Lake Mburo National Park
Lake Mburo National Park is located in western Uganda in the district of Kiruhura next to Mbarara district. The national park is neighboured by three districts Mbarara, Lyantonde, Isingiro, this is Uganda’s smallest savannah national park covering an area 260 square kilometres. The park was gazetted as a national park in 1983 to facilitate Uganda wildlife safaris.
The park is a home to quite a number of wildlife including 350 birds. Lake Mburo National Park is a home to a vast number of animals including zebras, oribi, giraffe, warthogs, waterbucks, bushbucks, buffalos and many more. Whether exploring on foot, by boat or on a game drive, Lake Mburo Park offers an up close and individual experience with beautiful wildlife encounters without the crowds.
The origin of this park started with a story of two brothers Kigaramas and Mburo who stayed in the savannah plains and traditionally was known as Karoo Karungi
Attractions at Lake Mburo national park.
Wildlife
Lake Mburo National Park has a lot of attractions. It has over 68 animal species
Zebras: One of the top attractions in Lake Mburo is the amazing zebras. The park hosts a population of over 20000 zebras
Predators: The lions for which Lake Mburo was known for were hunted for local extinction by the late 1970s but odd individuals but they still find their way to the park.
Leopards are as well commonly seen on night game reserves out of Mihingo lodge
The hyenas are often heard from the camps and some of them can observed crossing the road at night
Stripped jackal, white tailed mongoose and other species that reside in the lakes
Impala: one of the most beautiful antelopes in Africa after which Uganda’s capital city was named. Lake Mburo national park is the only park with Impalas. The park harbours a population of more than 3000 impalas.
Hippos: The hippopotamuses are heavy, powerful and very impressive Uganda animals one of the interesting things to see in Lake Mburo national park. Hippos love water. They spend up to 16 hours a day submerged in water to keep their massive bodies cool under the hot African sun but emerge at night to graze. the hippo is the deadliest animal in Africa. Due to their sluggish appearance, many people take them for granted but without moments hesitation can do serious damage
Warthog: The warthog is among the commonly seen Ugandan animals in bush in Lake Mburo Park over 3000 reside there. these funny animals resemble pigs.
Birds: Uganda’s lake Mburo is one of the finest destinations of bird watching safaris in Uganda. there are over 350 species of birds have been recorded in this park. The park is also the best in Uganda to see acacia associated birds. Rwonyo rest camp is the perfect place to see birds like mosque swallow, black billed bustard, bare faced go away bird and Rüppell’s starling
Several bird species in Lake Mburo National Park are essentially Southern species at the very northern limited p range for example
Lakes
there are five spectacular lakes lie within the boundary of the lake Mburo national park from which it derives the name Lake Mburo is the largest of the five lakes. Lake Mburo is a natural haven for fauna and flora. the crocodiles and hippopotamuses are permanent residents and buffalos come to drink during the dry season.
The lake has fish species, tilapia is the commonly caught species. Other species include catfish, lungfish, tigerfish. Sports fishing is done here with a license.
Rubanga forest
Very small tract of forest on the western side of lake Mburo provides a taste of tropical high forest with a closed canopy and a viewing platform for visitors. It is a home to a variety of forest birds, like harrier hawk, green pigeon, narina trogon, double toothed barbet.
People and culture: Lake Mburo is surrounded by many people. The main tribe around the park is the Banyankore popular known for rearing the long-horned cattle famously known as the Ankole cattle These cows are amazing to see.
Igongo cultural Centre and museum
It is locally known as Ekijukiro and it is located about 4km from Lake national park Sanga gate. The centre is modern and well organised museum that achieve its goals of preserving and promoting the history of Ankole kingdom and more traditional societies of western Uganda. It has several detailed and very beautiful displays covering from development of currency in Uganda to traditions of Ankole dressings, drums and other musical instruments, agricultural practices and herbal medicine.
There are several informative displays relating to the foundation and the history of the Ankole kingdom, its rules and the warrior queen of the 19th called Kitami Kya Nyawera, whose murder was by a rival king of local disasters and led to the establishment of nyabingi cult.
Traditional Bahima Homestead: Take a walk, watch their grass thatched housetrain milking skills, their ways of holding and conserving milk, how they make makamo and conserve milk.
Activities in lake Mburo national park
Boat cruise: this activity is an amazing that shouldn’t be missed while on a safari in Lake Mburo national park. The boat cruise is done in different schedule s for example the morning game drives which start at 9:00 am and the afternoon start around 2:00pm. The boat cruise takes 2 to 3 hours. During the cruising one can enjoy the great views if the beautiful scenary and animals like hippos, crocodiles in water along the shores of Lake Mburo, aquatic bird species like kingfisher, herons, African fish eagle among others
Guided drives: Game drives in Lake Mburo National Park are done in early morning and in the afternoon in 4w4 safari vehicles. you will follow different game tracks such as zebra tracks such as zebra trucks, Kigambira loop where there are scenic views of the park and you will see animals like zebras, bushbucks, reedbucks and bush duikers and a variety bird species like bellied bustard, heron, kingfishers etc
Bicycle tours: It is an adventurous activity/experience used to explore the park and the surrounding environment. the experienced tour ranger guides this tour and can answer all the questions and keep the travellers out of harm. antelopes, buffaloes, zebras among others are seen during the bicycle touring.
Sport fishing: this activity is conducted in and around all the park but mostly Lake Mburo attracts more fishermen it being the largest. Fishing permits are required from the UWA.There are various types of fish i.e. tilapia, lung fish, mud fish among others
Birding or bird watching: the park hosts over 350 species of birds i.e. green pigeon, grey hornbill, rare winged warbler among others travellers interested in birding visit come up with great sightseeing of beautiful bird species in western Uganda, the pearl of Africa
Horse riding: Lake Mburo is the only national park is the only park where you can see all its beauty while riding a horse. this is rare and unique. The horseback riding is the hallmark because visitors increase each year, the arrangement is done at Mihingo lodge. During this activity you will get a chance to view animals like buffaloes, waterbucks, elands, impalas’ duikers, variety of bird species among others
Cultural experiences: Tourists to lake Mburo can visit the people and encounter the untouched culture by involving themselves in activities like hand milking, animal grazing, process of milk chumming, making ghee, making handcrafts
Best time to visit lake Mburo National Park
Lake Mburo National Park can be visited all year through though the best time is during the dry season in the months of June to September and December to February. During the dry season there is little rainfall in the park therefore vegetation will be thin, and animals will gather at water bodies to drink water gives you the opportunity view large concentrations of animals and take beautiful pictures.
How to get to lake Mburo National Park
Lake Mburo is located in the western Uganda and can be accessed by road and by air. When using the road transport means, one drives through Kamapala- Masaka-Mbarara road to the park to the headquarters which takes about to 4-to-5-hour drive. The park has two gates that is Nshaara gate and Sanga gate
Conclusion
Lake Mburo national park truly could be the smallest savannah park, but it has diverse wildlife and unique Uganda safari experience. Its top destination for nature lovers band safari enthusiasts.
