Things to do in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

Things to do in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park : Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is one national park that you shouldn’t miss when on Uganda safaris. Mgahinga gorilla national park offers marvellous and unforgettable things and only when you visit the park is when you will experience and meet with these amazing activities that offer unforgettable adventure experience. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is famous of its Mountain Gorillas. The park was gazetted as a national park in 1991 purposely to protect and conserve the endogenous Mountain Gorillas of Uganda. Mgahinga gorilla National Park is located in the southwestern part of the country in Kisoro district. Mgahinga gorilla national park covers an area of approximately 434square kilometres of rainforest comprising of the three dramatic volcanos of the eight volcanoes in the Virunga Mountains such as Sabyinyo, Gahinga, Muhabura, these towering peaks offer stunning views and opportunities for hiking and climbing. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park covers Uganda’s share with the Virunga conservation area and is bordered by Virunga national park in Democratic Republic of Congo and volcanoes national in Rwanda. The park is home to half word’s remaining endangered mountain gorilla and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda is home to one habituated gorilla family available for tourism and research purposes. This gorilla family is known as the Nyakagezi group. The park also boasts beautiful vegetation types which act as food for a variety of wildlife including bird’s species, animal species for example buffaloes, bush backs, elephants, giant forest hogs, golden Monkeys, hyenas, black-fronted duiker among other.

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park offers visitors a number of amazing things and activities including gorilla trekking, golden monkey tracking, birding, guided nature walks, picnics, volcano hiking, cultural encounters, Batwa cave exploration among others. Here are some of the things to do while uncovering the hidden gems of Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.

Gorilla trekking

Gorilla trekking in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is the main highlight to any Uganda safari in the park, and its the major activity offered to every visitor in the park. Gorilla trekking is to be the most commonly done activity within the park, which also attracts many tourists to visit the park. The park is a home to a half of the remaining world’s large population of the mountain gorillas. Gorilla trekking in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park involves moving on foot in the jungles of the forest in search for these fascinating primates and always takes about 2-5 hours depending on where the mountain gorilla species are located however, tourists are always encouraged to arrive an hour before the trekking starts. gorilla trekking in the park stars early in the morning with a short briefing about the rules and regulations, expectations as well as the carry-on items. During the Uganda gorilla trek, you will also get a chance to see some other others features that adds beauty to the park such as golden monkeys, forest buffaloes, duikers, forest elephants, bird’s species like the Rwenzori turaco, the handsome francolin, and the Rwenzori Batis other small primate species such as blue monkeys, black-and-white colobus monkeys, and vervet monkeys, as well as forest-dwelling rodents and shrews. Once these fascinated primates are allocated you will be allowed to interact with them in their natural habitant for only one hour observing their daily activities such as breastfeeding, playing, feeding among others.

Golden monkey tracking

Golden monkey tracking in the park is one of the main activities carried out in the park by many tourists. Maghinga Gorilla National Park is of the two national parks in Uganda that offers golden monkey trekking tours, trekking these wonderful golden monkeys involves hiking along the Virunga mountains of mgahinga gorilla national park in order to access these astonishing and rare habituated golden monkeys. During these adventurous hike through the thick lush forest of Mgahinga Gorilla National Park,  you will get a great chance to spot some of the astonishing attractions that constitutes to the park beauty such as bird species like Ruwenzori night jar, long-crested eagle handsome francolin, dusky crimson wing, red-faced woodland warbler’s ground robin, African Rwenzori grey throated tit , marsh harrier,  Rwenzori Batis as well as animal species  like duikers, bushbabies, forest elephants as well as  opportunity to move on the stunning vegetation while viewing its beautiful landscape

Bird watching

Bird watching in Mgahinga is one of the exciting activities done in the park, bird watching in the park also takes you to the most stunning landscape in the gorge between Mount Gahinga and Mount Sabyinyo and the montane forest where you can spot  variety of stunning bird species such as Black Kite, Pin-tailed whydah, Double-collared sunbird, Speckled mouse bird, Paradise flycatcher, Ibis, Speckled Mouse birds, Fire Finch Stonechat, Waxbills, Grey Capped Warbler, Archer’s robin chat, Blue-headed coucal, Dusky crimson wing, Kivu ground-thrush, Olive pigeon, Ruwenzori Batis, Ruwenzori nightjar, Ruwenzori turaco, Alpine, Yellow-Vented Bulbul among others.

Volcanos climbing

The Park shares the three volcanos mountain with the Volcanoes National Park Rwanda, the park dwells three of the eight extinct volcanoes. Virunga Mountains is one of the famous attractions in Uganda that’s is Mount Gahinga, Mount Syabinyo and Mount Muhabura. Travelers during the Uganda safari to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park have an added adventure experience of hiking to the summit of any of the Virunga volcanoes which rewards then with therefore have an added advantage of hiking to the top of any Volcano which reward them with remarkable views of stunning Uganda’s landscape as well as the astonishing views of the neighbouring countries like Rwanda and the democratic republic of Congo. During the hike, you will also get chance to meet a number of attractions like the mountain gorillas, golden monkeys swing in the baboon trees, bird’s species, Virunga volcanoes among others.

Batwa cave exploration

Exploring the Batwa Caves in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park offers a fascinating journey into the cultural heritage of the indigenous Batwa pygmy community. The exploration of the Batwa Caves is typically led by knowledgeable guides who are either members of the Batwa community or have been trained to share their cultural knowledge. These guides provide insights into the history, traditions, and way of life of the Batwa people. Visitors on a Uganda guided cultural tour in a Batwa community will get a chance to participate in different local cultural performances like traditional dances, music, and storytelling among others.

In conclusion, therefore, Maghinga Gorilla National Park has a variety of activities to do and is Uganda’s top tourist destination, contact Explore Rwanda Tours for all your inquiries about Activities and attractions in Machinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda.