Pakuba Safari Lodge

Pakuba Safari Lodge at Murchison Falls NP.

Rating: Mid-range
Price: $195 pp/night

Situated on the eastern bank of the Albert Nile at the northwestern border of Murchison Falls National Park, Pakuba Safari Lodge offers an exceptional base for exploring the park’s northern game tracks and enjoying sweeping vistas of the savannah plains.

Once an old hotel ruins, the lodge has been renovated to offer 36 comfortable rooms spread along the riverine, suitable for moderate group or family Uganda safari accommodation. The lodge offers excellent value for its rates, with 32 Double/Twin rooms and 4 Family rooms with ensuite bathrooms and room amenities.

The lodge’s proximity to the northern game tracks makes it an ideal starting point for game-viewing drives in the park’s north section. This area boasts incredible wildlife species, such as Rothschild’s giraffes, leopards, lions, buffalos, and elephants. Early morning game drives from the lodge can join game viewing tracks like the Pakuba game track, Queen’s track, Te’bito track, Chobe track, Victoria track, and Albert track for a thrilling safari experience.

Murchison Falls National Park is a well-known but relatively remote wildlife reserve in northwestern Uganda, bisected by the Victoria Nile and between Lake Albert and Lake Kyoga. The park’s centerpiece is the powerful Murchison Falls, and it is home to a wide range of forest, savanna, and riverine landscapes. The park forms a significant part of the 5,308 square kilometers of Murchison Falls Conservation Area, which is particularly beautiful in parts.

How to reach Pakuba

The lodge is located a 6-hour (305 km/189 mi) drive from Kampala via Karuma, and just a 10 km (15 mins) drive from Tangi Murchison Falls’s northern gate. For the more adventurous Uganda safari guests, the lodge can be accessed via the southern side through the Paraa crossing on Victoria Nile.

Pakuba Airfield is just 13 km (25 min drive) from the lodge, providing an easy fly-in safari connection to Entebbe International Airport and other inland airfields. With this convenient air connection, you can easily see the mountain gorillas and be on the northern savannah plains the next day without expending a lot of energy between far-flung popular destinations.

Accommodation at Pakuba Safari Lodge

Pakuba Safari Lodge offers 32 single-bedroom rooms and 4 two-bedroom family suites, all with ensuite bathrooms. The family suites are perfect for families traveling with children, as they offer two separate bedrooms and a shared living space. All rooms are spacious, grass-thatched, and decorated with local decor and furniture, providing guests with an authentic African feel.

The lodge’s top amenities include a swimming pool, complimentary Wi-Fi, power charging points, mosquito nets, and bathroom amenities, among others. Guests can enjoy breakfast and dinner in the main area or on the expansive lawn in front of the main building, with breathtaking views of the vast savannah plains and the Albert Nile. You might even catch a glimpse of elegant giraffes or elephants grazing in the distance as you enjoy your meal.

Pakuba Safari Lodge is an excellent choice for accommodation when visiting Murchison Falls National Park on a Uganda safari vacation. You can take advantage of our excellent partnership with Pakuba Safari Lodge to get great rates through Nkuringo Safaris.

Pakuba Rack Rates

Activities at Pakuba Safari Lodge

Pakuba Safari Lodge’s vantage point provides access to a wide range of guided safari activities in Murchison Falls National Park. Here are some of the activities guests can enjoy:

Motorboat Safari to the Base of the Waterfalls

One of the most popular activities in Murchison Falls National Park is a motorboat safari up the Victoria Nile to the base of the Murchison Falls. During this three-hour round boat trip, guests can spot hippos, crocodiles, buffalo, Rothschild’s giraffe, elephants, and lions along the Nile banks.

Motorboat Safari to the Nile Delta

A three-hour motorboat safari in the opposite direction, downstream towards the delta at Lake Albert, is a serene 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

From Pakuba Safari Lodge, guests can access the richest savannah wildlife for great game drive safaris that lie between the Victoria Nile and the White Nile. Guests can access it through the Paraa Vehicle Ferry, a motorized 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. Guests can also explore the southern side of the Victoria Nile, where the landscapes are more heavily wooded, and wildlife is not so easy to spot, but the trails might be worth exploring on the way to the Top of the Falls.

Chimpanzee Tracking

The nearby Kaniyo Pabidi Forest is home to over 800 chimpanzees, about 90 of which (6 troops) are habituated for tourism and available for chimpanzee trekking. This forest is dominated by giant mahogany and ironwood trees and is home to other primates such as black-and-white colobus monkeys, blue monkeys, and olives baboons. The forest also has many bird species, including chocolate-backed kingfishers, white-thighed hornbills, and the exclusively endemic Puvel’s illaposis. Another place to watch primates and bird species near Pakuba Safari Lodge is the Rabongo Forest.

Hiking

The most popular hiking option is the 45-60 minute trail to the top of the waterfalls, from where guests 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 18km from the Lodge. Flights last 45-60 minutes and include a bush breakfast wherever the balloon lands.

Bird-Watching

Murchison Falls National Park is home to over 450 recorded bird species, including 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.