Lake Mburo Wildlife Safari National Park- Africa, The Home of the Elegant Zebra in Uganda.

Things to see and do at Lake Mburo Wildlife National Park. Find Zebras, leopards, Jackals, Hyenas, Buffaloes, Antelopes, Hippos, crocodiles and over 300 kinds of birds The Park is nearest park to Kampala 41/2 hours courtesy of Ebenezer Elder treks. Lake Mburo is not often found in Safari brochures as part of a Ugandan Package, yet this Park has a long and varied history as a conservation area and as a park.

The area has long been considered a prime grazing area by the Bahima pastoralists with their giant horned Ankole cattle.  Man and his cattle lived alongside the animals in the area of what is now the park but hunted down animals such as Lions since they threatened their herds and at times themselves. It has been a see-saw battle back and forth but finally people came together and formed a conservation group that took in the interests of the surrounding communities and they in turn had an opportunity to air their grievances.  Today those communities receive a percentage of the proceeds from the park which goes to build infrastructure such as schools, medical clinics and more.

 Lake Mburo National park has been graced by Lake Mburo, 5 other smaller lakes and various areas that swampy in nature and provides a good place for birds to be found.  About a 5th of the park is covered by lakes and wetland, there are rock covered bridges, plenty of savanna graced by several species of Acacia Trees.

Things to see at Lake Mburo Safari park.

Mammals:  Here are some of the major ones you will find in Lake Mburo National Park.

Leopard:  A good guide with you or simply be fortunate to see one since they are quite elusive.

Lions:  In January of 2009 Lions have been spotted once again in Lake Mburo Park after an absence of 12 years.  They are being tracked to see if they will remain the park.  This is good news.

Burchell Zebra: Thousands are found here and not at in most Wildlife Parks except Kidepo that is not too accessible for most unless you fly in.

Kidepo  is not too accessible for most unless you fly in.

• African Golden Cat:  Wide spread in Western Uganda, but rarely seen
• Antelopes:  Kampala, Topi, , Common Duiker, Oribi, Bushbuck, Defassa Waterbuck, Bohor Reedbuck, and the Eland which is the largest antelope to be found migrates through the park at times.  The elusive sitatunga antelopes can be found if you are poking around in the swamps areas of the park.
• Buffalo:  Often found near water.  If you find a solitary male buffalo, he has been ejected by the females in the group for someone better.
• Hippopotamus:  Hippos are found grazing on land and can actually move quite fast and can run over most anyone or anything.  During the day you will find them in water of the lakes.
• Warthog:  Usually seen in groups and found in most Ugandan Parks .
• Bush Pig:  Probably not to seen unless you are driving around at night in the Park.
• Spotted Hyena:  You can see them in the evenings and sometimes at night not too far from your lodging, at least you can hear their cry piercing the stillness of the night.
• Otters:  The Cape Clawless Otter, the DRC Clawless Otter, Spotted Necked Otter.  Lake Mburo is one of the areas where all three are present.
• Side Striped Jackal:  small dogs that are founded in most of Ugandan Parks.
• White Tailed Mongoose:  You might spot a few at dawn or dusk.
• Vervet Monkeys:  Those are those grey monkeys you see almost anywhere.
• Baboons:  Often move in large groups and their teeth can seem threatening but for the most part they leave humans alone.

Reptiles: 

• Crocodiles:  You find them on the shores of the lake and submerged like a log in the water.
• Various kinds of snakes:  Most likely you will not come across any since they usually move at the sound of vibrations in the ground created by people walking.
• Savanna Monitor:  Can be over 2 meter long and some people might think that they are a crocodile.

The is from Kampala is   4½ hour drive time from Kampala’s Uganda’s capital city. There are also 315 species of birds recorded as being in Lake Mburo National Park.  That is almost a third of all the birds that have been recorded in Uganda.  You will find swamp birds, those that prefer acacia trees since there 5 kinds of acacia trees at the park.