What Is There To Do In Mgahinga Gorilla National Park?

What Is There To Do In Mgahinga Gorilla National Park? Mgahinga Gorilla National park is located in Kisoro district in the Southwestern region in Uganda and it is considered to be among the smallest national parks in the country covering a total surface area of 34 square kilometers. This national park was established as a national park in 1991 and it is being managed by the Uganda wildlife Authority which is known to be a government agency program which has the responsibility of conserving and protecting all the protected areas in the country with an aim of fighting against some activities like poaching which lead to the reduction on the number of wildlife animals in the national parks. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park shares boarders with other national parks like; Volcanoes National park in Rwanda and Virunga National park, which is found in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mgahinga Gorilla National park is famously known as another good destination in the country where one can go for gorilla trekking safaris apart from Bwindi Impenetrable National park because it harbours the endangered mountain gorilla species in large numbers and it is being surrounded with dense forests and savannah grasslands  and woodlands which act as good natural habitats to many wildlife species such as; forest elephants, mountain gorillas, buffalos, golden monkeys, bush bucks, duikers, giant forest hogs and primate species like; golden monkeys, l’hoest monkeys and many others. More so, this national park is also seen as a birders paradise because it is also a home to several numbers of bird species such as; Olive pigeon, African Paradise flycatcher, handsome francolin and many others.  Therefore, for tourists exploring in Mgahinga Gorilla national park always get to have a wonderful experience during their safari whereby they are always blessed with great opportunities to participate in interesting activities, which include the following bellow.

What activities are there to do in Mgahinga Gorilla National park?

Bird Watching.

Mgahinga Gorilla National park is seen as a birders paradise whereby bird lovers are free to visits at any time they want because it is a home to over 184 bird species. However, during these bird watching activities, tourists are always accompanied with bird guides because they are very well familiar and know the good spots in the park where tourists can be able to spot these bird species in large numbers. More so, these bird species include; Alpine swift, blue headed coucal, moorland, cape robin chat, Rwenzori Batis, Olive woodpecker, yellow vented bulbul, fire finch stonechat, Rwenzori turaco, dusky crimson, African Paradise flycatcher, white necked raven, Archers, chat, speckled mouse bird, black kite, kivu ground thrush and many others. However, these bird species are all in different categories whereby some of them are; migratory birds, forest birds and Albertine Rift endemic species.

Gorilla Trekking.

Gorilla trekking is considered the major tourist activity that is commonly done in Mgahinga gorilla national park and there is one gorilla group known as Nyakagezi Gorilla group that is always available to trek. More so, Gorilla trekking in this national park always goes for about 3 to 7 hours depending in where the mountain gorilla species are being located and it normally begins at 8:00am in the morning however, tourists are always encouraged to arrive an hour before at the park headquarters before the trekking because they must first go through the registration process and they are given short briefings about how the rules and regulations that they should follow during the trekking such as; avoid eating and drinking in the presence of the species, to maintain a distance of about 7 meters themselves and the mountain gorilla species, avoid maintaining a direct eye contact with the gorillas, to disable the use of the flashlight while using their phones and cameras to record pictures and take videos of the species and many others. Later, tourists are being put groups of about eight people per group and each group is being assigned to with a park guide whose role is to lead tourists through the trekking due to the fact they are familiar with all the parts in the national park.

What Is There To Do In Mgahinga Gorilla National Park?
Gorilla Trekking

Hiking and Volcano climbing.

Mgahinga Gorilla national park is located within the Virunga mountains which involve around three extinct volcanoes which are always available for tourists to hike and climb such as; Mount Sabinyo, Mount Gahinga, Mount Muhavura. More so, this activity is specifically good for individuals who are physically fit and free from diseases like; heart problems, pressure and other air born diseases like; flue and cough and many others.

 Golden Monkey trekking.

Golden monkey trekking is also one of interesting activities done in Mgahinga Gorilla national park and it always goes for about 30 minutes to 3 hours depending on where the golden monkeys are located due to the fact that they are known to always move from one place to another while in search of food.

More so, apart from the above-mentioned activities, there are other more interesting activities that tourists can embark onto while on their safari in Mgahinga National park and these include; guided nature walks, the Batwa trail experience, cultural encounters, community visits and many others.

Where to stay in Mgahinga Gorilla national park.

Mgahinga gorilla national park has comfortable and affordable accommodation facilities that are always available for the guests and some of these lodging facilities include; Volcanoes Mount Gahinga safari lodge, Amajembere Lwacu camp, Bird nest Bunyonyi resort, Bunyonyi overland resort, Kisoro travelers rest hotel, Mountain gorilla safari hotel, Countryside Guesthouse and many others.

Contact our trusted tour operators in case of more information and inquiries about what activities are done in this national park and Book with our tours and travel companies such as; Achieve Global safaris, which offer the best tour packages, while on your safaris Mgahinga Gorilla national park in Uganda.

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