Reasons to Visit Lake Mburo National Park in Uganda

One of Uganda’s most outstanding wildlife safari destinations, Lake Mburo National Park provides tourists with an incredible safari holiday experience. The national park is famous for its exceptional wildlife, such as the huge population of zebras, giraffes, and antelopes. It is also known for sheltering over 315 bird species, which makes it a great bird-watching destination.

Lake Mburo National Park in Nyabushozi County Kiruhura district was gazetted as a national park in 1983. Uganda Wildlife Authority gazetted this area to protect different wildlife species and other attractions living there at the time. As of today, the national park shelters the highest number of zebras in Uganda.

On an area of 370 sq. km, Lake Mburo National Park is home to over 68 mammals and 315 bird species. It also has 13 lakes, Lake Mburo being the largest. Tourists can visit the park at any time of the year and explore the different attractions, thereby engaging in different park activities. 

For tourists intending to visit Uganda, we would like to inform you that one of the national parks not to miss out on is Lake Mburo National Park. The national park has enough to expose tourists to the whispers of the wild as they explore the savannah grasslands of Lake Mburo National Park.

We’ve compiled a guide with everything you need to know when visiting Lake Mburu National Park, including reasons to go, how to get there, where to stay and the best time of year to visit.

Related read: Tips for Planning a Safari in Uganda

Here’s an overview:

Reasons to Visit Lake Mburo National Park

Game drives for wildlife viewing

Game drives are the most popular activity in Lake Mburo National Park, a habitat of over 68 mammals and 315 bird species. They are the best way for tourists to see and appreciate the rich diversity of wildlife in the park. Game drives are conducted twice during the day, in the morning and evening, while night game drives are conducted in the night for tourists to see nocturnal animals. 

• Morning game drives: After an early morning breakfast, tourists meet their driver guide and head to the wild, where they start searching for animals, including nocturnal animals, before going to their hideout places. Morning game drives are a 2—to 3-hour activity that takes tourists to different areas of the park.

• Evening game drives: These are carried out in the evening hours after lunch, and tourists search for animals resting and grazing. The evening game drives last 2 to 3 hours and allow tourists to see a number of animals and other attractions of the park. 

During day game drives in Lake Mburo National Park, tourists can see animals such as zebras, warthogs, giant forest hogs, impalas, sitatungas, elands, topis, defassa waterbucks, giraffes, buffaloes, crocodiles, hippos, leopards, hyenas, lions, side-st jackals, black and white colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, and olive baboons, to mention but a few.

• Night game drives: There are a few national parks in Uganda where nocturnal animals can be seen at night, and one of them is Lake Mburo National Park. Night game drives within this park are organized to see nocturnal animals. The activity starts in the evening after dinner, and tourists head out to the park for 2 to 3 hours searching for animals active at night.

For security reasons, the night game drives are conducted with armed ranger guides, and strong light torches are used to look for animals. During the night game drives, tourists can see lions, leopards, zebras, bush babies, spotted hyenas, side-tripled jackals, genet cats, porcupines, and nocturnal birds, among others. 

Related read: Things to do on a Safari in Uganda

Bird watching 

Birdwatching in Lake Mburo National Park is a delightful activity that allows birders to see birds of different colors and sizes in the park’s different vegetation covers. Over 315 bird species have been recorded in the savannah vegetation, which gives birders an opportunity to carry out bird watching all throughout the year. 

Tourists who enjoy birding on a safari to Lake Mburo National Park will be able to see bird species such as Handsome spurfowl, shoebill, saddle billed stork, little egret, red-headed lovebird, intermediate egret, grey crowned crane, white-throated bee-eater, Abyssinian ground hornbill, African crake, crested barbet, bare-faced go away bird, mourning collared dove, saddle billed stork, long tailed cisticola.

Malachite kingfisher, greater painted snipe, Egyptian goose, red-billed duck, common quail, rock pigeon, black-billed turaco, horus swift, lesser moorhen, pied avocet, three-banded plover, lesser jacana, wood sandpiper, small buttonquail, African openbill, black heron, African sacred ibis, lappet-faced vulture, shikira, long-crested eagle. 

