Lake Mburo National Park – don’t make such a long neck

The rain was to increase even more during the drive to Eco Resort Lodge and once again East Africa showed itself from a new side. Roads that had just been dry as dust became slippery as glass. Shortly before arriving at the lodge Hamza could once again prove his skill as a driver – on a stretch of about 600m he forced the old Toyota to slide through the 30cm deep mud, which was so sticky that it pulled the shoes off the feet of passers-by when they got stuck. Arriving at the lodge we realized that we had not yet arrived. Hamza had once again outdone himself – our accommodation was directly on a private island in the middle of the 900m deep Lake Bunyonyi. On the island we were – after a 3min boat ride already expected by zebras, monkeys and a golf cart, with which we were brought in style to the reception.

View of the lake and one of the many other islands in the lake from the reception – the island in view used to be the East African Leper Colony

After a late breakfast and a terrific dinner the night before, we started our drive to Lake Mburo on the morning of 12/19. The drive took us via Mbarara, where we stopped for lunch. Andreas was especially happy about the huge amounts of rice and beans from the rich buffet – this should turn out to be a fatal mistake for all involved. The closer we got to the capital Kampala, the more crowded the streets became and the proportion of Mzungus increased visibly.

Due to the heavy traffic we arrived only 16:30 in the Rwakobo Rock Lodge. So there was only a quick check-in with ice-cold hibiscus tea (very tasty), because 17 clock should already start our last evening game drive. While Hamza was doing the paperwork as usual, we could fool around with the ranger at the gate and get the camera equipment ready. In Lake Mburo National Park there are unfortunately no lions and only 2 leopards. To see cats was also not the declared goal here, but the large giraffe population. The tour started and all 3 of us were on the lookout for anything that moved. We saw antelopes, buffalos and finally zebras. After a while Andreas spotted the first 3 giraffes in some distance. We took a few pictures as good as we could and drove on. Unfortunately, our luck ran out that evening. It was time to return to our accommodation (usually the parks have to be left by 19:00). We took the same way back to the gate and suddenly they were there. Giraffes. A small herd of about 8-9 animals right next to the “road”. We watched the animals up close for about 30min and our camera fingers slowly started to glow.