Mgahinga National park
Mgahinga national park is the smallest of Uganda’s conservation areas situated in the southwestern part of the country, it forms part of the great Virunga volcanic region stretching to Rwanda and the democratic republic of Congo, of the 8 series of the mountain region 3 of these are present in the national park (Ghainga, Sabinyo, and Muhabura), it was gazette as a way of protecting the critically endangered species of the mountain gorillas and golden monkeys in 1991, it covers an area space of approximately 33.7 square kilometers. The conservation area gets its name from Mountain Gahinga’ a local word to mean a pile of stones cleared from the farmlands it is elevated between 2,227m and 4127m above sea level.
Mgahinga national park is home to one transboundary gorilla family known as the Nyakagezi gorilla group however recently they have been quite static and even one of the groups from Rwanda is said to have joined them, the other striking features of the park are the distinct volcanoes surrounded by a growing angelic forest along the slopes these are habitats to wildlife including the forest buffaloes, elephants, mountain duikers, bush pigs, golden monkeys, vervet monkeys to mention a few and a checklist of over 180 bird species some of which are endemics of the Virunga region, and the Albertine, for example, the great blue turaco. The Batwa community used to live in the forest, however, due to conservation purposes, they were evicted and continued living in the surrounding areas the tribe are the first hunters and gatherers from the forest, and their unique culture is one of the most endangered to extinction there are a few of these in the forest,
Things to do in the national park include Mountain gorilla trekking, this is done beginning at 8:00 am with a briefing from the park rangers, it takes 2-8 hours to do the activity depending on how far the gorilla family has moved, these gentle brown-eyed species are special to the high and areas of the Virunga in the world, they live in families of up to 20 members led by a male silverback permit are purchased through your tour operator from the Uganda wildlife authority foreign residents pay $600, foreign Non-residents $700 and east African citizens 250,000 shillings. Trekking is allowed in groups of only 8 members here and is done once a day.
Golden monkey tracking, Mgahinga national park is the only place to find golden monkeys in Uganda, these are endemics of the Virunga living in the bamboo forested region of the park, the catchy beautiful monkeys are pretty fast so in cases of taking pictures you need to set your camera ready, unlike gorillas it takes a shorter time to find them, visiting the Batwa community these are a group of last remaining short people in Uganda they will perform to their traditional music, show you how authentic it was to live in the forest, birding can be done well in the conservation area. The surrounding places offer highlight boat cruises to do along Lake Mutanda and Mulehe it is done on Canoe boats.
Volcanic climbing along the mountains Muhabura, Gahinga, and Sabinyo, each of these offers a unique experience all hikes are accompanied by the Uganda wildlife authority team, they can be one day hike, or 2 days depending on the time the guest has.
Mgahinga national park is approximately +/-9 hours drive from Entebbe by road, charter flights can be arranged or even scheduled flights to the Kisoro airstrip, and travelers have a wide choice of accommodations ranging from Budget to Luxury.