Best wildlife tours on walking safari at Lake Mburo national park

WHISPERS OF THE WILD

Safari at Lake Mburo national park is a compact gem, located (-0.57123° S, 30.97053° E) conveniently close to the highway that connects Kampala to the parks of western Uganda. Lake Mburo national park is 226km from Kampala on a 4 hours 45 minutes drive. The park is the smallest of Uganda’s savannah national parks and underlain by ancient precambrian metamorphic rocks which date back more than 500 million years. At lake Mburo is home to 350 bird species as well as zebras, impalas, elands, buffalos, oribi, Defassa waterbuck, leopard, hippo, hyena, topi and reedbuck on walking safaris. Wetland habitats comprise 20% of the park’s surface.

Lake Mburo is notably blessed with over 315 bird species and probably the best place to view acacia-associated birds, Rwonyo is a good zone to see the mosque swallow, black-bellied bustard, bare-faced-go away bird and Ruppel’s starling. A handful of birds is recorded essentially the southern ground hornbill and black throated barbet. Safari at Lake Mburo national park can be done with game drives, walking safaris, mountain biking, by boat, on foot and on horseback.

Lake Mburo national park safari

Safari in lake Mburo national park is one of the easiest savannah wildlife adventures in Uganda to access as it is the nearest savanna park to Kampala on a 3 hours road drive. Lake Mburo national park is popular for a high population of burchell’s zebras with around 600- 800 herds and also considered as the Impala capital of Uganda with more than 30,000 herds found in the park. Other ungulates in lake Mburo also include a healthy population of Rothchild’s giraffes with around 100 individuals, buffaloes, hippos, elands, topis, warthogs and water bucks.

Predators in lake Mburo national park include leopards, spotted hyenas, crocodiles, side striped jackal, African civet, mongooses and genets and the park has no apex predators such as lions and cheetahs. The absence of Apex predators makes walking safaris a great adventure in lake Mburo national park savanna grassland plains.

Lake Mburo national park ecosystem

Though lake Mburo is the largest lake in the park, the park’s ecosystem is made up of 5 lakes and 2 major swamps that are an extension of the Rwizi river swamp system that is permanently fed by river Rwizi. There’s a total of 14 lakes in the area with only 5 lakes being part of the lake Mburo national park ecosystem which are; lake Ruroko, lake Kigambira, lake Kazuma, lake Bwa and lake Mburo. Swamps extending from the river Rwizi ecosystem located in lake Mburo national park are the Warukiri and Miriti swamps.

Tour packages for safari at Lake Mburo national park

Walking safaris at Lake Mburo national park

2 days lake Mburo safari experience

A short Uganda wildlife adventure on the 2 days focused lake Mburo safari experience is a great relaxation travel holiday choice. Reaching lake Mburo takes only 3 hours road drive. On reaching you engage in various park activities till the next day for example horse back riding tours, lake Mburo, boat rides, birding, night tours, nature walks, community walks. Towards the end of the next day, still only 3 hours are needed to connect back to Kampala to end the short 2 days wildlife experience. Expect beautiful sightings of; zebras, antelopes, giraffes, leopards, buffaloes, water bucks, hippos, crocodiles, warthogs, oribis, topis, hyenas, jackals and numerous bird species.

7 days Gorillas & lake mburo expedition

On this 7 days gorilla trekking & lake Mburo national park safari is a top combined primate trekking and wildlife game viewing experiences. You travel to Bwindi impenetrable forest to encounter mountain gorillas then game drives, bird watching and Kazinga channel boat cruise in Queen Elizabeth national park with wildlife for example lions, elephants, buffaloes, hippos, antelopes, hyenas etc. Tracking chimpanzees in the Kalinzu forest reserve is also part of the itinerary preceding lake Mburo national park activities for a day for example walking safaris, boat cruises, bird watching, bicycle riding tours, nature & forest walks, horse back riding tours etc.

7 days l. Mburo-gorillas-Rwanda safari

A week/ 7 days lake Mburo wildlife & primate trekking safari starts from Kampala with departure in Kigali, Rwanda. Day 1 sees you enjoy Kampala city tour as you relax from your flight. The 2nd day takes you to lake Mburo national park for great nature excursions for example walking tours, horse back rides, riding tours etc. Following lake Mburo game park visit, you'll head out for more 2 days wildlife game drives in Queen Elizabeth N.P. From Queen Elizabeth game park, you'll continue into Bwindi impenetrable for gorilla trekking and finally wind up with golden monkey tracking in Mgahinga national park. The last day will get you to Kigali, Rwanda for a city tour before catching up with your departure flight.

