Lake Mburo National Park also known as the home of Zebras is located between Masaka and Mbarara in the Albertine rift connecting you to other two national parks in the western region which are Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park. The park is 228 km from Kampala which makes it an ideal stop for most visitors. It was first gazetted in 1993 as a controlled hunting ground and later in 1963, it was established as a national park.
Lake Mburo National Park It is the smallest of Uganda’s savannah national parks, covering 370 km2 in size, of which 20% are wetland habitats. There are about 13 other lakes in the area, of which Lake Mburo forms part of a 50km-long wetland system linked by a swamp. Five of these lakes lie within the park’s borders, as do a number of hills within and surrounding the park.
As you are approaching the park from Kampala, which is central to the west, you will notice a gradual change in the topography from flat land to hills and valleys with papyrus swamps. The park has a tropical climate found in the Ankole-southern climatic zone, which lies in a rain shadow area between Lake Victoria and the Rwenzori Mountains. It is marked with two seasons, the rain and dry seasons, and receives a bi-modal low rainfall ranging between 500 and 1000 mm.
The rain causes a shortage of pastures and thus affects the wildlife and birds, forcing the local pastoralists to encroach on the park, hunting for pasture to feed their animals. The park has animals such as lions, 15 giraffes that were translocated from Murchison Falls National Park in 2015, hippos, with over 500 of them found at Lake Mburo, 350 species of birds, impalas, zebras, topi, waterbuck, eland, baboons, monkeys, and warthogs, to mention but a few.
When you visit the park, you can be certain to take part in a number of activities both before you arrive in the park and when you get there. You will experiment with the gravitational force at the equator just before you arrive at the National Park.
Accommodations Facilities in Lake Mburo National Park
The park has accommodations that are as beautiful as the park that includes, including Mihingo lodge, Mantana Tented Camp, Arcadia Cottages, Rwakobo rock, and Mburo Safari Lodge, Rwonyo Campsite and much more.
