The spacious, thatched dining area sits on top of the rocky kopje, heralding a bird’s eye view over the park and beyond. A steady breeze from Lake Kacheera makes it one of the coolest places in the lodge on a hot day. Overlooking a waterhole and saltlick, it is a perfect spot to enjoy delicious food and watch wildlife at the same time.

Suni designed the bar area in which a cement sofa curves around the existing granite rocks and small niches with paraffin lights add sparkle and a sense of cosiness. Most importantly the bar is extremely well stocked so it is more than likely we can serve you your favourite tipple with a bowl of homemade nibbles. Our wine list boasts many South African wines and a few Australian. 

Michael, our head barman, reportedly makes the best Irish coffee ever!

Mihingo’s reputation for good food is very much thanks to Suni’s wonderful mother Sarah. She was an excellent cook and trained the local Mihingo chefs on how to make the exceptional recipes she had gathered over the years from friends and family around the world.

The food at Mihingo is a fusion of different cultures, herbs and spices. Sarah was great at using the best local produce to create fantastic dishes. Lunches are 3 courses. The starter is often a delicious chilled soup, followed by a selection of crisp, fresh salads, cold meats and vegetarian quiches, and then there is always a scrummy pudding. Dinner is also a 3 course meal. Some of the lodge favourites are the feta and coriander samosas with home-made tomato pickle, smoked Nile Perch from Lake Victoria served with a simple olive-oil, lemon juice and caper dressing, grilled beef fillet from the famous Ankole cows and sticky toffee pudding.

Breakfasts at Mihingo are designed to set guests up for the day. There is always a selection of fresh fruit, fruit juice, cereals and muesli, home-made yoghurt, pancakes with a hint of lemon zest, eggs of your choice and the full fry up with home-made bread.

The lodge can cater to any dietary requirements be it vegetarian, gluten free, vegan or lactose intolerant. Just let us know any food you cannot eat or you dislike and we will prepare something to your taste. Early suppers can be arranged for children and babysitters can be organised to sit in the rooms so parents can eat later and relax.

Feel like doing nothing and relaxing to the maximum?

Full body massages are available, taking approximately 1 hour. It is possible for two people to enjoy massages at the same time in our dedicated massage rondavel which is situated in the forest with birds and butterflies fluttering past.

Proceeds from our massages go towards our conservation project MCCDF (Mihingo Conservation & Community Development Foundation) so you can feel good in every way.

Two massages and you have helped a local farmer to pay for a goat taken by a leopard!

Escape the heat of the African sun with a plunge in our pool. Overlooking the main waterhole and saltlick, you can do your game viewing from the comfort of a pool bed with a cool drink in your hand. Open 24 hours, we put out lanterns around the pool edge in the evening in case you fancy a swim under the stars.

There are many beautiful spots at Mihingo perfect for yoga. The bush baby platform is lovely and cool in the morning while the top of the water catchment is great for a sunset meditation session.

Mihingo will be hosting yoga events over the course of the year so keep your ears open for upcoming ones or feel free to send us an enquiry if you are interested in joining in.

Yoga mats are available at the reception in case you couldn’t quite squeeze yours in your suitcase.

Horse safaris are an awesome way to see the wildlife around Mihingo Lodge. Without the noise of an engine you can hear so much more and you really feel part of nature. Riding a horse means you often get the chance to see the more timid animals. If you are very lucky you may see eland and buffalo. Ralph and Iddy were even lucky enough to see 2 leopards on a horse ride! However, this was a very rare sighting. You will nearly always see a mixture of warthog, topi, impala, duiker, bushbuck, waterbuck and zebra. Of course the time of year and the weather do affect the number and variety of animals that you see, as the animals graze where the grass is the most delicious.Watching animals from a horse is so peaceful and a totally different experience from being on a game drive; zebras come towards you to check out the strange relative without stripes. Even the eland that are usually very shy, look curiously at the horses without running away, but keep their distance.