15 DAY UGANDA PRIMATES & WILDLIFE SAFARI

The 2 weeks/ 15 days primate trekking & wildlife Uganda safari takes you around in all the popular game parks for great adventure in the pearl of Africa. This 2 weeks' safari in Uganda takes you from the furthest game park- Kidepo national park to the closest game park- lake Mburo national park via the western tourism circuit. Expect to have great sightings of unique features for example mountain gorilla, chimpanzee, golden monkeys, mtn. Rwenzori, the great rift valley, Africa's big 5 (lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants, buffaloes), Murchison water falls (world's strongest w falls), river Nile, crater lakes, flamingos, shoebills, giraffes, zebras, antelopes, warthogs, cheetahs, ostriches, hippos, crocodiles, sun birds, kingfishers, Albertine rift endemics, blue turacos etc.

15 DAYS RWANDA-UGANDA SAFARI-L.MBURO EXPERIENCE

Another 2 weeks/ 15 days Rwanda- Uganda safari has unique highlights of double chimpanzee tracking, source of the river Nile and also a day in the lake Mburo national park. This 15 days primate trekking and wildlife safari starts from Rwanda taking you through Nyungwe, Akagera & volcanoes national parks. Wildlife experiences on this safari include Africa's big 5 (lions, elephants, buffaloes, rhinos, leopards), gorilla trekking, golden monkeys, Kazinga channel boat cruises with hippos& crocodiles, chimpanzee tracking, birding, rift valley sceneries, river Nile, birding, Nile river boat cruise with shoebills, giraffes, zebras, warthogs, hot springs, bungee jumping, white water rafting the Nile etc. This 15 days Rwanda- Uganda safari is a typical slow travel itinerary covering great East African tourist attractions.

24 days Uganda birding & wildlife experience

3 weeks/ 24 days wildlife, birding & gorilla trekking Uganda experience is another typical slow travel experience for tourists. Along the wildlife adventure comes with a lot of cultural traditions tours among the locals. Uganda is popularly known for gorilla trekking, golden monkeys & chimpanzee tracking, Murchison water falls (world's strongest water falls), source of the river Nile, Africa's big 5, Kazinga channel boat cruises (having the world's highest hippo pods), mtn. Rwenzori etc. Moreover, Uganda has up to 25% of the continent's total bird species population with amazing East African endemics for example shoebills, flamingos, great blue turacos, Albertine rift endemics, Guinea Congo biome species, hornbills, cranes, sunbirds, kingfishers, bee-eaters etc.

Safari at Lake Mburo national park

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. Once covered by open savanna, this supports the healthy population of Buffalos, Warthog ,bush pig and hippopotamus. 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.

Activities on safari at Lake Mburo national park

Much as lake Mburo national park is the smallest savanna plains game park in Uganda, the park has some of the most exciting safari activities to take on for tourism travel for example;

Lake Mburo boat trip; The eastern shores of Lake Mburo can be explored by boat, depart. Watch out for crocodiles and hippopotamus during the two-hour voyage. You can also sight a variety of birds including pelicans, herons and fish eagle and perhaps the rare finfoot and shoebill on safari at Lake Mburo national park. Fishermen with their own equipment may fish in the lake from the campsite by arrangement.
Safari game drives; A network of game tracks explores the eastern hinterland of Lake Mburo, providing the chance to see a variety of savannah animals and bird watching in savanna grassland plains of Lake Mburo national park.
Bird watching; Prime areas for birding in Lake Mburo include the acacia woodland along the Acacia and Research tracks; the wooded shores of Lake Mburo as seen from the Rwonyo launch (ideal territory for the African finfoot) and the lake’s northern fringe of papyrus wetland.
Walking safari; During walks around the park, you come in close range with beautiful wildlife animals for example zebras, giraffes, topis, buffaloes, leopards, oribi, antelopes and numerous bird species that fly in the acacia woodlands of the park.

