If you are a tourist looking for a unique destination not thronged by tourists, Vibrant Holiday Safaris takes you to the Bugungu Wildlife Reserve which will be your perfect place to be because you will have the entire place to yourself. Uganda takes pride in its 10 National Parks and unique Wildlife reserves that were established as buffer zones but are also wonderful safari destinations.
Gazetted in 1968, it is a tinny wildlife reserve that shelters and protects the savannah grassland and temporary/seasonal wetland at the base of the Great Rift Valley escarpment to the western side of the enormous Murchison Falls National park-the oldest and largest protected Area in Uganda. Bugungu Wildlife Reserve forms part of the vast Murchison Falls Conservation Area, which includes Murchison Falls National Park—the oldest and largest national park in Uganda—as well as Karuma Wildlife Reserve and Bugungu Wildlife Reserve. These conservation areas lie in northwestern Uganda. Bugungu Wildlife Reserve lies between Buliisa District and Masindi District.
What is the size of Bugungu Wildlife Reserve
This small magnificent Wildlife Reserve covers an area of 501 square kilometers/193 square miles and shelters a number of wildlife reserves. Visitors to this wildlife reserve commonly encounter species such as hippos, more than 600 Uganda kobs, large populations of leopards and lions, over 1,200 oribis, herds of buffaloes, warthogs, oryx, elands, topis, waterbucks, elephants, reedbucks, bushbucks, Rothschild’s giraffes, sitatungas, and primates such as olive baboons, vervet monkeys, L’Hoest’s monkeys, patas monkeys, and black-and-white colobus monkeys, as well as dik-diks and many other wildlife species.
Also, there are about 240 species of birds that call Bugungu Wildlife reserve home and they include the elusive shoebill stork, Black-headed Batis, Dark chanting Goshawk, the White-browed Sparrow Weaver, Black-bellied Bustards, the Black-billed barbets, the Eastern grey Plantain-eater, the Speckle-breasted woodpecker, the Yellow-throated greenbul, the Black-billed barbets, the Black-billed wood dove, the Double-toothed barbet, the saddle-billed stork, the Giant Kingfisher, the Swamp Flycatcher, the Black-headed Gonolek, and the Abyssinian among others.
The most interesting tourist activities you should expect to participate in when you visit Bugungu Wildlife Reserve include nature walks, game drives through the well maintained game tracks, bird watching, camping and picnics, nature walks, visit to the local communities that surround the Wildlife Reserve and sigh seeing among others.
The best time to visit Bugungu Wildlife Reserve
Bugungu Wildlife Reserve welcomes visitors throughout the year, but visitors enjoy the most satisfying and memorable experiences during the dry seasons from late June to mid-September and from December to February. Many travelers avoid the rainy seasons from late February to May and from mid-October to November because the roads leading to the reserve often become muddy and slippery. For this reason, tourists should use 4WD vehicles that can navigate the challenging road conditions more effectively.
In conclusion, the Murchison Falls Conservation Area is a must visit area because it is a home to the enormous Murchison falls National Park, the Karuma Wildlife Reserve in addition to the Bugungu Wildlife Reserve, which is a home to several wildlife species such as Oribis, Uganda Kobs, Hippos, Sitatungas, the reedbucks waterbucks and bushbucks among others. Also over 240 species of birds such as the Shoebill stork and the saddle billed stork call the Wildlife reserve home.