If you don’t feel like spending any more time in a car and you’re are not too comfortable on a horse then hire one of our new, top of the range, mountain bikes to explore the bush. Mihingo Lodge has partnered with ‘Africa Outdoor’ to bring great quality bikes to the Mburo wilds.

If you’re adventurous and like to keep fit, grab a bike and explore the sandy tracks outside the Park. You can hire one of our Mihingo guides to join you on your ride and make sure you don’t get lost! Tracks are suitable for a gentle family ride out taking in the wildlife all around but there is plenty for the more extreme riders to explore. Dive off the larger roads on to narrow animal paths and clamber over termite mounds while you put our bikes through their paces!

As we only have 2 bikes for kids please book early to avoid disappointment. Most of the year there is just as much wildlife beyond the borders of the Park as there is inside. You’re very likely to see zebra, impala, warthogs as well as a variety of other antelope.

Nature walks are a magical way to experience the bush. They allow you to notice smaller details often overlooked when in a car or riding a horse.

Within the Park:
All walks in the park must go with an armed UWA guide. You can technically walk anywhere in the park once a guide is in attendance but the most popular walks go from the lodge itself or along the swamps bordering Lake Mburo. From the lodge a two hour loop will take you around the valleys and ridges you see from the dining room and deliver you back to the lodge. The swamp walk has a couple of raised platforms from where you can look over the swamps; if you are very lucky you may even see a Sitatunga or Uganda’s famous Shoebill stork.

Outside the Park:
You may take a walk with a Mihingo guide outside the park where you will often see just as many animals as inside. There are two standard options for walks, either a 2 hour walk down the hill and in to the valleys around the lodge or a 4 hour walk to a rocky kopje with a picnic breakfast.

If you are feeling extra energetic our Mihingo guides would love to take you out on a run roaming across the community lands (outside the park).

From 5km – 15km we will tailor the experience to meet your needs.

Within the Park
There are many beautiful drives to explore in the Park either heading out yourself with a map, with a guide or hiring the lodge open sided Landrover. Research Track is one of our favourite drives where you are likely to see buffalo wallowing in the mud, zebra, impala, topi, bush buck, reed buck, oribi and warthog.

For spectacular views, park at the bottom of Kazuma look-out and walk up to the top; from here the view is stunning and you can see 5 lakes including Lake Mburo. For some 4 x 4 driving during the rainy season Eland track is the most challenging.

Outside the Park
It is both a cultural and a wildlife experience going on a game drive outside the park. You will pass homesteads, farmers herding their cattle, kids walking to school and motorbikes ferrying people to and fro. In amongst this wildlife roams about freely; zebras, impalas, topi, warthogs, waterbuck and even the shy eland are all possible to spot.

The birdlife is also prolific with many water birds living at the livestock dams. Large groups of crested cranes take up residence in the rainy season and even the shoebill can sometimes be seen in the wetlands. We will always send a guide with you to navigate through the criss-crossing and sometimes confusing roads and help you through the muddy patches that crop up in the rainy season. A game drive outside the park is useful if your park entry has expired and you would just like to go for a little spin!

Sun-downer drinks and snacks can also be organized to take on your game drives. Please let us know if you would like to use our Landrover as there is only one vehicle.

Lake Mburo is one of the few parks where you can go on a night game drive! At night there is a whole variety of animals that you would not see in the day including bush pigs, genet cat and white tailed mongoose to mention but a few. Night drives also give you the best chance of finding leopards, spotted hyena and there is one male lion in the park who resides down by Lake Mburo itself. It is an interesting experience out at night with a spotlight, an unusual twist on your regular game drives.

Please inform us in time, so we can organize your night drive as it is mandatory to have a guide for all night drives. Also, there are only a limited number of spotlights so get in touch as early as possible to avoid disappointment. Night drives can be done in your own vehicle or in the Mihingo safari vehicle.