More lake Mburo game park itinerary activities

Night safari drives; Night drives with a ranger guide provide the chance to see nocturnal animals such as leopards, bush babies, pottos and porcupines.
Salt Lick Walk; Guided walks explore the park around Rwonyo, culminating in a visit to a natural salt lake where wildlife can be viewed from a timber observation platform.
Horse riding tours; You also enjoy wildlife viewing while riding on the back of horses and is one of the most exciting tourist experiences done in lake Mburo national park.
Biking/ Bicycle riding tours; Along game rangers and guides, you also get to enjoy more wildlife viewing while riding on bicycles around the park for great open wilderness sightings.
Savanna plains view points; South of Rwonyo, the Lakeside Track climbs onto Kigarama Hill which provides a panoramic view of Lake Mburo. Lake Mburo and seven more lakes can also be seen from the equally dramatic Kazuma Lookout which lies at the top of a rather steep track accessed from the Ruroko Track near the Kazuma/Research Track junction.

Best time to visit lake Mburo national park

Lake Mburo national park is the nearest savanna park from Kampala on a 3 hours road drive and the best time to visit lake Mburo national park is during anytime throughout the year. During the dry seasons of June- August and December- February is the best time for lake Mburo national park activities like game drives, riding tours, horse riding tours, boat rides, walking tours etc. as most of the tracks are found maneuverable and dry. This time eases reach to most parts of the park for great wildlife sightings.

During the rainy/ green/ wet seasons of September- November and March- May are also great times bird watching as they are breeding times for over 350 recorded resident bird species. In the breeding seasons, the lush green grasslands host and feed numerous resident bird species. Also from the months of November till April, there’s presence of numerous palearctic European and north African bird species that join the residents to make this period great for bird lovers.

Where to stay at lake Mburo national park

Mihingo lodge

Located at -0.60289° S, 31.04780° E, in lake Mburo national park, Mihingo lodge is a luxury safari lodge giving you a perfect mix of luxury, leisure and wild nature. Mihingo is located 238km from Kampala along the highway to Mbarara on a 5 hours drive.

Mihingo lodge offers excellent services at rates of;

Single occupancy at $330
Double occupancy at $510
Triple at $720
Children 3-12yrs at $140

Stay at this lodge in the park directly engages you into:

Wildlife game drives
Horseback riding tours
Bird watching
Night tours
Biking tours

Kigambira safari lodge

Nestled at -0.69780° S, 30.94278° E in the heart of the Lake Mburo national park, Kigambira lodge is a perfect get away paradise. Kigambira lodge is 251km from Kampala on a 6 hours drive.

Kigambira safari lodge offer quite more options on accommodation which are the family rooms, deluxe double rooms & deluxe twin rooms starting at $343 pp per night.

During your stay at the lodge, you won’t miss the unique stature of the park features & creatures on;

Wildlife game drives
Shoebills & Bird watching
Horseback riding tours
Mountain biking tours
Night tours

Hyena hill lodge

With beautiful traditional/ local craftsmanship Hyena hill lodge gives a complete sense of a modern African lodge. Nestled in the middle of lake Mburo national park at -0.58884° S, 30.926926° E, the lodge is 244km from the capital Kampala on a 5 hours 30 minutes drive.

Hyena hill lodge offers range of accommodation options at affordable rates, which are;

Single occupancy at $110
Double room at $155 pp per night
Family rooms at $215 pp for 3 people, $260 pp for 4 people and $305 pp for 5 people
Children room with first child charged at adult rate and others at $35
Children below 5yrs sharing with adults- FREE
Children 6-15 sharing with adults at $35 pp

All park activities will be engaged in while at Hyena hill lodge for example;

Wildlife game drives
Mountain biking
Bird watching & sceneries
Nature walks
Night tours
Horseback riding tours

Arcadia lodge Mburo

Accompanying lake Mburo national park’s natural splendor, Arcadia lodge brings gives along a modern ambiance stay to the guests at its premises. Located at -0.64170° S & 30.955369° E, Arcadia lodge is 243km from Kampala on a 6 hours drive.

Arcadia lodge offers several stay opportunities for example;

Single room at $120
double room at $180 pp
Twin room at $180 pp
Family room starting at $360 pp

Given the lodge’s position in the park, you will enjoy several park activities such as:

Wildlife game drives
Bird watching
Nature walks
Shoebill tracking
Night tours
Mountain biking
Horseback riding tours