Mgahinga National Park
Mgahinga National Park is found in the Virunga Mountain ranges with three inactive volcanoes of Mount Gahinga, Mount Sabyinyo, Mount Muhabura. The park is nearby Volcanoes National Park in the south sector of Virunga Mountain Ranges in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The park is approximately 16 kilometers south of Kisoro and 66km by road from Kabale west which is the largest city in the sub-region.
Mgahinga National park is part of the National parks that inhabit the Mountain Gorillas in Africa i.e. Bwindi Impenetrable National park in Uganda, Virunga National park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.
Mgahinga National park is located in the Bufumbira county of Kisoro district and covers 40 sq km. It is a forested area with slopes, landscapes and beckon.
Mgahinga has a wide variety of wildlife, with the one group of mountain gorillas that attracts people for gorilla trekking in Mghinga Gorilla National Park. The park protects one habituated gorilla group i.e. Nyakagezi group and the family consists of 10 members with 3 silverbacks,4 adults,2 infants. However, this Gorilla family keeps moving from one place to another to Rwanda and Uganda thus the current location has to be told 1st by the rangers.
Mountain Gorilla trekking in Mgahinga National park can be done from 30 minutes to 7 hours, because of the movement and it is somehow hard to trace them. The guide and ranger will lead you through the gorilla world, explaining the aspects of their behavior and ecology life.
Seeing the mountain Gorillas is not a guarantee in Mgahinga National park because they keep moving from place to place. Note that mountain Gorillas are wild animals that keep moving from place to place. Therefore Rangers and guides have knowledge of habituation and locating them and so before you set off to trek the mountain Gorillas, the rangers will have information on where the mountain Gorillas last feed the previous night, or built their nests for easy hiking.
The Trek through the forest will give you chances of spotting bird species, mammals, tree species, primates, geckoes, and reptiles. you can as well as the guides to slow down so that you have chances of taking pictures and enjoying the park habitats.
One needs to be physically stable, and therefore you should do exercise before you travel to enjoy the Gorilla trekking and guidance on how to conserve the mountain Gorillas in their habitats.
In this park, you can do other activities like hiking mount gahinga, mount muhavura, and mount Sabyinyo and you can also do birding since the park harbors quite a number of bird species. The park has over 80 bird species that have been recorded within the park ranges and some of them are endemic to the East Congo Montane region.
Accommodation in Mgahinga
For those who prefer to camp, there is ample space at the park gate and at Mount Gahinga Rest Camp. Very excellent traditional bandas. If you’re looking for accommodations in Kisoro that range from budget, midrange and luxury including Virunga Hotel Mt Gahinga Rest camp, Travellers rest, Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge, Nkuringo safari lodge.
You can access Mgahinga National Park by driving from Kampala the capital city of Uganda towards the south-western part of Uganda through a distance of 600km, for about 9 hours.
