Walking Safaris in Lake Mburo: Best Trails, Wildlife & Tips
Walking safaris in Lake Mburo National Park provide a unique wildlife experience in Uganda. These Walking tours offer a unique experience than traditional game drives; you explore the park on foot with an armed ranger and expert guide. Learn about animal behavior, tracks, and the park ecosystem while tracking zebras, impalas, giraffes, and warthogs in this immersive experience. It’s a thrilling, educational, and safe way to engage with nature.
Walking safaris in Lake Mburo National Park offers a unique opportunity for visitors to experience the park’s diverse wildlife and appreciate its breathtaking landscapes. Experienced guide’s lead Lake Mburo nature walks and are all about exploring the park’s wonders on foot. This is an unusual wilderness experience and is intimate with nature enthusiasts, guaranteed of an immersive encounter.
Embarking on nature walks in Lake Mburo National Park involves exploring the bush trails. Each of the trails has something unique for nature lovers to experience. During a guided nature walk, expect to encounter a diversity of wildlife and avifaunal species. The bush walks in Lake Mburo National Park come with wildlife encounters such as zebras, bushbucks, impalas, cape buffaloes, elands, giraffes, and birds.
Popular Walking Trails in Lake Mburo
Rwonyo Salt Lick: This is where visitors can encounter a diversity of wildlife. A large concentration of wildlife gathers around Rwonyo Salt Lick to enjoy the mineral-rich salt deposits. Among the different wildlife to find here are topis, impalas, and zebras.
Lake Shorelines: Embarking on a guided walk along the Lake shorelines of Lake Mburo presents a great opportunity for you to enjoy the best of birding tours, and game viewing with a chance to spot several hippos.
Rubanga Forest: If you enjoy birding, then a visit to Rubanga Forest for nature walks is worth every time and penny. The different birds of interest in Rubanga Forest include the red-headed lover birds, grey-backed camaroptera, green wood hoopoe, black-bellied, red-shouldered cuckoos, coqui francolins, and black-bellied barbet. Rubanga forest walking trail also allows you to come across birds such as papyrus gonoleks, emerald-spotted wood-dove, black and white casqued hornbills, Nubian woodpeckers, elusive shoebill storks, African fin foot, blue-breasted kingfishers, and more.
How much is a Walking Safari in Lake Mburo?
The cost of nature walking in Lake Mburo National Park varies depending on the visitor category. Foreign nonresidents can go for a walk in Lake Mburo at USD 25 per person, foreign residents USD 20 per person, and shs. 20,000 per visitor under the category of East African community citizens. The park entrance fee also varies depending on the category of visitors, whereby foreign nonresidents pay USD 40 per visitor for foreign nonresidents, USD 30 per person for foreign residents, and shs. 20,000 per visitor for East African Community Citizens.
Best Time for Walking Safaris in Lake Mburo National Park
The best time to go for guided nature walking safaris in Lake Mburo is during the dry season. The peak dry months often occur from June to September and December to February. Low or no rain characterizes these months, with the trails kept drier, making it safe and easier for visitors to navigate.
The dry months are far better than the wet months because of the favorable weather that comes with them. Unlike the dry season, the wet season often records heavy rains, making it challenging to navigate on foot in the game trails. The wet or low months of the year to mark on the travel calendar are March, April, May, and then October to November.
Where to stay in Lake Mburo National Park?
Places to consider for an overnight stay in and around Lake Mburo National Park range from budget to luxury. They include Rwakobo Rock Lodge, Mburo Safari Lodge, Arcadia Cottage Lake Mburo, Kigambira Safari Lodge, Rwonyo Rest Camp, and Mihingo Safari Lodge.
Essential Items to pack for a Walking Safari in Lake Mburo National Park
A complete walking safari in Lake Mburo National Park requires you to be prepared. This includes packing right for your trip. Among items to consider are a pair of binoculars, waterproof walking boots, a camera, a waterproof daypack, insect repellent, sunglasses, a first aid kit, long-sleeved shirts, a sweater, and a safari hat.
Other Activities to do at Lake Mburo National Park
Lake Mburo National Park offers more than exceptional walking experiences. Other exciting things to expect to engage in here include:
Game drives
Game drives offer visitors a great opportunity to explore a variety of Lake Mburo wildlife. In a 4×4 safari vehicle, expect to explore game tracks like Kigambira Loop, Kazuma, Zebra, and more. Each trail rewards nature lovers with impressive sights of wildlife and birds. On a game drive, expect to spot wildlife such as bushbucks, oribis, zebras, duikers, giraffes, buffaloes, leopards, and bird species. The likely birds to be spotted include Southern ground hornbills, African wattled lapwing, Ross’s turacos, black-bellied bustards, grey-crowned cranes, and others.
Boat cruise
Launch/boat cruise excursions provide impressive sights of aquatic species, including hippos and crocodiles. The boat cruise excursions are enjoyable in the morning and afternoon. A normal boat cruise takes about 2-3 hours on Lake Mburo, and as you navigate, expect to come across other wildlife such as waterbucks, buffaloes, warthogs, and many water birds. The aquatic birds to identify here include African fish eagle, kingfishers, pelicans, African fin foot, and the elusive shoebill stork.
Birding
Lake Mburo National Park holds a range of bird species. The exceptional birding sites in Lake Mburo include Warukiri, Miriti, Rubanga Forest, and more. Birds to expect to come across include the Nubian woodpeckers, African fin-foot, saddle-billed stork, emerald spotted wood-dove, African wattled lapwing, white-winged swamp warblers, Ross’s turacos, red-faced barbet, and others. Birding in Lake Mburo Game Park is possible on a game drive, launch cruise, nature walk, or normal bird-watching excursion.
Cycling
Lake Mburo is one place where cycling can be done, unlike other parks. Cycling through the wilderness of Lake Mburo National Park comes with impressive sights of birds and wildlife, especially antelopes.
Horseback riding
Compared to the most protected areas in Uganda, Lake Mburo is unique because it offers horseback riding excursions. A horseback riding tour allows you to wind through the park while spotting a diversity of wild animals, including waterbucks, duikers, bushbucks, warthogs, zebras, topis, elands, and many bird species.
Sport fishing
Lake Mburo National Park includes wildlife encounters for anglers on the Uganda tour. Sport fishing is one of the amazing activities to enjoy, besides walking on tours. The sport fishing excursions allow you to catch a variety of fish on the catch-and-release method.
How to plan a tour to Lake Mburo National Park
Whether you are interested in walking safaris or game drives, Native Africa Tours are readily available to make your travel dream come true. Start planning and book an unforgettable walking safari, game drives, boat cruise, and other excursions at Lake Mburo National Park and beyond. Connect with our reservation team to begin the planning process to secure your dream trip.
How to get to Lake Mburo National Park
Lake Mburo National Park sits in Western Uganda, and you can reach it by road or air. Using road transportation, expect to spend 4-5 hours driving from Kampala through the Masaka-Mbarara route. The access gates to Lake Mburo National Park include the Sanga gate, Nshara gate, and others. By air, you can also plan and book a flight to Mbarara Airstrip and the departure point can be Entebbe International Airport (EBB).
To conclude, Lake Mburo National Park’s walking safaris offer travelers a unique, intimate safari experience. This activity provides a new viewpoint of Uganda’s wildlife and scenery, regardless of your experience level. Want to explore nature at a relaxed pace? Book your Lake Mburo walking safari through Native Africa Tours today for an adventurous walking experience.
