Mgahinga Nation Park is the smallest park in the whole game park in Uganda. It covers 33.7km2, it’s located in the western part of Uganda and it shares the borders with Rwanda and DR Congo. It’s 367 km from Entebbe. It’s 482.2km when you use Kabale – Mbarara road. It’s small in size but protects the most expensive tourist activities that are gorillas and other animals plus birds.it has very interesting things to visit that were formed by volcanoes. Mgahinga has one group of the gorilla to track but they are unpredictable because at times they cross to Rwanda and Congo. Visitors are required to provide their permits before trekking. Nyakagezi is the only gorilla group you can find in Mgahinga national park. The park covers the slopes of Muhavura, gahinga, and sabinyo it’s near to ntebeko headquarters at the altitude of 2227m. It joins volcanoes national park in Rwanda and Virunga Nation Park in Congo, these three parks are well known for the mountain gorillas. Mgahinga was at first the area left to keep animals there but later in 1991, it was changed in a national park. Mgahinga has got a lot of bamboo trees which attracts the Golden monkeys
MGAHINGA has three volcanoes that provide beautiful scenery to visit and each volcano where named in the local language.
The best place to get accommodation is in upmarket lodges in kisoro town, camping at the park entrance and around Ntebeko visit center
Wildlife in Mgahinga
When we talk about wildlife we mean both animals birds that live in a bush or forest. Mgahinga national park is the home to 76 mammalian species of which the most known for the tour are the gorillas and the golden monkeys Mgahinga has got a lot of birds and animals and this includes Gorillas, elephants monkeys, buffalos, bush pigs. The bird’s spices are just 115species include white-necked raven, black kite double collared Sunbird half of the population of this species live in Virunga and the rest live near Bwindi impenetrable, the bamboo zone is occupied by the golden monkeys
Local people around Mgahinga national park
In the early years before the park was established Mgahinga was well known as the habitant of the Batwa tribe, which is called pigmies. They settled in this place because it had a lot of fruits and animals they could feed on and their main activity was hunting because the park had a lot of animals. Currently, you can find them within the park and around still doing their activities of fruit collecting and illegal hunting. As the war in Rwanda was taking place, some of the Rwandese moved to the border of Uganda in kisoro and intermarriage with Bakiga in Uganda forming the tribe called Bafumbira. Currently, at the edges of the park, you will find the Bafumbira tribe dominating the district of Kisoro. The Bafumbira practice farming around the edges of the park
When to visit Mgahinga Park?
The park has an average temperature of 1500c during the day and night time, the temperature drops to 1000c. The park experiences two climatic weather conditions, It has two dry seasons in the year i.e. may-august and December to February. The park also has two wet seasons in the year i.e. March-April and September-November. The park is covered with mist making it difficult to move around the park. The best season to visit the park is a dry season because it’s easy for movement and animals can be seen everywhere.
HOW TO ACCESS THE PARK?
Mgahinga national park is located in the southwestern corner of Uganda, they are various routes you can use to access the park and the easiest is via Mbarara- Kabale road. Mgahinga is 482.2km from Entebbe international airport and 493.7km from Kampala. When traveling from Rwanda, it’s more nearly around 142km.
Mgahinga national park can be accessed by daily flights also at Entebbe international airport to kisoro.
TOURIST ACTIVITIES TO DO iN MGAHINGA NATIONAL PARK
Gorilla tracking
The best you can enjoy during your visit to Uganda is gorilla trekking. It’s quite expensive but a very amusing and memorable adventure you will never forget in life. To go for gorilla trekking, you need to book a permit with UWA or you can use any tour operators like African jungle adventure to book a permit before your arrival. Mgahinga has only one group of a gorilla called Nyakagezi there always available. The gorilla tracking fee includes guide fee, park entrance fee for the day, and community development contribution
Ntebeko visitor center
This is where the park activities are arranged from. It provides a wide view of the Mgahinga and the surrounding areas. It’s free of charge to enter there and no need for a guide
Golden monkey tracking
Golden monkeys are very interesting to see when they are playing in bamboo trees. They leave in bamboo Forest on the slopes of Mt.Gahinga in Mgahinga national park, the golden monkey is a bright orange-gold body. They share homes with the mountain gorilla and other species in the park. Golden monkey tracking permits changes the price per period defined, no one is allowed to reach the platform without paying an entrance fee.
Volcano climbing
The park has got three different volcanoes to visit, you can spend more than an hour climbing the mountain and have a full view of the park the volcanoes are Mt.Gahinga, Mt. Sabinyo, and Mt.muhavura. When you’re at the top of these volcanoes you can view Virunga volcanoes, Bwindi impenetrable forest, and Lake Edward
Birding
Bird watching in Mgahinga can be done throughout the year; they don’t have specific seasons there always available within the park however the best time to view is April-may and October during the rainy season. Mgahinga has its owner record of 115species to see that motivates people to visit the park
Batwa trail
More of the historical background, how they used to collect their food, how they slept, how do they marry, how they earned the standard of leaving all this information can be got when you visit the Batwa representative
Other activities in and outside Mgahinga national park
Lake Bunyonyi
The volcanic explosion of the mountain especially the block down of volcanoes of the Ruhuma led to the information of Crater Lake called Lake Bunyonyi and is the second deepest lake in Africa. Various activities can be Dan on this lake and this include, fishing, boat cruise, swimming, and many others
Lake Mutanda
- Mutanda lies 15km from Mgahinga in the north direction and it was formed as a result of a volcanic dam. It has a nice resort 16km from kisoro town, on the lake you can view the cross of the island and water flows to Virunga volcanoes. You can catch fish and rust it when it’s still fresh, you can enjoy the beach water on the shores of the lake