Mgahinga National Park - Gorilla Trek Uganda

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is situated in the southwestern corner of Uganda. It is home to the critically endangered species of the mountain gorilla a subspecies of the eastern Gorilla beringei, the park stands as the smallest conservation area in Uganda covering an area space of approximately 33.7 square kilometers it is an extension of the Virunga volcanic region hosting three of the mountains (Mgahinga, Muhabura, and Sabinyo) along the slopes of the mountain is a growing angelic forest with which are golden monkeys, this is the only place of Uganda to see golden monkeys the park receives its name from Mountain Ghainga a local word to simply mean a pile of stones, collected from farmlands, the park was gazette in 1991 and is home to one gorilla group the Nyakagezi Gorilla family.

The park was gazette to protect the critically endangered species in the national park it sits up in the sky as its name suggests placed at an altitude between  4127m – 2227m above sea level the most days significant outstanding features of the park are the three extinct volcanoes which form part of the eight series of the great Virunga volcanic mountains, the slopes of the mountain contain a growing beautiful ecosystem with different vegetation zones ranging from the farmlands, montane forest to heath and moorlands, these habitats to animal species and birds including bush pigs, warthogs, forest elephants, bushbucks, Buffaloes despite these being present in the park, they are rare to see as they tend to be very shy, there are over 180 bird species recorded in the park to date 14 of which are endemics to the Virunga region. Their Conservation area used to host the Batwa community a group of the last remaining pygmy people in Uganda, they used to be hunters and gatherers from the forest until they were evicted due to Conservation purposes and hence continued living in the surrounding areas.

The main thing to do in the national park is Gorilla trekking experience, mountain Gorillas live within the national park without being captivated they are characterized by their social behaviour, feeding on the forest plants, dead tree bucks, mushrooms, and mimlopsis, it is at rare occasions that they have been sighted eating insects, these live in families of up to 20 members led by a male silver back, the Nyakagezi Gorilla Family used to be a mobile group ranging around the Virunga ecosystem, however, of late they have been consistent with being in Uganda, recently another Rwandan group joined the team to be in the park. Trekking mountain gorillas requires you to purchase a gorilla permit, charged $700 before time through your tour operator. Tracking begins at 8:00 am, East African time.

Golden monkey tracking is done just like the mountain gorillas, however, the process is less tedious the hike to the bamboo forest is much easier, the species are pretty creatures tucked in golden brown and black, they present the cutest pictures but very fast hence it is important to set your Camera ready. Mountain climbing is done on all three extinct Volcanoes, all hikes are done with the accompaniment of the Uganda Wildlife Authority Game Ranger mountain Sabinyo is the most famous of the mountains. The Batwa cultural experience will take you to explore the culture of the people of Uganda’s last remaining pygmies, they used to live in the forest amicably with other creatures, however, these were evicted they will show you through the forest and how they used it for several purposes. The national park can be accessed by road or by air from Kampala or Entebbe.