Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
Mgahinga gorilla national park is Uganda’s smallest national park, covering only 34 square kilometers. The park is stunningly gorgeous with forests and volcanoes. Mgahinga is at the frontier of the nation’s wilderness experiences, hidden behind the stunning volcanic skyline, in front of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, and to the left of Mutanda and Bunyonyi. A significant population of golden monkeys, found only in Uganda, lives in the montane-woodland, montane-forest, and large swath of bamboo forests. They also house the Nyakagezi mountain gorilla family, the only habituated family outside of Bwindi.
Mgahinga was traditionally utilized as an “overflow” gorilla tracking location for Bwindi, but this has altered for two reasons. The first is that the cost of Rwandan gorilla permits ($1,500 per person) has motivated travelers to explore Rwanda before crossing the border to Mgahinga, where treks cost $700 per person. Mgahinga offers guided day treks to the summits of all three mountains accessible from Uganda: Gahinga, Sabyinyo, and Muhabura. For those looking for a day on the mountain side, the park has increasingly become popular.
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Activities in Mgahinga forest national park
Gorilla Trekking.
Gorillas are the main attraction in the park. Mgahinga’s silverback are famous for their size. The gorillas here are exceptionally big in comparison to their Bwindi counterparts. With an abundance of food, they have thrived on the mountain side. Mgahinga gorilla trekking follows the same model as Bwindi. Daily gorilla treks start in the morning about 8 a.m. The length of the hike before encountering the gorillas is determined by the gorilla family’s location. Contact lasts one hour and you will be roughly 7 meters away from the gorillas. When the hour is up, you return through the forest to Park HQ, usually around mid-morning.
Although gorilla families cross the border from Rwanda to Uganda on a regular basis, only one family is known to make contact in Mgahinga. The Nyakagezi group consists of five silverbacks, two adult females, and three juvenile gorillas. After an attacked by a lone silverback in 2004, the family spent the majority of their time on the Rwandan side of the border between 2004 and 2012. However, they have been a constant presence on the Ugandan side since 2012.
Mgahinga gorilla hikes, like those in Bwindi, can be difficult and demanding. You must be physically and mentally prepared, as well as appropriately dressed. If you do that right, you will have one of the most unforgettable wildlife encounters in the world.
Golden Monkey Tracking and Habituation
Golden monkeys are huge, curious, and playful monkeys found in the Virunga Volcanoes’ bamboo zone. Their torso, cheeks, and tail are vivid orange-gold, with black limbs, crown, and tail-end. The monkeys forage through the bamboo in search of food. They have grown accustomed to human visits and continue their foraging and fun interactions without pause. The trek above 2,500 meters is difficult, but not as difficult as gorilla tracking. There are two options: the ordinary walk with one hour of contact and the habituation excursion, which lasts significantly longer on the mountain with the study team.
Hiking tours
There are wonderful guided walking trails that take you high up the mountains. The treks leave daily at 7:30 and run between 7 and 9 hours, depending on the trekkers’ fitness and interest. The 1,100-meter ascent from the park gate to Gahinga’s top is the shortest. The trek to Sabyinyo’s top is an 8-hour round-trip ascent of 1,300 meters. Climbers should be aware that the final approach to the summit involves a ladder climb up three successive rock faces. The most difficult climb is to Muhabura Peak’s 4,127m top. Hikers should be on the lookout for indications of high altitude sickness after ascending 1,793 meters from the trailhead. There are no rock cliffs to climb, but the walk requires guts and effort as you trudge across Afro-montane moorland.
Wildlife
Although the park is tiny and most of the original Afro-montane forest has been destroyed due to felling and farming, biodiversity remains high. There are 76 mammal species recorded here. The mountain gorilla and golden monkey are the most captivating of these. One habituated gorilla family exists, although several others wander between Rwanda and Uganda. The golden monkey, a playful and unusual species found solely in the Virungas, is estimated to number between 3,000 and 4,000 individuals, with perhaps 60 accustomed to human contact in Mgahinga. The black and white colobus monkey, elephant, leopard, giant forest hog, black-fronted duiker, bushpig, and buffalo are among notable species.
Rwenzori Turaco, Yellow-vented Bulbul, Paradise Fly-catcher, Ibis, Grey-capped Warbler, Speckled Mousebird, Stone Chat, Wax Bills, Pin-tailed Whydah, Firefinch, Black Kite, Blue-headed Coucal, Rwenzori Batis, Double-collared Sunbird, Rwenzori Nightjar are among the bird species to encounter in the park. Several of them are forest birds, and 12 are Albertine Rift endemics.
How to Get to Mgahinga forest National Park
Mgahinga is 14 kilometers from Kisoro town, the gateway to southern Bwindi. Kisoro is best reached by taking a scheduled light plane journey from Entebbe. Daily departures last approximately 90 minutes. Kisoro can also be reached by car from Entebbe/Kampala, which is 10-hour drive or 6-hour drive from Lake Mburo National Park.
When to Go to Mgahinga forest national park
When visiting Uganda. one should expect rain at any time. This is because of its equatorial location and an increasingly unpredictable environment. However, the biggest rainfall usually falls between mid-March and the end of May, and then again from the end of September to the end of November. While the rains from March to May are frequently brief, those from September to November are more frequently characterized by hours of mild drizzle.
Gorilla tracking is possible at any time of year, but it becomes more difficult when the pathways are muddy and sleek. These conditions may not be ideal for a comfortable hiking expedition. So the dry months of June to mid-September, as well as December, January, and February, are the most popular seasons to trek the gorillas. But don’t dismiss the “rainy season.” Permits are simpler to obtain on short notice, and there’s something invigorating about sitting amid a troop of gorillas, mud-covered and unconcerned, and feeling like you’re the only humans in the forest.
Mgahinga forest national park Accommodation
Mount Gahinga resort is the only luxury resort in Mgahinga national park. The lodge is a sophisticated and pleasant choice located just a few hundred meters from the park gate, sister property of Volcanoes Bwindi and Kyambura Gorge. Beautiful gardens attract animals to your door. The lodge has also done outstanding work in assisting the local Batwa population, which was displaced from the forest when the Park was gazetted. They erected a hamlet, developed a cultural center, assisted in the operation of a dance group aimed at assisting the Batwa in their integration with the other local communities, and started a vocational training center.
Lake Mutanda Resort and Chameleon hill lodge offer a mid-range lodging option on Lake Mutanda with unbeatable views of the three volcanoes that make up Mgahinga national park. Lake Gahafi resort is a new establishment on Lake Chahafi that offers stunning views of Lake Muhabura over the beautiful lake, Chahafi.
Lake Mutanda Resort
Chameleon hill lodge
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