Uganda’s largest national park is also its oldest conservation area, and for more than a century it has been visited by British royals (the Queen Mother was a particular fan), Ernest Hemingway (whose survived a plane crash here) and President Theodore Roosevelt (who slaughtered almost 5,000 animals on possibly the most expensive hunting safari of all time). Winston Churchill also visited the park, which may have been what led him to declare Uganda the ‘Pearl of Africa’, and today’s visitors can still see the ruins of former President Idi Amin’s lavish hideaway – stone walls that stand guard, hauntingly, over the savannah.

The park is bisected by the River Nile, which picks up momentum as it crashes over rocks until it reaches its dramatic crescendo – jamming itself through an 8m-wide gap in the stone to create the magnificent waterfall that gives the park its name. From here, the waters widen into a smooth, even flow. Gentle cruises up this lower stretch of the river take you past huge herds of grazing buffalo and elephants, while storks and crocs jostle for space at the water’s edge. You’ll pause a little distance from the base of the falls, whose sheer power transforms it from a cascade of water into a cloud of spray.

Uniqueness

Any holiday to this park will include a tour to the falls themselves, usually via a three-hour river cruise departing from Paraa Lodge and taking you a short distance from the base of the waterfall. The waterfall itself is pretty much obscured from view thanks to the angle and the huge amount of spray – but the roar and the rush of white water leaves you in no doubt that you are in the presence of a particularly powerful cascade. This mahogany forest is just south of Murchison Falls National Park, near the main gateway town of Masindi. Sanctuary is just off the main road between Kampala and Murchison Falls National Park; most tours stop here en route.