Lake Mburo National Park

Wetland habitats comprise 20% of the park’s surface

The parks’ precarious past has seen wildlife virtually eliminated several times: firstly, in various attempts to rid the region of tsetse flies, then to make way for ranches, and finally as a result of subsistence poaching.

20% of the park’s entrance fee is used to fund local community projects such as building clinics and schools.

Lake Mburo National Park is a compact gem, located conveniently close to the highway that connects Kampala to the parks of western Uganda. It is the smallest of Uganda’s savannah national parks and underlain by ancient Precambrian metamorphic rocks which date back more than 500 million years. It’s a home to 350 bird species as well as zebras, impalas, elands, buffalos, oribi, Defassa waterbuck, leopard, hippo, hyena, topi and reedbuck.

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, Wathhog ,bushpig 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.

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, blackbellied bustard,bare-faced-go away bird and Ruppell’s starling. A handful of birds is recorded essentially the southern ground hornbill and black throated barbet.

HOW TO GET TO THE PARK?

By Road

Lake Mburo National Park is the closest of all Uganda’s national parks to the capital city; located between Kampala and Mbarara City. The park is mainly accessed by road over a journey of approximately 228 kilometers (about 3 ½ hours).

From Kampala, the park can be accessed through two gates. If traveling from Kampala the first branch off on the left leads you to the Nshara Gate for a distance of about 5 kilometers. The second is at Sanga Trading Center for a distance of about 13 kilometers to the park’s Sanga Gate.

Both gates are only about 2 kilometers from the park’s headquarters at Rwonyo.

By Air

Whereas there aren’t any direct flights into the park, tourists can charter flights from either Entebbe International Airport or Kajjansi Airstrip to Mbarara airstrip through one of the domestic carriers. The flight is approximately 1 ½ hours. You will then transfer by road to the park for a short distance.