Lake Mburo National Park is a scenic little park, close to Kampala, is home to several wildlife species not easily seen elsewhere in Uganda. These include Burchell’s zebra and impala. Although elephant are absent from the park, there is plenty of other wildlife to see, including Rothschild’s giraffe, buffalo and defassa waterbuck.
The main features of the park are Lake Mburo and four other lakes, which form part of a 50km/31mi-long wetland area. They are best viewed from the impressive Kazuma Lookout. The main vegetation is open savannah, but the park is becoming increasingly covered by woodland due to the absence of elephant. The savannah is interspersed with patches of forest and rocky outcrops. Papyrus swamp and woodland surround the lakes.
Many typical safari animals are resident, but not elephant or rhino, while lion are very sporadic visitors. Leopard are sometimes spotted on night drives. Highlights in the park include impala (not found in any other Ugandan park), eland, the endangered Rothschild’s giraffe and Burchell’s zebra (which is only found here and in Kidepo Valley). Other animals regularly seen are oribi and warthog. Hundreds of hippo are found in the lake.
The park has a good variety of wildlife. Several antelope species can be seen, including topi, duiker, oribi, bohor reedbuck and klipspringer. Elephant are absent, but herds of buffalo are quite common, and Rothschild’s giraffe have been reintroduced. A healthy population of leopard is present, although mostly seen at night. Hippo and crocodile can be found in the lake.
Best Time for Wildlife Viewing
Lake Mburo can be visited anytime, with wildlife-viewing highlights year-round. In the Dry seasons (from June to August and December to February), animals gather around rivers and waterholes, and during the Wet seasons (March to May and September to November), large numbers of animals can be seen in the open valleys.