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Best Attractions in Mgahinga National Park
Apart from the Bwindi impenetrable forest national park which is the prime destination for gorilla trekking , the second destination in Africa for gorilla trekking is Mgahinga Gorilla National Park located in the southwestern Uganda on the border with Congo and Rwanda.
This park is one of the few places in the world where the endangered mountain gorillas live and it attracts people from different countries to come on Uganda Gorilla tracking.
Mgahinga forms part of the much larger Virunga Conservation Area which includes adjacent parks in Uganda, Rwanda and Congo. The volcanoes’ slopes contain various ecosystems and are biologically diverse, and their peaks provide a striking backdrop to this gorgeous scenery.
Accessing Mgahinga Gorilla Park
By air, one can board a plane from Entebbe to Kisoro airstrip which is near the park. This is the quickest mode of access and it takes about 1 hour. There are daily scheduled flights which must be booked well in advance
By road, one can access the park by use of a car from Kampala via Kabale to Kisoro. This journey takes about 8-9 hours.
One may wonder why gorilla Safari should be done in Mgahinga and not other places but the secret behind it is that this park has a thick rain forest with a wide variety of tree species and gorillas are known to be vegetarians.
There is enough food for them in the park and this is the reason why some even migrate from Congo and Rwanda to this place. Though not in large numbers, gorillas of Mgahinga are easily seen in their natural habitats and this makes tracking more easy compared to other parks.
Mgahinga is a home to the habituated Nyakagezi gorilla group – a fairly nomadic bunch that has been known to cross the border into Rwanda and the Congo.
The family includes the lead silverback Bugingo who is around 50 years old.
Gorilla trekking in Mgahinga forest starts from Ntebeko Entrance gate at around 8:00am taking 2-4 hours.
A visitor is expected to budget for his/her time well while with a gorilla family since the maximum time allowed to spend with them is one hour.
The best time to visit Mgahinga Park for tracking is during the two dry seasons of mid-December to end of February and June to October when the park is easily accessed. It is during this time that the thick forests can be penetrated easily and when the paths are not as muddy as it is in the rainy season. However, gorilla tracking adventure is possible and can be carried out throughout the year.
Mgahinga National Park is has about 39 mammals of these including the Mountain gorillas, buffaloes and elephants, also endangered golden monkeys. Others include; giant forest hogs, bushbucks, leopards, spotted hyenas, black fronted duikers among others. It also has over 80 bird species.
The Nyakagezi gorilla group could move from country to country until it had to make Mgahinga its home, now also permits for tracking gorillas in this park are now available in Uganda .Contact us to help you book for the Nyakagezi gorilla permit.
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