Do you know the exact color of a zebra? Is it white black or Black white? It is Lake Mburo national park with your answer.
Lake Mburo National Park is located in Mbarara district roughly 3.5 hours’ drive from Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, making it the nearest park to Kampala and most suitable for those who have a minimal or fixed schedule but desire to explore nature.
Lake Mburo was formally designated in 1933 as a forbidden hunting area. Then in 1963, it was improved and made a game reserve. However, the Banyankole and Bahima who lived in the place unrelentingly grazed their cattle in the area pending its upgrade to a national park in 1983.
This decision by Obote’s governments was a deliberate move to weaken the Banyankole, who supported anti-Obote’s rebels. As the homeless pastoralists who were ejected from his area were not remunerated for lost grazing land or assisted with resettling making many hostiles to the advancement and development in the area. The area outside the park was then separated into small plots for subsistence farming.
1985, Obote’s regime was overthrown something that brought joy to those residents who were dismissed from the park, they had to re-occupy the park’s land, and dismissing those who were working here, destroying the structures and hunting and killing the existing wildlife and game. In 1986, the national resistance movement re-gazetted less than half of the previous park
Lake Mburo national park is open to tourist all year round, it has undisputed sights that have been set up as well as unique species of both bird and gem not easily found anywhere around the world, the professional and knowledgeable employees here ensure that everything is delivered the right way, the park is managed by Uganda wildlife authority.
The park is privileged with numerous animal species such as zebra, hippopotamus, impala, warthog, common eland, African buffalo, jackal, African leopard. Also, there are over 300 bird species recorded in this particular park.
Though this is the smallest savanna national park in Uganda covering only 260 square kilometers (100 sq mi), every section of the park is active and vibrant, with approximately158square miles of attractive acacia-dotted savanna of Oleo and Boscia which is home to 68 mammal species, wetland and many more. The park sports so many interesting activities such as:
Game Drives / wildlife viewing expeditions.
Lake Mburo national park offers all its guests a chance of engaging in-game viewing, it has both night and morning game drives that offers you a chance of spotting night and day hunters as well as getting closer beauty.
The night game drives start from 7pm up to 11 pm before getting back to your lodge for an overnight, you will spot several mammals such as zebra, leopard, impala, topi, eland, bushbuck, buffalo, warthog, leopard, hyena, and jackal among others; but don’t expect either lion or an elephant here.
Birding safaris:
There are over 315 different species of birds in this park that makes it a perfect destination for all birders and they include; the rare shoebill stork, papyrus yellow warbler, African finfoot, saddle-billed stork, brown chested wattle plover, Caruthers’s cist cola, Tabora cisticola, great snipe, Abyssinian ground hornbill, African fish eagle, white-winged warbler among others. You will also sight the Acacia species, Oleo species and Boscia species at the woody vegetation of the park.
Because of the diversity in the lakeshore and the wide savanna, diversity seems endless.
Sightseeing:
Lake Mburo national has very amazing views of the medley surrounding, the dry hillside, thickets, forests, lakes, swamp, wooded savanna, rocky outcrops, bushes, diversity of plants and animals among others all for visitors to watch.
Boat rides.
Lake Mburo national park offers opportunities for all the visitors to go and have a boat ride on the lake that draws you nearer to some of the aquatic animals such as crocodiles and hippos as well as some animals that come to quench their thirst at the lake shores.
Other activities in this wonderful park includes photography, walking safaris, nature walks/hikes, cultural encounters, horse rides, among others.
Lake Mburo is a dense gem, situated strategically along to the highway that leads tourists from Kampala to the different national parks in western Uganda. Though it is the smallest of Uganda’s savannah which dates approximately 500 million years, over 350 bird species as well as zebra, impala, eland, call this park home. Why don’t you then be the next person to put your name in the record books of Lake Mburo National Park?
