Lake Mburo National Park.

Lake Mburo National Park is Uganda’s smallest grassland park and the simplest to get. Lake Mburo National Park is one of Uganda’s most surprising national parks. It has a tendency to over-deliver and is commonly included in itineraries to break up the journey from Bwindi. Mburo’s natural beauty and continuously developing animals are dependably outstanding holiday highlights.

The trees, lakes, and grasslands, which are nearly similar distances between Entebbe and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, make an excellent rest stop on the way to or from the gorillas. If you’re returning from the gorillas, stay an additional night or two; Mburo is an excellent place to relax as well as explore. Mburo is a great place to spend a long weekend whether you live in Kampala or Entebbe. Despite its small size (260 km2), Mburo contains a diverse range of ecosystems, with lakes and marshes accounting for over 20% of its surface area.

About Lake Mburo National Park.

Lake Mburo National Park, at 370km2, is Uganda’s smallest grassland park and the simplest to reach. It is around 250 kilometers from Kampala on the major highway to western Uganda and other tourist destinations, the most important of which are Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, and Mount Rwenzori National Park.

The park is typically flat, with a large diversity of distinct plant and animal species, and is located at an altitude of 1220-1830m above sea level. This places her among the top destinations for visitors on Uganda safaris.

Lake Mburo is located in the rain shadow area behind the Rwenzori Mountains and gets low levels of rainfall, averaging 500-1000mm in the low season, and 1450-1600mm in the hot season, resulting in tropical grassland that progressively develops into forest grassland.

It is home to around 350 bird species, as well as buffalo, leopards, zebras, eland, waterbucks, oribi, hyena, reed buck, warthog, and others. It is Uganda’s sole park with a rare and magnificent antelope, the Impala, and the country’s second protected region with topi antelopes, after the Ishasha section of Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Many of the lakes in the park feature a variety of fish species for spot fishing, as well as large resident crocodiles lounging on the shoreline and hippopotamus that come out of the water at night to graze. Five giraffe couples were recently put into the park to replenish extinct species and as biological instruments to tame acacia tree species that are proliferating and changing the ecology and picturesque vistas of the environment.

Uganda’s smallest savanna national park is located in the southern Ankole area, halfway between Bwindi national park and Entebbe/Kampala. Its 260km2 is covered with lakes, marshes, grassland, and acacia forest. It contains low hills that rise from the shoreline, comparable to Akagera National Park in Rwanda and Zululand in South Africa.

Activities in Lake Mburo National Park.

Game Drives

Throughout the park, there is a network of game driving tracks. There will be varied quantities of animals depending on the season, and the loss of elephants is causing thick brush to expand where there used to be verdant plains. However, there’s a fair chance that every drive will throw up large herds of impala, zebra, waterbuck, topi, and buffalo. The finest views of the reintroduced giraffes are from the Kazuma and Ruroko trails.

The timid eland, which currently numbers over 100, may also be spotted. Visitors may now explore the park after dark on two to three-hour night game drives. These often begin about 6:30 p.m. and are an excellent opportunity to see nocturnal animals such as bushbabies and potto, as well as leopard and hyena, at their most active.

Lake Mburo Walking Safaris.

You may tour the entire park on foot in Mburo if you have a guide with you. Pathways to the Rwonyo salt lick, lakeshores, Rubanga Forest, and observation point hilltops are popular. Walks are the most exciting method to explore the park because sight is usually hindered by foliage and it is difficult to detect buffalo standing their ground or hyena loping back to their burrows after a night on the hunt. Nature walks in Lake Mburo national park are the best way for birders to identify elusive bird species and hear diverse noises.

Boat Cruises.

Getting out on the water is a calm and enjoyable component of any safari. You leave the tsetse bugs and dust behind and gain a new perspective on life in the bush. Crocodiles, buffalo, hippos, kingfishers, fish eagles, and hammerkops may be seen on a morning boat safari around Lake Mburo’s shore. From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., boat safaris leave every two hours.

Birdwatching.

Mburo’s wetlands and acacia forests make it a popular birding site. When looking by automobile or on foot, viewing platforms placed inside the forest and salt licks assist in sightings. Birding is best in the marshy valleys of Waruki and Miriti, as well as along the sides of roads heading up to the jetty. Among the species seen here are the rufous-bellied heron, Bateleur, black-bellied bustard, and red-faced barbet, the latter of which is unique to Lake Mburo National Park.

Horseback Riding.

Lake Mburo national park is the one of the few places in Uganda where you may ride horses through a national park. The Mihingo Lodge stable caters to riders of all ages and skills. Because the behaviors of zebra and buffalo to a human riding a horse are so diverse, this is a unique way to travel among the animals. Bush brunches and hilltop sundowners are included in the four-hour trips.

Biking/Cycling.

Rwakobo Rock has a large inventory of well-maintained mountain bikes and offers guided trips across the park’s adjacent savanna. This is an excellent way to burn off some energy while also getting to know the local animals and people.

Where to stay during your visit to Lake Mburo National Park?

Visitors wanting to visit Lake Mburo National Park can stay at the Mihingo Safari Lodge, Rwonyo Rest Camp, Mburo Safari Lodge, Mantana Tented Camp, Ssana Community Lodge, and Eagles’ Nest, among others.

How to get to Lake Mburo National Park?

Lake Mburo National Park is located between the cities of Masaka and Mbarara, near the important Southwestern route that connects Kampala City to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Kabale, and the Rwandan border.

Travelers would need to travel 228 kilometers from Kampala City, which will take around 312 hours. The park may also be reached through Ibanda and Rushere from Kibale National Park. The park is also accessible from Queen Elizabeth National Park through Ishaka and Mbarara. Lake Mburo National Park has three gates via which tourists can enter the park:

The Kyanyanshara gate is located near Mihingo Lodge and is 18 kilometers south of Akagate Trading Centre and 14 kilometers west of Lyantonde.

The Nshara gate is located 9 kilometers south of the main road, approximately 500 meters west of the Akagate Trading Centre.

The Sanga gate is 13 kilometers from the commercial cities of Sanga and Akagate, and 27 kilometers from Lyantonde.