Lake Mburo National Park is located in Lyantonde along the highway en route Uganda’s national parks in western Uganda. It is situated on the ancient Precambrian metamorphic rocks which date back to more than 500 million years ago. The park is the smallest of all savannah national parks in Uganda. It is approximately 370 square kilometers and managed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
According to the Ankole people (one of the main tribes in Western Uganda), the creation and name of the lake are based on historical events. The legend has it that two brothers, who known as Kigarama and Mburo, used to live in a big valley. One day, Kigarama had a dream and advised his brother that they had to move. Mburo chose to ignore his brother, and Kigarama moved up into the hills. The valley down flooded and a lake was formed, thus drowning Mburo. Presently, the lake is said to be named after the drowned brother, and the
hills overlooking the lake are called Kigarama Hills, named after his brother who survived the catastrophe.
WILD LIFE
Lake Mburo national park together with the other lakes in the area, creates a chain-link to a wetland which lends a hand in providing pasture and water to the wildlife. This park happens to be the only place where you can find impalas in Uganda. The lake harbors various endangered species of fish such as the endangered cichlid fish species which have significantly reduced over time.
Lake Mburo national park Uganda photo by neiljs on Flickr
Lake Mburo National park is home to about 70 mammal species and over 350 bird species. Some of the animals found in the park include zebras, crocodiles, impalas, eland, buffaloes, water buck, hippos, warthogs, jackals, leopards, reed bucks, as well as hyenas. Other activities include birding, nature guided walks, fishing in lake mburo, horseback riding, bicycle tours, exploring Rubanga forest, and the salt lick.
ACTIVITIES
During a Uganda wildlife safari on top of the fantastic game drives (both daylight and nocturnal) to see Zebras, Impalas, Elands, Topis, Hyenas, Leopards, Buffaloes among other animals. Boat rides to see Crocodiles, Hippos, with different Bird species. The park can also be explored using mountain bikes, on foot and on horseback, allowing you to see a variety of wildlife, & Sports fishing Seasoned rangers are readily available to accompany visitors on the hiking expeditions. Bird watching would round up a perfect tour with the various viewing spots available. These include Warukiri, the roadsides between Rwonyo camp, the swampy valleys of Miriti, the Salt Lake, and the Rubanga forest.
Scenic views in Lake Mburo National Park. Photo by beccacantpark on Flickr
Cultural Experience
A visit to Lake Mburo national park gives an opportunity for amazing Uganda cultural experiences. The Uganda wildlife authority in partnership with UCOTA identified and certified 9 community groups around Lake Mburo National park with an aim of social development and equipping them with skills to best provide excellent community experiences to tourists. The groups give experiences ranging from traditional cattle keeping experiences, traditional organic foods and juices processing, cultural museum experience, Banyankole traditional dance called Ekitaguriro, hand craft shop, nature walks, camping site as well as the cultural walks, fishing adventures as well as the traditional fish processing tour, traditional bee keeping tour as well as the nature walks among others.
How To Get There
Twist Africa offers pick-up from the airport in Entebbe or hotel in Kampala for a trip to Lake Mburo National Park. The drive from Kampala takes about 4-5 hours. Lake Mburo is usually a stopover to many parks in western Uganda including Gorilla safaris in Bwindi impenetrable national park. The park is located in the western part of the country and it’s over 228km/142 meters from Kampala.
Zebra Crossing photo by flöschen on Flickr
There are two roads to get to Lake Mburo National park, with both branching off from Masaka – Mbarara road. One leads you to the sanga gate 37km east of Mbarara, and the other will help you to enter via the Nshara gate which is 20km from Lyantonde and 50km to Mbarara. Because of the terrain to the park, we advise you to use a 4×4 vehicle.
HOTEL
This national park has also got few accommodation options. The most up market lodge is the Mihingo safari lodge that has set its standards or the up market, the semi luxury lodge is the Mantana tented camp and it has got good facilities. The mid-range lodge is the Mburo safari Lodge. The budgeting options include; Eagle’s nest that are tented cottages with bath rooms. The low budget lodges can also be found in Rwonyo rest camp that is operated by Uganda Wildlife Authority.
The morning view from Mihingo Lodge, which runs horseback safaris. Photo by beccacantpark on Flickr