Major Tourist Attractions in Mgahinga National Park
Major tourist attractions in Mgahinga National Park are well known as the mountain gorillas but the park is also home to several animals and primate species such as the endangered golden monkeys, Vervet monkey, Red tailed monkeys, Patas monkeys, Mangabey, serval cats, Golden cats, Forest hogs, Bush babies, Buffaloes, Blue monkeys, Bushbucks Blue monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys it is also home for reptiles including snakes, geckos and chameleons among others.
More so, Mgahinga National Park lies in the southwestern region of Uganda, on the highly altitude of between 2,227 meter and 4,127meter and Uganda’s smallest national park that covers about 33 square kilometers of its low land however it was created to protect the rare endangered mountain gorillas that inhabits its dense thick forests and it is also outstanding habitat for the endangered golden monkey.
The Batwa people and other locals –Bafumbira and Bakiga are also one of the major attractions in the Mgahinga who are known as the indigenous tribes living at the rim of the forests, who rely on subsistence farming on the slopes of the mountains using terracing. Unfortunately, the population pressure around the park has lead the national park into human encroachment and pressure on the park land and forest leading to deforestation in areas close to human settlements. The bamboo vegetation covers which can be hiked on the foot and higher up the mountain remain relatively intact. Although the ‘’UWA’’ Uganda Wildlife Authority has done its best to contain poaching though the population group of people among communities living outside the park remains a threat. Note, Uganda Wildlife Authority has come up with community tourism programs that have established friendly relationship between the local tribes, park authorities and creatures.
How to get to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
Mgahinga National Park can be accessed by both road or air from Kampala or Entebbe. And the distance from Kampala is about 509 kilometers that goes through a driving to the park. Drive from Kampala through the Mbarara-Masaka –Kampala highway takes about 9hours. We recommend you to use 4x4x wheel vehicle to navigate through this stretch of road. However, the driving distances by road from Kampala seems long, though the journey is rewarding with beautiful scenery and opportunities to make short stops to check out hidden view and visit the equator in Kayabwe.
Travelers can as well access Mgahinga National Park by using the shorter road from Kigali International Airport through connecting Uganda from either the Katuna or Cyanika border with Uganda. The drives take 4 hours and is highly recommended.
More then, Mgahinga National Park receives large number of tourists from Rwanda – Kigali for gorilla trekking which goes with valid gorilla permits. Gorilla permits Uganda costs USD700 per person and Rwanda gorilla permits costs USD1,500 per person per trek.
Those who cannot travel long driving distances can book a domestic schedule or chartered flight from Entebbe International Airport or Kajjansi airstrip to Kisoro airstrip near the park. Take note, tickets for the local flight need to be booked in advance and tour companies can help you book the local flight and land transport arrangements from the Kisoro airstrip to the park ‘’1:30 hour.’’
Activities to do in Mgahinga National Park Uganda
Visiting Mgahinga National Park you will discover quite number of incredible activities to engage in, they include; Golden monkey tracking, Bird watching, Mountain climbing, Nature walks, Cultural Visits many more.
The best tour package to be done by the tourists is the 3 Days Gorilla Tours in Mgahinga Package. In Mgahinga National Park activities start from the visitor Centre in Ntebeko.
Gorilla trekking –tracking; Uganda is gifted with two gorilla national parks –Bwindi and Mgahinga of which Mgahinga currently hosts about 300 individuals. Bwindi hosts a half the number of population of mountain gorillas that still exists. In Mgahinga national park gorillas can be trekked in two gorilla groups that is fully habituated Nyakagezi gorilla group and Hirwa group and Bwindi boosts with over 22 habituated gorilla family.
Gorilla trekking is one of the world’s most done activities that has attracted the entire world to visit the countries home to endangered mountain gorillas Uganda, Rwanda and Congo. However, the activity starts early in the morning after visitor’s breakfast and be driven to the park headquarters for briefing about rules and regulations of gorillas.
Gorilla trekking in Mgahinga starts at 8:00am after briefing, visitors are led by the park rangers to find the gorilla group assigned too. During trekking expect to see primates, notable bird species, beautiful vegetation. The time taken for gorilla trekking depends on the movements of the gorillas, though the chances of seeing mountain gorillas is high.
Once you allocate the gorilla family, an hour is given to you to spend with them as you watch and learn about their behaviors, feeding and life style. Uganda gorilla permits costs USD700 per person and can be bought from the Uganda Wildlife Authority Offices in Kisoro or by help of the reputable tour operators, Major Tourist Attractions in Mgahinga National Park
The best time of the year to go for gorillas trekking is between June and Augusts and December to February.
Batwa Trail and Cultural Visit;
These Batwa tribe live in the areas surrounding Mgahinga gorilla national park who are well known as hunter gathers and who survive on harvested honey, fruits and hunted animals. Visiting them you will be able to enjoy their cultural entertainment by listening to their amazing traditional songs and lost life many more. The Batwa trails can be accessed at USD80 per person per day.
Nature walk
This activity is done along lakes, rivers, swamps and pristine forests thus offering excellent spots for nature walks tails in Mgahinga. The trails also lead you to the beautiful village plantation for a close encounter with Batwa tribe’s knowns forest keeps and who love hunting thus having memorable lifetime experience
This is an exciting activity where you get to encounter a very playful and active primate that live in large groups of about 80 individuals. They like spending most of time on top of tree feeding off bamboo shoots and insects. Finding them is 85% guaranteed and if find your given one hour to observe the behaviors of the group while taking unforgettable photography. The activity can take between 30 to 3hours depending on their movement in the forest.
Mountain Climbing
In mgahinga National Park, you can enjoy climbing adventure on one of the three volcanoes found in the park that is; Sabyinyo, Mount Gahinga ‘’3474 ‘’and Muhavura ‘’4127meter’’. However, these three volcanoes sit at the borders of Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. So we recommend adventurous climbers to have their excellence hike along Mount Sabyinyo which provides remarkable opportunity of standing in between Uganda, Congo and Rwanda at the same time. If you decide to climb on the top of the three volcanoes, the reward is memorable with all the views of Virunga ranges of mountains, swamps, rare alpine vegetation, Rwenzori Mountains among others, Major Tourist Attractions in Mgahinga National Park .
Birding in Mgahinga
The park is also a great location for birding which is best done in the months of April to May and November to April and among bird species to sight see here includes ;Rwenzori Turaco ,Rwenzori Sunbird ,Red-throated alethe ,Red-faced Woodland Warbler ,Striped breasted Tit , White starred Robin ,Paradise Fly-catcher ,Olive woodpecker , Dusky crimson wing ,Greater Double Collard Sunbird ,Fire Finch Stonechat ,Dusky Turtle Dove ,Scarlet –tufted sunbirds ,Chubb’s Cisticola ,Olive pigeon , Mountain masked apalis , Olive woodpecker ,Olive Thrush ,Pin-tailed whydah among others .
Accommodation in Mgahinga National Park
The park has perfect lodges that offers services fits visitors comfortable stay in the park that caters for budget, Mid-range and Luxury travelers and are built in form of perfect hotel, lodges, campsite and bandas. Some of the hotel and lodges in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park include;
They include; Chameleon Hill Lodge, Mount Gahinga Rest Camp, Mount Gahinga lodge, Traveler’ Nest Camp, Mutanda Lake Resort, Lake Mutanda Campsite, Lake Mulehe Safari Lodge among other
