Taking a Lake Mburo game drive is the best way to explore Lake Mburo National Park, and see a variety of wildlife species. If you would like to explore this small national park with a greater experience, a safari game drive would be a greater idea for you.
Lake Mburo National Park is the only place in Uganda to see the majestic impalas and the only easily accessible place to see Burchell’s zebras. The other being Kidepo Valley National Park.
Lake Mburo National Park is the only place in southern Uganda to see zebras and the only national park in the country with impalas, slender mongoose and giant bush rats. You can also look for hyenas, leopards, topis, elands and recently reintroduced Rothschild’s giraffes. Lions are rarely sighted, though thought that there’s only one left here. It is recommended that a 4×4 wheel vehicle is used during rainy seasons, where the Eland track is the most challenging.
There are quite a number of leopards here, but most of them can be sighted during an early morning game drive or night safari game drive. You can have greater chances of seeing other wildlife species such as buffaloes, impalas, topis, bushbucks, reed-bucks, oribis and warthogs.
There are no elephants in this park, though in 2015, giraffes were reintroduced in the park. This has greatly increased on the wildlife diversity within Lake Mburo National Park.
You can decide to either opt for a morning, afternoon, evening or night game drive.
You can decide to use the company safari guide who is well knowledgeable with the game tracks. And it is also more ideal to take a park game ranger guide along, who are better acquitted with the park knowledge.
Lake Mburo Game Drive Tracks
Lake Mburo game drives take different paths and the choice of the best one will depend on the season. During the dry season, animals usually converge around the swamps and lakes, this grants you a remarkable photo opportunity. A magnitude of wild African animals with sparkling lakes in the background.
The most frequently used road tracks on a Lake Mburo game drive are the Impala and Zebra tracks. These respectively connect you to Sanga gate and Nshara gate to Rwonyo Rest Camp. The quality of game viewing on these tracks is erratic, with high concentration of zebras, impalas, waterbucks, topis and bufalloes.
While on your safari game drive, you can also decide to go outside the park, so as to see the local community, herds of cattle, and homesteads. You will also see farmers herding their cattle, kids walking to school and motorbikes ferrying people to and fro.
More Wildlife on Your Game Drive
In amongst this wildlife roams about freely; including zebras, impalas, topis, warthogs, waterbucks, and even the shy elands are all possible to spot. In the dry season, when animals tend to congregate around swamps and lakes, the most productive tracks are likely to be the Lakeside track and Kigambira Loop. At any time of the year, these tracks are the most places to see buffaloes, hippos, warthogs, Defassa bushbucks, and common duikers.
Branching to the east of the Lakeside track, the Kazuma and Ruroko tracks pass through a relatively open savannah. These have rocky hills where lots of animals are frequently found. To the west of Rwonyo, starting near Sanga gate, the Rwizi track leads through an area of light acacia savannah, impalas, elands, and Burchell’s zebras. Various bird species are also among what you may encounter on your successful Lake Mburo game drive.
As you approach River Rwizi and the fringing swamps from the west, you will follow the wooded watercourse for about 33 km before reaching Bishsehe Gate. This is a stretch that is particularly rewarding for bird watching in Lake Mburo National Park.
Other national parks in Uganda for interesting game drive safaris include Queen Elizabeth National Park, through the Ishasha plains well-known for the tree-climbing lions. Murchison Falls National Park in the northern section of the park and the game drive in Kidepo Valley National Park. All these game safaris in Uganda are so exciting with good sightings on the African continent.