When the Murchison falls dare to thunder

________________

WHAT’S UP

I still remember my first sighting of the Victoria Falls, the world’s largest falling body of water away from rain. We were booked into the Elephant Hills Resort, waiting for the finals of the Face of Africa modelling search. I looked out of the window of my room and saw what I thought was smoke from a big fire.

I mentioned this when we went down for dinner, and one of our hosts laughed. He said that there was no fire; that was the Victoria Falls. I was confused, trying to imagine a waterfall that produces smoke. The next morning, we went to the falls, and I understood why the locals referred to it as Mosi-oa-Tunya, the “smoke that thunders.” What I thought was smoke was actually water mist thrown up by the falling water.

The same thing happened last Saturday as our boat approached the bottom of the Murchison Falls. Long before we reached the last corner that brings you in sight of the falls, I saw what I again thought was smoke. It must have been farmers burning grass, I guessed. I had made that same boat ride more times than I remember, and I had never seen any “smoke.”

We turned that last corner, and again I realised that it was not smoke, but water mist thrown up by the falls. But since when did Murchison Falls get that large as to throw up that amount of mist?

It is the increased volume of water, we were told. The river levels downstream from the falls had risen by about two metres; and the width increased by almost 200m, according to Janet, the guide who was with us on the boat Giraffe. The answer to the “smoke” lay in the second falls, Uhuru.

When I first visited the falls in 1997, Uhuru was not even there. And the small bridge across the top, used by locals to cross from one side to the other, was still standing. When I last visited in 2015, Uhuru had started forming due to the increased volume of water from the River Nile. But it was nothing compared to what we saw last weekend. The Murchison Falls (named by Samuel Baker in 1864 for the then President of the Royal Geographical Society) is formed by the Nile falling through a narrow 7m (at least it was originally 7m) gorge, to a drop of more than 40m, making it one of the most powerful waterfalls in the world.

Uhuru, on the other hand, is more conventional, with the water falling over a cliff edge. With the increased volume of water, the falls are increasing in width and in power, almost on a daily basis. It is the water from Uhuru that causes most of the mist we saw, and it brought back memories of Victoria Falls. At the rate at which Uhuru is expanding, that small land bridge between the two might be eaten away, and we may get one huge waterfall. Now, that would be a sight, would it not?

It was even more spectacular when we got to the top of the falls. In 1997, we practically drove right up to the falls, and one did not even have to leave the car to have a good look. By 2015, we left the cars a while off, and walked about 100m.

Last Saturday, it was about a 1km hike up a steep incline to properly see the two falls. In one section, the mist was so thick it was like constant rain falling. Again, that reminded me of Victoria Falls, where we had to put on raincoats to get anywhere close to the falls, which had formed its own ecosystem from the constant “rainfall.”

Sometime in the future, visitors to Murchison Falls may be asked to put on rain gear before going anywhere near the top of the falls. I should plan on going there every year, just to record the progress of the “great Murchison Falls,” as its smoke continues to thunder.

I was in Masindi with the My Uganda Forum, a group of friends who had initially met at university but, in 2005, formed the forum. When they grew up and made families, the idea of a Family Day Out (FDO) for the families to bond was formed. So, every year, they have an FDO in different places, which have included the Reef Hotel in Mombasa and also in Dar-es-Salaam.

This year, the destination was Master Peace Resort, 7km from Masindi on the road to the Murchison Falls National Park. It is a new place, so we are probably the first large group of guests they have hosted. But they gave a good account of themselves, so kudos to them and their very amiable staff. One of them even accompanied me on her bike as I did a late evening walk, in case I got lost or something. See you again sometime, folks.

Follow Kalungi Kabuye on X (Twitter) @KalungiKabuye