Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is Uganda’s smallest park, seated on an area of 33.4 km2, located in southwestern Uganda. The park sits on the borders of three countries: Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is a portion of the larger Virunga Conservation Area, raised at an altitude of 2000 to 4127 meters above sea level, aligned within the arrays of the Western Arm Rift Valley. The park shares the gorilla population with the half that resides in the Virunga Conservation Area.
The only place in Uganda is “Where Gold Meets Silver.” Mgahinga is an endemic forest for golden monkeys, which co-live in the forest with mountain gorillas. On the trek, there are chances to encounter gorgeous golden monkeys alongside the Albertine silverbacks.
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is made up of three dormant volcanoes: Sabinyo, Muhavura, and Gahinga volcanoes. The park is about 15 kilometers by road south of the town of Kisoro and approximately 55 kilometers by road west of Kabale. By road, it’s about 9 hours’ drive from Kampala, Uganda’s capital; through the Cyanika border, it’s about 3 to hours’ drive from Kigali city.
Things to do at Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
Gorilla trekking
Gorilla trekking here needs prior preparations; there is only a single habituated gorilla family. This means only a group of eight trekkers can have an opportunity to watch the gorillas at Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Gorilla trekking remains the highlight among the adventures done at the park. When opting to trek from here, it’s advisable to book your permit at least 4–5 months before your trekking date. This is due to the high demand and limited supply of trekking gear. To trek with gorillas, one must have a permit, which costs $700 per day.
Golden monkey tracking
It’s an opportunity to encounter ‘gold meets silver. Golden monkey tracking is another amazing moment for travelers going to Mgahinga. The golden monkeys are shy species and live in larger groups, but because they are habituated, they are familiar with human presence and can entertain a close-up encounter. One should book a permit when tracking chimpanzees at Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. A permit here costs $60, and when you don’t have a gorilla permit, you have to pay for park entrance. The park has two golden monkey tracking sessions a day; the morning session starts at 8 a.m. and the afternoon session starts at 2 p.m. The track can last between 30 minutes and about 2 hours before finding the habituated golden monkey community.
Volcanic hiking
Mgahinga is positioned with the famed Virunga Massif; it’s another adventure reward of the park to hike one of these dormant volcanoes. There are three volcanoes forming Mgahinga: Mt. Sabinyo, Mt. Gahinga, and Mt. Muhavura. The longest hike is the Muhavura, which is about 10 hours at an altitude of 4127m. Then, there is Mt. Sabinyo, at 3669 m, which is the next longest, taking about 8 hours to hike the 14 km to and fro. At the peak of this amazing hike, you stand at the border of the three countries of Rwanda, Congo, and Uganda. And Mt. Gahinga is the shortest volcano to hike in the Mgahinga realm, at an elevation of 3474m. This trek can last for about 6-7 hours to and from the peak, covering a distance of 8km.
Nature walks
Nature walks come with various encounters, and among these, birding is famous. There are several walking trails that arouse both nature walks and bird watching. Through these intact forests on a nature walk, there are a lot of encounters, among which can be various bird species, some of which are endemic to the Virunga conservation area, several primate species, and great special encounters. On a nature walk, there are chances of watching forest elephants, buffaloes, several antelope species, and many forest mammals.
The Batwa Cultural Experience
The cultural experience gives an insight into the local people located close to the park; these once lived in the forests that were turned into a national park. In 1991, the government forcefully evicted the Batwa people from the forests where they used to coexist with the gorillas without resettling them. This made them live a very miserable life until the early 2000s, when activists started demanding the resettlement of these people, who were just wandering around. Conservationists started an initiative where the local Batwa could display their culture and teach it to the world, as well as earn a living out of it. The boom in tourism at the destination is an opening where the Batwa formed initiatives to showcase their culture to tourists on adventures to Mgahinga National Park.