With 260sq km, this is one of Uganda’s smallest wildlife parks although very rich in wild game, Lake Mburo was originally gazetted in 1933 as a controlled hunting area and upgraded to a game reserve in 1963. Lake Mburo National Park is a compact gem, located conveniently close to the highway that connects Kampala to the parks of western Uganda. It is the smallest of Uganda’s savannah national parks and underlain by ancient Precambrian metamorphic rocks which date back more than 500 million years. Plentiful of bird life flourishes here with more than 315 different bird species as well as Zebra, impala, eland, buffalo, oribi. Defassa Waterbuck, Leopard, Hippo, hyena, topi and reebuck.

Together with 13 other lakes in the area, Lake Mburo forms part of a 50km-long wetland system linked by a swamp. Five of these lakes lie within the park’s borders. Once covered by open savanna, Lake Mburo National Park now contains much woodland as there are no elephants to tame the vegetation. In the western part of the park, the savanna is interspersed with rocky ridges and forested gorges while patches of papyrus swamp and narrow bands of lush riparian woodland line many lakes. The park has camp grounds and permanent tent facilities for visitors. In 2009, the Uganda Wildlife Authority which manages the park announced plans to introduce balloon tourism in the park.

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