Lake Mburo surprised me a lot! The park may not have the number of species (especially big cats and elephants are absent), but it is very relaxed, and the population of herbivores is impressive. Lake Mburo National Park can be a nice start to your trip or a lovely ending to your trip. This park has many other activities to do. Keep reading to find out more about the most underrated national park of Uganda.

Tourist occurrence: Low

How to get here: 6 hours drive from Bwindi and 5 hours drive from Kampala. 

How much time needed: 1-2 days

Small Park

If you compare Lake Mburo to other parks to do a safari, this is a small park. Do not let that fool you, as you can drive around on different enough tracks. The park is surrounded by farms, which makes the park smaller, even though the wildlife can be found on the farms as well. 

Wildlife

Even though the park misses some "popular" animals like lions, elephants, and cheetahs, it has a lot of herbivore species. This park is the only park in Uganda that holds impalas and zebras. Giraffes are reintroduced here and doing great. You can also find big herds of buffaloes, waterbucks, elands, and more herbivores. The populations are all pretty high because of the low density of predators (however present, see later!). 

Game walk

One of the highlights of Lake Mburo is a game walk. You will not be leaving and just finding whatever you come across, but you will walk to a species you like (which is easy to find and safe) and come closer. Most people (like me) will go for the giraffes, and it was absolutely fantastic seeing those majestic animals close. We also saw a herd of buffaloes, zebras, a bateleur, and other birds. Seeing wildlife on foot makes it even more interesting and spectacular. Do not expect to walk a lot, but this is a very special and cool activity, which you cannot miss here. 

Night drive

Another activity you cannot miss in this park is a night drive. Doing a night drive in this park gives you an opportunity to find nocturnal animals. We saw a bushbaby and a genet. The highlight was the sighting of a leopard very close. She was lying on top of a hill and very close. There are very good chances of seeing leopards during a night drive. Besides, we only found hippos and buffaloes very close. Going out looking for animals in the dark is such a different experience I would recommend it to everyone.

Other activities

In Lake Mburo there is a wide range of activities you cannot often do in national parks. Besides the night drive and game walk (the only two I did besides a normal game drive), you can go on a boat, go horseback riding, and find wildlife on a bike. You can choose all activities when you arrive in the park.

Short stop or more than that?

Most people think of Lake Mburo as a short stop, but in my opinion it is much more than that. The amount of wildlife, different species, and many cool activities make this stop a unique addition to your Uganda holiday. For me this is very underrated and should not be overlooked. The hike to the giraffes and the leopard at night was an absolute highlight during my two weeks in this country.

Accommodations

Lake Mburo National Park has some good accommodations with Rwakobo Rock, Kigambira Safari Lodge, and more. I stayed at the Mihingo Lodge (see pictures), which was absolutely fantastic. It was my favourite accommodation in Uganda, where I stayed, as it had a great pool, good rooms, and fantastic food! 

Final Thoughts

Lake Mburo is a great national park with so many different things to do but also lovely scenery and much wildlife. This park is one of the best to find zebras and many other herbivores. It is a perfect start to your safari or the perfect relaxed ending, having different experiences with a night drive and a game walk. Do not miss this park in Uganda!

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