Activities Done in Mgahinga National Park

Mgahinga Gorilla National park is the smallest national park in Uganda but is amazingly among the world’s popular African safari destinations due to the treasures it keeps. Only four national parks in the whole world still have mountain gorillas and Mgahinga national park is one of them. Others are Bwindi forest national park also in Uganda, volcanoes national park in Rwanda and Virunga national park in the DR Congo.

Mgahinga gorilla national park is located in the far southwestern part of Uganda. It is situated at the border of Uganda with Rwanda and the DRC and is part of the Virunga Massif together with the respect parks in these countries. Just like other national parks in Uganda offer interesting activities because of the landscapes there, so does Mgahinga gorilla national park offer the best of an adventurous African tour. The park has a forested hilly terrain, the Virunga volcanoes, traditional African living around it and a variety of wildlife including primates, mammals and birds. With these attractions in the park, here are the top activities done in Mgahinga Gorilla national park;

Gorilla trekking

If you are planning to travel to Africa and specifically to Uganda, then you should not miss doing this thrilling activity. There are only four destinations with the last surviving populations of mountains gorillas and Mgahinga keeps some of these primates. They can only be physically seen in their natural habitat since they don’t survive in captivity and the recommended way to encounter them is organize a gorilla safari to trek them. A 3 day gorilla tour to Mgahinga national park includes a transfer from Kampala on day one, go trekking on day two and return to Kampala on the 3^rd day.

Mgahinga gorilla national park had for quite a long time been with only one habituated gorilla family known as Nyakagyzi until another one shifted from Rwanda to this park making them two. Nyakagyezi was also very mobile across the three countries Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, so this made it unreliable to trekking. However, it later on finally settled in Uganda and Uganda Wildlife authority now confidently issues out 8 gorilla permits for each gorilla family per day. A gorilla permit for Mgahinga national park costs US$ 700 for foreign non-residents, US$ 600 for foreign residents and UGX 250,000 for East African residents person and it serves only a single day.

The activity starts at the park offices in Ntebeko where visitors are required to be by 8:00am for briefing. Make sure you packed your lunch, enough drinking water and energy snacks because we are never certain of how long the trek would take. The armed ranger guide takes trekkers into the forest in search of the gorillas to areas where they are expected to be. Everyone is always eager to meet these gentle giants that live in groups and once they have been spotted, you have an hour to spend with them, observing their behavior, taking pictures and learning about their mood of the day.

Golden monkey tracking

Golden monkeys are arguably the most beautiful primates. They are endemic to the Virunga Conservation Area which has about 3,000 to 4,000 of them. In Uganda, these cute creatures can only be found in Mgahinga gorilla national park where about 65 of them have been habituated. 

The experience of golden monkey tracking in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is one to remember for life. It starts at Ntebeko with a ranger guide into the montane forest in search of the monkeys. The trek may not be as tedious as gorilla trekking if the golden monkeys haven’t relocated to new nests since they do not shift daily like mountain gorillas do. Not certain of how long the trek would but it’s all adventurous hiking through the trails with several sighting of forest birds here. Look keenly when moving around the forest, you could spot other inhabitants like gorillas.

Coming across the golden monkeys in enough for you to lower your movement, they are playful and normally jumping from one branch to another. This could require you therefore to follow them. A golden monkey tracking permit in Mgahinga costs US$ 60 for foreign nonresident and foreign resident and UGX 40 for East African citizens.

Birding

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is home to about 180 bird species including the endemics to the Albertine rift valley. We hire an expert birder who is also a ranger guide to lead you through the major birding sites of the park such as the gorge trail which is between mount Sabinyo and Gahinga to look out for bird species including Brown crowned tchagra, cape robin-chat, dusky turtle dove, Kivu-ground thrush, blue-headed sun bird and many more. Bird watching in Mgahinga national park involves hiking to up to 2,660m above the sea level through the Bamboo vegetation where the Great blue turaco is often spotted.

Areas close to the Uganda-Congo border rewards birders with sightings of banded prinia, dohert’s bush-shrike, red-faced woodland warbler, chubb’s cisticola and more.

The cost of a bird watching permit in Mgahinga national park is US$ 30 for foreign residents and foreign non-residents and UGX 10,000 for East African citizens.

Batwa trail cultural experience

Do you have huge interests for learning about the life of the ancient Africans? The Batwa trail experience is on of the activities you need to add on your bucket list if you are planning to travel to Uganda. It gives an insight of the cultural ancient life of the Batwa pygmies who lived around the forest in Mgahinga as hunters and gatherers before they were evacuated to conserve the area. It is amazing how these people lived in the forest in harmony with the environment including the mountain gorillas.

The Batwa trail experience takes you through the trail with a Mutwa (singular for Batwa) pygmy as the guide showing and demonstrating how and where they lived, how they carried out their daily activities and the important cultural sites. A permit for this activity costs US$ 80 for foreign non-residents and foreign residents while East African citizens are charged UGX 50,000 per person.

Mountain climbing 

The three Virunga volcanoes that Uganda shares of the 8 volcanos are located in Mgahinga national park. If you are planning to trek gorillas there or in Bwindi, you can as well include this adventure on your safari. Hiking takes place on mount Sabinyo, Mt. Gahinga and mount Muhabura. Each of the volcanoes offers a unique experience taking hikers through different types of landscapes and getting varying stunning views at the top of every mountain.

A hiking permit costs US$ 80 for foreign non-residents, US$ 70 for foreign residents and UGX 50,000 for East African citizens.

Plan for a trip to Mgahinga gorilla national park with Jeisking Tours Ltd to participate in the above activities of the park. we are flexible to organize tailor made tours to Mgahinga and other destinations close to it such as Lake Bunyonyi, Queen Elizabeth national park and Bwindi forest national park. For details and reservations, send an email to info@gorillaugandasafaribookings.com or call us directly on +256-775630809 or +256-701343598  to speak directly to our reservations team.