Murchison Falls
| Murchison Falls | ||
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 Murchison Falls, Uganda |
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| Coordinates | 2 ° 16 ′ 40 " N , 31 ° 41 ′ 10" E | |
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| place | Uganda | |
| height | 42 m | |
| width | 7 m | |
| Falling watercourse | Victoria Nile | |
The Murchison Falls (formerly also called Kabalega Falls ) are located on the Victoria Nile in northwestern Uganda ( East Africa ).
description
They are located in the Murchison Falls National Park between Lake Albert and Lake Victoria . The main falls consist of a seven-meter-wide canyon, the upper edges of which are covered with trees, in which the Nile falls 42 meters down, the secondary falls consist of several cascades with a maximum depth of 28 m. 300 cubic meters fall over the falls every second.
Many fish do not survive the fall over the falls onto the rocks below, so that at the foot of the waterfall there are large numbers of crocodiles , according to (unconfirmed) local information from the park administration, the largest crocodile population in Uganda.
Kabalega Falls
Kabalega Falls was the official name of the falls from 1972 to 1990. The name goes back to a decree of the dictator Idi Amin , who wanted to contribute to the Africanization of the place names and used the name of Chwa II. Kabalega , one of the last kings of Bunyoro . The name was not accepted by the local population, so that after the end of the dictatorship the old name Murchison Falls became valid again.
history
In 1864 Samuel White Baker and his future wife Florence were the first Europeans to describe the falls on their expedition along the White Nile .
Winston Churchill dedicates an entire chapter in his book “My African Journey” (1908) to the Murchison Falls: “These Falls are certainly the most remarkable in the whole course of the Nile.” (These waterfalls are certainly the most remarkable in the course of the Nile. )
The cases were named after Roderick Murchison , chairman of the Geological Society of London and the Royal Geographical Society .
Energy generation
After a potential destruction of the waterfalls could be averted by the construction of a hydropower plant, the whole region is currently threatened by being affected by oil production.
