Lake Mburo National Park Safaris in Uganda

Covering an area of about 370 square kilometres, Lake Mburo National Park is one of Uganda’s smallest yet most diverse savannah parks, forming part of a chain of wetlands and lakes. The park is conveniently located between the towns of Masaka and Mbarara, making it one of the most accessible national parks from Kampala. Lake Mburo National Park is the only place in Uganda where impalas can be found, along with large populations of antelopes and elands. Other wildlife species in the park include zebras, hippopotami, warthogs, buffaloes, jackals, and leopards, offering visitors a rich and varied game-viewing experience. The park is also a birdwatcher’s paradise, boasting over 300 recorded bird species. These include the Abyssinian ground hornbill, African finfoot, African scops owl, bare-faced go-away bird, blue-breasted kingfisher, blue-headed coucal, brown-chested lapwing, Carruthers’s cisticola, greater painted snipe, hairy-breasted barbet, mosque swallow, papyrus gonolek, papyrus yellow warbler, red-faced barbet (NE), shoebill, Tabora cisticola, white-winged warbler, and yellow-rumped tinkerbird, among many others. Historically, Lake Mburo was first gazetted in 1933 as a controlled hunting area and later upgraded to a game reserve in 1963. In 1983, it officially became a national park. In 2009, the Uganda Wildlife Authority announced plans to introduce balloon tourism in the park, adding another exciting attraction to its range of activities.