The Victoria Nile flows west through Murchison Falls National Park, connecting Lake Kyoga to Lake Albert and cutting across a landscape of dry savannah, scattered acacia, and dense riverine forest. Its wide, brown waters move slowly until they are suddenly forced through a seven-metre cleft in the rock at Murchison Falls, where the river drops 43 metres into a narrow gorge, throwing up mist and noise. Boat cruises from Paraa pass sandbanks crowded with hippos and crocodiles, while herons and kingfishers patrol the shallows. On either side of the river, game tracks wind through grassland where giraffes, buffalo, and elephants graze. Further upstream, anglers cast for Nile perch, and footpaths lead to high viewpoints overlooking the falls. The river divides the park into northern and southern sectors, shaping how both animals and visitors move through the reserve’s varied terrain.