Lake Mburo National Park is a close-packed gem in western Uganda conveniently situated close to the highway that connects Kampala to the parks of western Uganda like Queen Elizabeth, Kibale Forest, Rwenzori Mountains, Bwindi Impenetrable, Semuliki, and Mgahinga Gorilla National Parks. It is the closest national park to the country’s capital city – Kampala, about 3 to 4 hours’ drive.
This is also the tiniest savannah national park in Uganda and second smallest overall. The Park is fully packed with various mesmerizing attractions but most of the tour operators skip to market it unknowingly. The Park is best known for its impressive population of zebras and antelopes, and it’s with no doubt the best Ugandan Park for seeing antelopes and zebras.
The Salt Lick in the Park:
Among the highlights of visiting this beautiful small Park include a nature walk to the photogenic and wildlife-friendly salt lick pond. As it is that nature walks will reveal to you the extraordinary beauty and uniqueness of Uganda, still the guided nature walks in Lake Mburo National Park will take you to a fantastic natural pond frequently visited by various wildlife species. This place is known as a salt lick and has a timber observation platform for great views over the salt lick.
The salt lick at Lake Mburo National Park is situated around a shallow water hole. The salt lick comprises of salty soils that different wildlife species go there to enjoy licking (the salty soils). The wildlife in this Park finds this salt lick a favorite place to hang around as they enjoy the salt taste by licking the soils. This also forced the Uganda Wildlife Authority (a governing body of Uganda National Parks) to erect a stone close to the salt lick to offer tourists a beautiful view of the wildlife that always visit this area to lick the salty soils.
Among the wildlife species to spot at the salt lick include several antelope species like impalas, waterbucks, bushbucks, Uganda Kob, common elands, Topis, along with zebras, hippos, warthogs, the Rothschild’s giraffes and many more. The salt lick visit can be done during an early morning guided nature walk in this extraordinary untouched national park in western Uganda, Lyantonde, and it’s always fascinating and indelible!
Where to stay:
Lake Mburo National Park has very many good accommodations, lodges and camps, where its visitors who annually go there to indulge in the various activities like game drives, birding, boat cruises, and nature walks to the salt lick will stay in. Among the decent accommodations to stay at here include; Mihingo Safari Lodge, Eagle’s Nest, Rwakobo Rock Safari Lodge, Arcadia Lodges – Lake Mburo, Mantana Tented Camp, Leopard Rest Camp, Rwonyo Rest Camp, Hyena Hill Lodge, and Lake Mburo Safari Lodge, among others.
How to access the Lake Mburo National Park:
The Park is located in Lyantonde, western Uganda, about 3 to 4 hours drive from Uganda’s capital – Kampala. It is always the first Park you will pass-by whenever you are going for your gorilla or chimpanzee tracking expedition in western and southwestern Uganda.
There are two roads that will help you reach the Park and you will either branch off from Masaka – Mbarara road, accessing the Park through the sanga gate – 37 kilometers east of Mbarara, or you can use the other that will help you to enter the Park through the Nshara gate which is 20 Kilometers from Lyantonde and 50 Kilometers from Mbarara.
When you reach in Lyantonde, where the Park nestles, you will branch off from the highway taking a drive on a bumpy dirt road, which is about 30 minutes’ drive to the Park’s gates.