Lake Mburo National Park

Lake Mburo National Park: Highlights

Lake Mburo National Park is a compact stopover that's conveniently close to the highway that connects Kampala to western parks such as Bwindi – useful if the far more expensive local flights aren't an option. It's the smallest of Uganda’s savannah national parks and lies on ancient Precambrian metamorphic rocks that date back more than 500 million years. Game viewing here is less than fabulous. The hilly landscape is pretty, but heavy vegetation conceals the wildlife from view. There are no elephant or lion because of an unstable past where wildlife was almost entirely wiped out. However, it's the only place in Uganda where you're likely to see large herds of impala, zebra and eland.

The lake itself is the largest of five lakes within the park and all are fringed by thick riparian forest and patches of papyrus swamp. Surrounding the lakes are rolling hills and moving away from the lake shores, the forest gives way to a mosaic of open savannah and acacia woodland that once stretched southwards to the Tanzania border and beyond.

Lake Mburo National Park: In Pictures

Hippos

at lake mburo national park

Lion

at lake mburo national park

Views

of lake mburo national park

Game View

at lake mburo national park

Experience Lake Mburo National Park

Together with 13 other lakes in the area, Lake Mburo forms part of a 50-kilometre wetland system linked by a swamp that's fed by the Ruizi River on the western side. Five of the lakes lie within the park’s borders. Almost a fifth of the park's area consists of wetlands – both seasonally flooded and permanent swamps. The various types of swamps are home to a wide variety of wetland birds and the shy, rare sitatunga antelope. Once covered by open savannah, Lake Mburo National Park now has extensive woodland because there are no elephants to tame the vegetation.

In the western part of the park the savannah is interspersed with rocky ridges and forested gorges while patches of papyrus swamp and narrow bands of lush riparian woodland line the lakes. Lake Mburo’s surface and the vegetation on its banks are always changing, and it's lovely to take a boat out and experience the scenic changes.

Where to find Lake Mburo National Park

Birdlife at the Lake Mburo National Park

More than 310 bird species have been recorded in Lake Mburo National Park. This park is the best place in Uganda for acacia-dwelling birds. Forest species are also present in Rubanga Forest. A bonus for birders are the swamps, in which six papyrus specials are resident, including the spectacular papyrus gonolek and the blue-headed coucal. Southern species at the northern limit of their range include the black-collared barbet and bare-faced go-away bird. Migratory birds are present from November to April.

The birdlife in Lake Mburo is good year-round. June and July have the least rain, while March and April have the most rain. The heavy rains might result in delays due to impassable roads and slippery hiking trails. These can limit your bird-watching time. Migratory birds are around from November to April.

Visit Similar Destinations

Bwindi is home to half the world’s remaining population of critically endangered mountain gorilla. Out of these, several families have become habituated to humans.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

There are 13 primate species found within the forest including chimpanzees, red-tailed monkey, L'Hoest's monkey, blue monkey, grey-cheeked mangabey, red colobus and black-and-white colobus.

Kibale Forest National Park

It's the smallest of Uganda’s savannah national parks and lies on ancient Precambrian metamorphic rocks that date back more than 500 million years.