Activities & Attractions in Lake Mburo National Park
Activities & Attractions in Lake Mburo National Park: Lake Mburo National Park is one of Uganda’s homes for wildlife, nature and bird species, the only national park that sits closer to Uganda’s capital city, Kampala. The park is found in the Kiruhura district in Nyabushozi County near Mbarara town in western Uganda.
However, it was originally gazetted in 1933 as a controlled hunting area and later upgraded as a game reserve in 1963. Lake Mburo National Park is managed by the UWA (Uganda Wildlife Authority), a body that governs all the national parks and is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Furthermore, it is a home to diverse wildlife species, including hippopotamuses, zebras, impalas, warthogs, common elands, African buffaloes, and some predators such as lions, leopards, hyenas, genets, civets, jackals, serval cats, and many more. Being a gazetted national park, it boosts with a lot of activities and attractions to be adventured by the tourists during their holidays or vacations as follows:
Attractions – Lake Mburo National Park
Wildlife
Wildlife in Lake Mburo National Park is one of the top tourist attractions found in this savannah game park and impressive savannah landscape, famous for impala antelopes that cannot be seen elsewhere in Uganda.
The Burchell’s zebras are also found here, whose numbers are far higher than those of Kidepo National Park and Pian Upe, where these species can only be seen in Uganda safari destinations. Other antelopes to see include topis, eland, Defassa water bucks, bush bucks, and Bohor reed bucks, which thrive in the park.
Lake Mburo National Park is a wetland area that interlinks the wetland system of five lakes, favoring the existence of sitatunga antelopes.Lake Mburo is the largest of the five lakes, all of which are home to concentrations of hippos..
All the species are greatly explored on horseback ride safaris, which are available for your experience; game drives, quad biking and boat cruises are good for exploring the aquatic species. This is one of the few places where walking safaris are allowed to explore the game on foot.
The park also contains two diurnal primate species, including vervet monkeys and olive baboons. Predators like leopards, spotted hyenas, and serval cats all exist in the park. Lake Mburo National Park also offers nocturnal game drives where visitors can be able to sightsee nocturnal species like porcupine, aardvark, white-tailed mongoose, honey badger, side-stripped jackal, bush pig, spotted hyenas, serval cat, genet cat, thick-tailed stripped jackal, bush pig, spotted hyenas, genet cat, civet, thick-Galago and black galago.
Bird – Lake Mburo National Park
Lake Mburo National Park is a true birding haven, home to around 350 bird species, including the best sites for viewing acacia-associated bird species. The ecological landscapes that are presented by the park offer varied habitats that support a range of bird species.
The forest areas that stretch from Rwoyo to the jetty offer rewarding views for the mosque swallow, black-bellied bustard, and Rupell’s long-tailed starling. The endemic bird species to see in the park is the red-faced barbet, among other species.
The swamps within the park also present habitat grounds for bird species such as papyrus endemics, including the colored papyrus gonolek, striking blue-headed coucal, and the localized white-winged and papyrus yellow warbler that cannot be seen elsewhere in Uganda. In total, Uganda hosts over 1,067 bird species.
Culture Lake Mburo National Park
Culture encounter on visit to the park or on Ugandan culture Safari Adventure is done in the rangelands of Bahima pastoralists who have a good area for grazing their unique breed—On your visit you will be able to encounter Ankole longhorn cattle as well as the Ankole traditional dance.
Activities in Lake Mburo National Park
Game drive viewing
Lake Mburo National Park is a homeland of over 68 mammals and 350 bird species, thus making it an outstanding destination with high concentrations of animals. The park may seem small in size, but during your visit, you will be surprised by all the wildlife you can see there.
We also recommend you engage in a boat cruise so that you can see crocodiles and gainful bird viewing from the water; they include the Rufous-bellied Heron, Bateleur, Red-headed Lovebird, Ross’s Turaco, Bare-faced Go-away bird, Green Wood-hoopoe, Common Scrimitarbill, Brown Parrot, Spotted Wood Dove, and Grey Crowned Crane, among others.
Night Game Drives
Travelers who enjoy night game drives: Lake Mburo National Park is one of the great locations to do a night game drive accompanied by an armed park ranger in search of nocturnal wildlife in the park, such as porcupines, white-tailed mongooses, elusive leopards, hyenas, some buffaloes, and bush babies, with the amazing sound of nature or wild animals.
Horseback riding safaris
Lake Mburo National Park is one of the few safari destinations where you can enjoy nature adventures while riding a horse, as you have chances to get close to animals within the park. Horse riding experience is one of the best ways to view the scenic nature of the park and animals and birds as well as enjoy the sweet wind on the ride. This activity can take 1 to 3 hours as you get to explore the beauty of this national game park.
Boat Cruise on Lake Mburo
This is a rewarding activity as you get on a boat to cruise near the water species such as hippos and crocodiles; other animals to see on water banks linking to the water are buffaloes, kobs, waterbuck and others. Water birds to see while on a boat cruise include crocodiles, cormorants, the rare African finfoot, hammerkops, and African fish eagles, among others.
Rubanga Forest walks
On a visit to Lake Mburo National Park, you can visit the forest since it is inhabited by a lot of species such as birds, primates, animals, and nature, among others. Many attractions to see in the park include animals, birds, nature, animals, trees, plant species, and vegetation, among others.
Community Walks
On your visit to the park, you can involve yourself in community walks whereby you can go and visit the community people and get experienced with the local traditions and cultures of the Bahima people. You can also have a tour to see Ankole cows and have an opportunity to milk them.
Fishing safari on Lake Mburo
The lake is a home to over 6 fish species, such as lungfish, tiger fish, Angara fish, barbel, and catfish, and the best fishing sport is done at Mazinga. We recommend you carry your own fishing equipment and buy permits from Uganda Wildlife Authority offices in Kampala.
