Explore Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is the smallest national park in Uganda. It’s situated in Kisoro south-west of Uganda and about 540 km from Kampala capital. The park also resides in Virunga Mountains, and in the Albertine Rift montane forests ecoregion, totalling to approximate 34 square kilometres.

 

Mgahinga is not only important for wildlife sustenance, but also for the Batwa pygmies, a hunting and gathering community believed to have been the first to occupy its forest. It is also worth noting that Mgahinga is the second park after Bwindi Impenetrable, which protects the habituation of the golden monkey and, the mountain gorilla (an IUCN Red List endangered species).

 

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park comprises three of the eight Virunga Mountains volcanoes namely; Mount Sabyinyo, Mount Muhabura and Mount Gahinga. These dormant volcanoes are international mountains with Muhabura and Gahinga on the Uganda/Rwanda border, while Sabyinyo on a tripoint on the Uganda/Rwanda/Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) borders.

 

The park experiences two wet rainy seasons: February to May; and September to December. The average amount of monthly rainfall the park receives varies from October to July

Things to do

Gorilla Trekking

Be in the company of jumpy golden monkeys and mountain gorillas as they make their way in the bush to look for their next meal. These two species make Mgahinga Gorilla National Park home to some of the world’s endangered mountain gorillas.

Volcano Climbing

If Mgahinga National Park unique landscape has anything to do with it,  it has to be the volcanoes. A whole three-piece volcano! These three, Muhavura, Sabinyo and Gahinga form part of the Virunga Ranges found in Uganda, DRC as well as in Rwanda. Set out on climbing cause and discover what could be the other three literal translations for the same volcano mountains.

Batwa Trail

Learn about the Batwa pygmies, which is a hunting and gathering community even before the park’s existence. Visit the Garama Cave, a very sacred piece of Batwa’s history back in the day when the pygmies could hide in the cave to escape from the Bantu invasion.

Bird Watching

Mgahinga National Parks boasts more than 180 bird’s species making it a bird lover’s paradise. These include; Olive pigeon, Olive Woodpecker, Alpine chat, Alpine swift, Archer’s Robin-chat (NE), Blue-headed Coucal, Dusky Crimsonwing (NE), Kivu ground-thrush, Ruwenzori batis (NE), Ruwenzori nightjar (NE), Ruwenzori turaco (NE), Scarlet-tufted malachite sunbird e.t.c