A serene boat cruise at Lake Mburo

What you need to know:

SIGHTS. I had never seen wild animals graze freely or even found out some facts about hippos until I got to Lake Mburo National Park, writes Lawrence Ogwal.

We drove for about five hours on Mbarara-Masaka Highway. In my company was, Justyna Sniezek, a Polish travel blogger on her maiden trip to Uganda, and Robert Wambi, a tour guide from Bic Tours. Finally, we saw a sign post written on, Lake Mburo National Park.

Wambi informed usthat we were 25km away from the entrance of the park. Our eyes feasted on a stretch of isolated green vegetation dotted with impalas and zebras. The herds of these animals gently grazed on the thickets as egrets perched on their backs.

Finally we got to the entrance and came by more herds of animals. Giraffes, impalas and warthogs were camera shy and ran away the moment they saw the car approaching.

Given the name of the park I curiously asked Wambi where Lake Mburo was located because thickets covered a large part of the park.
For about 25 minutes, we navigated through murrum roads which bear signposts indicating different sites and directions around the park until we caught sight of Lake Mburo.

At the lake
On the shores, monkeys and warthogs walk freely past tourists. Also, there are only three structures; one is for keeping life jackets and boat equipment, the other a small house whose purpose I did not know and a grass-thatched open place which I later found out to be a restaurant.

It was time for a boat cruise. I happened to be the only Ugandan as the majority were of Asian origin. I sat far away from Justyna and so conversation had no one to converse with. The Asians were friendly and jolly as they occasionally broke into wild laughter. They spoke more Hindu than English. Despite the fact that we were hungry, we declined their offer to share their snacks with us.

Seeping in the tranquility
Meanwhile, Nicholas the boat rider ,cruised slowly as he explained and showed us different animal species on the water. The most fascinating being the hippopotamus. “The hippos stay in water during day time and comes out during the night because the sun affects their skin,” he said, adding that they live in schools (groups of hippos) of seven and far from each other.

Each school had only one male hippo to protect the counterparts. There are 500 hippos in Lake Mburo and you can only see them ashore in the evening.

There were other animals such as crocodiles. Our informer told us the crocodile abandons the young one immediately after giving birth. With the waves gently slapping the boat, it was all serene and relaxing. We had to return to the shore.

Trouble came when the boat’s engine got stuck in the mud at the shallow end near the forest. Everyone got worried because at the shores is where the crocodiles are found. In 10 minutes , one of the Asians got the paddle and forcefully rowed forward. By some miracle the engine started again and we made it ashore.

Did you know?
According to Bic Tours guide Wambi, Lake Mburo National Park has a variety of animals such as zebras, impala, buffaloes, and over 300 bird species.

The park sits on 260 square kilometers but it is the smallest Savannah national parks in Uganda.
Lake Mburo was originally gazetted in 1933 but it was turned into a game reserve in 1963. The Banyankole Bahima residents continued to graze their cattle in the Reserve until it was upgraded to National Park status in 1983.