breakfast onboard or a late sunset ride.
Game drive safari
The richest savannah wildlife for great game drive safaris lies between the Victoria Nile and the White Nile. Guests can access it through the Paraa Vehicle Ferry, a motorised pontoon that usually offers crossings every couple of hours in each direction. The most entertaining areas are the savanna grasslands of the Buligi area, around the Victoria Nile delta on Lake Albert.
On the southern side of the Victoria Nile, where the landscapes are more heavily wooded, wildlife is not so easy to spot, but the trails might be worth exploring on your way to the Top of the Falls.
Chimpanzee tracking
The nearby Kaniyo Pabidi Forest (268 sq km) is a beautiful natural forest dominated by giant mahogany and ironwood trees. The forest is home to over 800 chimpanzees, about 90 of them (6 troops) habituated for tourism and available for chimpanzee trekking. Other primates you could watch in the forest include black-and-white colobus monkeys, blue monkeys and olives baboons.
The forest also has many bird species, including such highlights as chocolate-backed kingfishers, white-thighed hornbills and the exclusively endemic Puvel’s illaposis.
Another place to watch primates and bird species near Paraa Safari Lodge is the Rabongo Forest, an island of tropical river forest set in a sea of grassland in the southeast of the conservation area. There are fewer visitors to this forest, and sightings are likely to include a similar range of wildlife, but without the habituated chimpanzees.
Hiking
By far, the most popular hiking option is the 45-60 minute trail to the top of the waterfalls, from where you can view the mighty cascade from a range of angles and elevations. In addition, guests can reach the trail as part of a game drive safari or a motorboat safari up the Paraa stretch.
Balloon safari
Dream Balloons operates at a take-off Balloon Safari site on the river’s north bank, around 17km from Paraa Safari Lodge and tends to fly either east towards the Murchison Falls or west towards Lake Albert, depending on the prevailing wind conditions. The balloon uses an 8-passenger basket with a pilot. Flights last 45-60 minutes and include a bush breakfast wherever the balloon lands.
Bird-watching
Murchison Falls National Park is a wildly endowed birding destination in Uganda, with over 450 recorded species. Specie highlights include ground hornbills, secretary birds, black-bellied bustards, open-billed storks, weavers, swallow-tailed bee-eaters, red-throated bee-eaters, woodland kingfishers, francolins, grey herons, martial eagles, African fish eagles, papyrus gonoleks, lesser flamingoes, greater flamingoes, white-tailed larks, Verreaux’s eagle owls and shoebill storks.
Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
The 70 sq km Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, en route to Murchison Falls National Park, offers guided walks to get up close and personal with the last of Uganda’s white rhinos. It is a project well worth supporting.
Unfortunately, the sanctuary lies over 100km south of most of the lodges in Murchison Falls, making it a long day trip and probably out of range for most people. However, if you happen to be driving out from Kampala, it is close to the main road and a great place to break the journey.
Book for a stay in the best hotels in Uganda with Vibrant Holiday Safaris and enjoy unlimited offers.