Yellow-fronted tinkerbird, emerald spotted wood dove, black kite, rufous bellied heron, African pygmy kingfisher, brown snake eagle, crowned hornbill, lappet-faced vulture, African jacana, banded snake eagle, green pigeon, palm nut vulture, piapiac, African darter, white-winged tit, black crake, and Senegal lapwing among others.

Related read: Best Places for Bird Watching in Uganda

Boat cruises

Lake Mburo National Park has seven lakes, and Lake Mburo is the largest. The national park gets its name from this lake. On a safari to Lake Mburo National Park, tourists can always take part in boat cruise activities to see water animals and water birds and also enjoy the fresh air.

Boat cruises on Lake Mburo National Park are conducted in the morning and afternoon for 2 to 3 hours. The activities enable tourists to see water animals like crocodiles and hippos and water birds such as the African jacana, African finfoot, and goliath heron. Tourists can also see some of the park animals near the water body drinking water or grazing, such as antelopes, buffaloes, and zebras.

Explore the land on foot

Lake Mburo National Park is a savannah-vegetated piece of land that allows tourists to have a rewarding nature walk full of great sightings of different attractions while on foot. Nature walks enable tourists to discover some hidden park attractions that can not be spotted during game drives. Tourists enjoy nature walks in this park because it’s blessed with so many attractions, like birds, animals, and lakes.

While taking guided nature walks in Lake Mburo National Park, tourists can see park animals such as zebras, antelopes, giraffes, monkeys, olive baboons, buffaloes, and hippos. Depending on the area where the walks are conducted, bird species can also be spotted if tourists are interested in bird watching.

Move around the park on a horseback 

Lake Mburo National Park is the only park in Uganda where tourists can enjoy riding through the beautiful scenery in search of the park’s attractions. The horses are owned by Mihingo Safari Lodge, and tourists from outside are allowed to book and use their horses if they are available.

Horse riding in Lake Mburo National Park is done by tourists who are 80 kgs and below in the morning and afternoon. The horses take tourists around the park for 2 to 5 hours, depending on the time you pay. It’s a guided activity led by well-trained horse guides who ensure the tourists’ safety throughout the activity.

Unlike game drives, where vehicles use game tracks and see animals from a distance, horse riding takes tourists close to the animals, which include zebras, giraffes, warthogs, impalas, leopards, sitatungas, elands, topis, defassa waterbucks, buffaloes, side-striped jackals, and giant forest hogs, to mention but a few.

How Do You Get to Lake Mburo National Park?

Getting to Lake Mburo National Park from Entebbe, the starting point of most safaris in Uganda, is around 230 km, which takes tourists around 4 hours to access the park. From Entebbe, tourists pass via Kampala, Mpigi, Masaka, Lyantonde, and finally Sanga, where one of the park gates (Sanga gate) is found. From Sanga gate to Rwonyo, the park headquarters area is around 2km. 

Tourists can also get to Lake Mburo National Park by flying to Mbarara. Mbarara is about an hour drive to Lake Mburo National Park. Airline companies like Bar Aviation Uganda and Aerolink Uganda have flights to Mbarara which take 45 minutes only. From the airstrip, tourists drive for less than an hour to access Lake Mburo National Park.

Best Time to Visit Lake Mburo National Park

The driest months of June to September and December to February are the best times to visit Lake Mburo National Park. These months are characterized by little rainfall and plenty of sunshine. The game tracks and walking trails within the park are dry and easier to move through, while the vegetation is short and offers good views of the different attractions within the park.

Tourists, especially budget travelers and those who like less crowded places can visit Lake Mburo National Park during the rainy season. The tour packages are discounted since lodges reduce prices but tourists should know that there is plenty of rainfall which makes game tracks and walking trails muddy and slippery while the vegetation is thick and tall giving unclear views of some park attractions.