Take a walk or a bike ride over to a traditional Bahima homestead to learn about their cultural traditions and their way of life. Activities include learning about the Ankole long- horned cows with an opportunity to try your hand at milking, understand the ghee making process, taste milk and much more. This experience includes a nature walk or bike ride across grazing land, where wildlife and livestock mingle together, to the homestead and back again. Alternatively you can ride a mountain bike to a nearby fishing village and see how the people live.

Hire a bike or take a short drive to one of the schools we support and see for yourself the work this school is doing for many of the children in the community. The parents in the community also contribute to the running of the school and often fees are waivered for orphans. Spend an hour interacting with the children, talking to the teachers or even running some of the games and activities you used to do at school. There is no charge for the school visit, but any donation or kind hearted gesture is appreciated, be it a few pens & books to sponsoring a student’s schooling.

A boat trip on Lake Mburo is the best way to see the lake and its inhabitants. It is particularly good for water birds (especially Finfoot and Fish Eagles) but you will also come across hippos, crocodiles and other animals coming down for a drink.

The boat trip takes approximately 1½ hours. Lifejackets are available at the landing site also in children’s sizes. The boat is small, holding a maximum of fourteen and has a covered roof.

Boat trips leave at 8am, 10am, 12pm, 2pm, 4pm and 5.30pm

Mihingo Lodge is one of the few places in Africa where you can watch thick-tailed Gallagos in their natural environment. These are a nocturnal primate species that have become very used to our guests and come to the platform below the bar most evenings.

We are very strict and only give them 1 or 2 small pieces of banana to ensure that they still have to forage for their own food which includes fruit, lizards, moths and other insects.

We never allow anyone to touch the Gallagos or take photos with a flash as this can easily damage their eyes. You will be able to see the thick-tailed Gallagos interacting with each other.

Bush babies hide during the day in order to avoid contact with predators such as eagles and large snakes and to avoid competing with Vervet monkeys for resources. Since they are easily captured on the ground they mostly stay in trees and rely on their extraordinary jumping abilities.

Mihingo lodge has a hide about 40 metres to the south of the waterhole and saltlick visible from the dining room. One can easily spend several hours watching wildlife come and go and capture great pictures if you are quiet.

The 15 minute trail is signposted from below the dining room as ‘hide’.

If you travel a few further metres beyond the hide, you will find a second secret shelter known as the den. If you are feeling adventurous then quietly sneak along the path and crawl on your knees to reach inside this exciting new cavern, located even nearer to the watering hole.

One of the beautiful things about Mihingo is you don’t need to clamber in to the car to experience the wildlife of the area. Using the Mihingo Walk Map you can take yourselves on an exploration of Mihingo and discover some of its secret spots and best wildlife watching areas.

From the height of the water catchment rocks to the tennis court, Mihingo garden, aquaponic system and stables you can spend anywhere from half an hour to a few happy hours wandering around and enjoying the wild surroundings.

To get children interacting more with the environment and leave them enthused about the bush and its animals, Mihingo Lodge offers a bush experience for kids. Be it an hour’s excursion or a bush meal, we can get them out interacting and learning about the bush and its animals.

Half and full day experiences are also available. If you are interested in this for your children (or just want a few hours’ peace & quiet!) please speak to us to organise a bush experience.

 

If you would like to combine a couple of different activities please feel free to discuss it with us. Here are some ideas to get you started.

WALK - SUNDOWNER - NIGHT DRIVE
Stretch your legs on an afternoon walk over to a sundowner spot. As the sun drops below the horizon you clamber into the open Landrover for a spotlighting drive, reaching back to the lodge in time for dinner and bushbabies.

GAME DRIVE – SUNDOWNER - NIGHT DRIVE
If you’re not the walking type but would like to enjoy dusk in the bush with a night drive experience in our open Landrover we can drive you to your sundowner spot and back again afterwards.
Simply having fun!

WALK - BUSH BREAKFAST - WALK
Earn your breakfast with a few hours walk to where your bacon and sausages are sizzling over the fire. With a belly full we don’t expect you to walk a huge distance back so we’ll make sure it’s not too far from home!