Lake Mburo National Park: Lake Mburo National Park is Uganda’s smallest national park and the closest park to Kampala accommodating 350 bird species as well as zebras, impalas, elands, buffalos, oribi, Defassa waterbuck, leopard, hippo, hyena, topi and reedbuck

What is Lake Mburo Park famous for?-How much is a game drive at Lake Mburo ?-Where is-Lake Mburo National Park found?- What animals live in Lake Mburo? – Accommodation facilities in Lake Mburo national park

Lake Mburo National Park

On a motorway that connects Kampala Capital City to the park, Lake Mburo National Park and lake Mburo tours are situated in western Uganda’s Mbarara district. The park is the smallest in Uganda and is only 260 square kilometers in size. It is located 228 kilometers from Kampala by road, with a layover at the Mpambire Trading Center, where traditional drums and Kayabwe are sold near the equator.

The only national park in Uganda with an entire lake (lake Mburo) and one that is located in the shadow of Mount Rwenzori and Lake Victoria, Lake Mburo National Park is exceptional for having both dry and wet seasons all year long. The stunning sceneries of Lake Mburo national park include dry hills, rocky outcrops, acacia trees, bushes, thickets, open and wooded savannah forests, marshes, lakes, and a climate that is ideal for animals.

It is home to more than 70 different mammal species, including Burchell’s zebras, which can only be found in Uganda’s Kidepo and Lake Mburo national parks. With over 350 bird species, including the brown parrot, crested francolin, African grey hornbill, and southern red bishop, as well as other animals like waterbucks, impalas, Topis, warthogs, buffaloes, giraffes, hippos, and monkeys, Lake Mburo National Park is a fantastic place to go on a safari in Uganda.

Activities in Lake Mburo National Park

Some of the activities in Lake Mburo include, Bicycling, birdwatching, nature walks, horseback riding, sport fishing, wildlife drives, cultural interactions, and boat cruises are just a few of the intriguing things that Lake Mburo National Park provides to tourists on safari.

Game Drives in Lake Mburo: is one of the activities in Lake Mburo and this involves using a safari vehicle to travel about the park in different locations while staying on the designated park trails. Game drives are conducted in the savannah landscapes, which have a variety of tracks, including the zebra track, which connects to the Ruroko track junction through the dense acacia woodland with euphorbia species, olive trees, and the wetland where you will see a variety of birds and animal species, including the zebras, eland, bushbucks, Oribi, Topi, and reedbucks, among others. Primates like monkeys will be visible to you.

The Kazuma track, which travels through grasslands and woodlands where you can see bird species like the black-billed bustard, lakeside trails, which give you a chance to see the swamps surrounding Lake Mburo and aquatic bird species among others, and the game drive to Kazuma hill, which lets you explore the five lakes in the park. The day game drives in Lake Mburo National Park are best taken in the morning to see animals and birds in their habitats, late in the afternoon to see animals returning to their resting habitats, and the nocturnal game drives, which give visitors the chance to spot nocturnal animals like leopards, bush babies, and porcupines and last for about one to two hours.

Game drives are available throughout the year at Lake Mburo, but the best time to go is in the dry season when animals congregate near water sources and swamps to drink, including buffalo, hippos, elands, zebras, Topis, Oribis, antelopes, warthogs, impalas, bushbucks, waterbucks, giraffes, and others.

Bird watching in Lake Mburo: is one of the activities in Lake Mburo where the park has over 350 bird species, including migratory, uncommon, and resident birds, may be found in the Lake Mburo. These include papyrus gonoleks, blue-headed coucals, Miriti along the Rwonyo River, and the Rubanga Forest, among other species. You’ll see several different birds, such as the brown parrot, shoebill stork, white-winged warbler, and crested francolin. In Lake Mburo, bird viewing may be done all year long and begins in the morning. The ideal times to see birds are from June to July and from November to April with migratory birds. It takes around 1-2 hours.

Boat cruise: The lake at Lake Mburo is quiet, and it is surrounded by a swamp. It has a variety of animal, bird, and plant species, giving visitors the chance to cruise close to the animals, birds, and also clearly spot them in their natural habitats, such as crocodiles, hippos, zebras, and antelopes, which can be found on the banks of bodies of water drinking water, and bird species like pelicans, herons, fish eagles, hammer kop, and cormorants, among others. The Uganda Wildlife Authority runs the activity, which lasts for around two hours, and the boats depart from Rwonyo Jetty.

Nature walks / hiking: An opportunity to explore the park on foot while being accompanied by an armed guide and getting a closer view of the wildlife is provided by this excursion at Lake Mburo . Around 7:00 am in the morning, nature walks begin and last for about two hours. Among the trails covered are the one to the salt lick, where you may see animals that come to drink the saltwater. the hike to Kazuma Hill, where tourists are rewarded with a stunning panoramic view of the hills, Precambrian rocks, savannah vegetation, acacia vegetation, and lakes, as well as a variety of wildlife, including hippos, hyenas, zebras, giraffes, elands, Topis, bird species, and butterflies.

Sport Fishing: Aside from Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda’s Lake Mburo  provides those who desire to engage in sport fishing with a chance to do so. Sport fishing is done on the Mazinga shoreline of Lake Mburo, which is part of the Lake Mburo Park, which contains five lakes. The Uganda Wildlife Authority authorizes visitors who wish to engage in sport fishing, and these visitors provide their own fishing gear, such as hooks. The tourists will be able to capture six different species of fish when sport fishing, including mudfish, lungfish, and tilapia.

Horseback riding in lake Mburo: Horseback riding in lake Mburo is a thrilling and unique  activity. Horseback riding allows visitors to the Lake Mburo National Park to witness a variety of species, including plants, primates, and other animals. The Mihingo Safari Lodge organizes a horseback riding excursion that lasts for around 1-3 hours and allows visitors to get up close and personal with the animals. The lodge also offers overnight horseback rides, which include meals and tents for shelter. Game drives in Lake Mburo Park are exciting since animals may be viewed more clearly up close than they can from the safari vehicles.

Cultural encounters: The Banyankore are a group of people that live in the park’s neighboring communities and are renowned cattle keepers who own long-horned animals. They demonstrate to the visitors a variety of traditional tasks that they perform, including cleaning milk pots, treating sick cows, brushing cows, grazing cows, providing cows with water, roasting and smoking meat, and traditional hand milking. They are also known for farming with banana plantations, and they engage in various tasks like weeding, cropping, harvesting, and cooking bananas for food. They also perform traditional songs and dances from the Enyemebwa cultural center to amuse guests during gatherings that take place in the peoples’ homes.

Visitors to the Lake Mburo national park can stay in a variety of accommodations, including the Mihingo Safari Lodge, Mantana Tented Camp, Rwakobo Rock Lodge, Mpogo Safari Lodge, and others, to ensure that they are comfortable during their safari. The dry season, which lasts from June to August and December to February, is the greatest time to visit Lake Mburo National Park because that is when the animals congregate along the roadway and may be seen during the game drive as well as near the lake and water sources.