Lake Mburo National Park - a compact gem

Lake Mburo National Park might be small but it is a compact gem! It is located conveniently close to the highway that connects Kampala to the parks of western Uganda.

Together with 13 other lakes in the area, Lake Mburo forms part of a 50km-long wetland system linked by a swamp. Five of these lakes lie within the park’s borders. Lake Mburo is the largest of the five lakes found in the park, which together attract hippos, crocodiles and a variety of water birds, while the swamps hide sitatunga antelope.
Once covered by open savanna, Lake Mburo National Park now contains much woodland as there are no elephants to tame the vegetation. In the western part of the park, the savanna is interspersed with rocky ridges and forested gorges while patches of papyrus swamp and narrow bands of lush riparian woodland line many lakes. The park is rich with acacia trees, valleys, grass lands with different types of grass that fed on by the wild animals.

It is home to 350 bird species as well as zebra, impala, eland, buffalo, oribi, Defassa waterbuck, leopard, hippo, hyena, topi and reedbuck. The fact that there are no lions, give you a chance to freely move close to the animals and have a close impact with them. It is also home to the largest population of zebra in Uganda estimated at about 5,000 and probably contains the highest concentration of leopard found anywhere in Uganda. The park has got a wide range of birds flopping in the sky and are so being visible to visitors. Some of the birds that are seen in this park include rare shoebill, stork, African fin foot, pelican, heron among others.

Lake Mburo 's surface and its fringing vegetation are always changing, and it is delightful to take a boat out and experience the lake's moods and watch the numerous hippos, some crocs and an incredible amount of African fisheagles. The lake is also one of the best places to spot the rarely seen African finfoot and white backed heron amongst many other water birds.

You can go for game drives in the park but we would recommend you try something new. There are a lot of different activities that can be done in the park: How about a horse ride through it? You could also go on a mountain bike tour or explore the park by foot.

Lake Mburo is the perfect last stop before returning to Entebbe to see Uganda’s wildlife one more time.