Lake Mburo National Park

Background Information

Lake Mburo is one of the newest of Uganda’s National Parks, with a landscape of open plains, acacia grasslands and marshes. Around the lake itself is thicker riverine woodland while much of the rest of the park is acacia woodland. It is a small but interesting savanna reserve within a four hour drive from Kampala.

Herds of zebra, impala, klipspringer, oribi, topi, reedbucks, leopard, and buffalo are among the animals that may be encountered, alongside a rich diversity of birds more typical of Tanzanian acacia-savanna, such as the crested crane (Uganda’s national emblem), saddle bill storks and Abyssinian ground hornbills. One of the great advantages of Lake Mburo National Park is that you can walk in the park accompanied by a park ranger.

By Road: 3 hours drive from Kampala along Mbarara Road after Senga (Only 20km from here).

Most of the typical safari animals are resident – excluding elephant and rhino. Lion are rarely seen but leopard are often spotted on night drives. Highlights in the park include impala (which isn’t found in any other Ugandan park), eland, the endangered Rothschild’s giraffe and Burchell’s zebra (which is only found here and in Kidepo Valley). Other animals regularly seen are Defassa waterbuck, oribi and warthog. Hundreds of hippo are found in the lake.

Two Wet seasons give Lake Mburo a good soaking from March to May and September to November. The rainfall tends to peak in April and lessen in the second half of the year. The drier periods of the year (June to August and December to February) barely qualify as Dry seasons – they’re just less wet.