Mgahinga is located in the Southwestern part of Uganda – Kisoro district. It’s about 15 km south of Kisoro town and 55 km west of Kabale.
It was gazetted in 1991 with the major aim to shelter and preserve Wildlife in this region including Mountain Gorillas.
Moreover, Mgahinga is home to three volcanic mountains that are shared with other Parks in the Virunga massif named Virunga National Park in DR Congo and Volcanoes in Rwanda. These volcanoes include mount Sabyinyo, Gahinga, and Muhabura.
Mgahinga National Park, Virunga, and Volcanoes National Park form the Virunga Conservation Area a portion that covers a total area of 434 square kilometers.
Mgahinga’s land is occupied by tropical rainforests, bamboo forests, and Afromontane forests of the Albertine Rift ecoregion. It experiences two rainy seasons including February to May and September to December.
Besides Gorillas, tourists visit Mgahinga to see the Golden monkey primates and the Batwa people.
Getting there.
From Kampala, it’s about 510 km to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park via Kampala – Masaka – Mbarara highway. From Kampala, it’s about 434 km to Kabale and it takes about eight hours for the drive.
From Kabale, you continue to finish the 76 km journey to Kisoro town. The Park’s main entrance is Ntebeko and it is 14 km from Kisoro town.
If not road, you can go by air travel. Private charters start from Kajjansi airstrip or Entebbe airport to Kisoro airfield where you connect from Mgahinga by road.
What to Do in the Park
Gorilla Trekking
After a morning briefing in Ntebeko conducted by Park officials, the journey to the jungle starts in a group with a ranger guide.
After locating these apes, you are allowed to be in their presence for only one hour. See them playing, feeding, laughing, or resting.
You are free to take photos or videos of these apes. Time taken and distance moved in the jungle depend on where these apes spent their last night.
Make sure to come with packed lunch and water from your lodge since lunchtime reaches when trekkers are still in the Jungle.
Golden Monkey Tracking
This is another thrilling experience to add while in Mgahinga National Park. This adventure also starts with a briefing in the morning to highlight trackers on what to and what not to do while in the Jungle.
These primates are small in size so it’s very difficult to locate where they spent the last night. Trackers trace for them by use of fresh leftovers of bamboo shoots.
Golden monkeys are so jumpy, those interested in photos are advised to set their cameras on fast shutter shot speed and move slowly while in the jungle.
Hiking in Mgahinga
Mgahinga National Park has three summits that are available for hiking such as Mount Muhavura, Sabyinyo, and Gahinga.
Muhavura is the highest standing at 4127m. Hiking to the top takes about eight hours covering 12 km through lush vegetation, rolling hills, and more.
The adventure rewards hikers with awe-inspiring views of Lake Edward, Virunga volcanoes, peaks of Ruwenzori Mountains, and the stretching Bwindi Impenetrable forest.
Mountain Sabyinyo stands at a height of 3669m. The third summit is Mount Gahinga at 3474 m high, the climbing trail to the peak passes through bamboo forested areas where sights of Golden monkeys are common.
Batwa Trail Experience.
This cultural experience in Mgahinga was introduced after the people were evicted from the Park areas. Batwa people used dense forests in the park as a source of their food, medicine, and shelter.
After the eviction, some were retained in the Park to operate on this Batwa trail experience as guides. Tourists on this experience soak up the real-life and culture of the Batwa people.
It includes the demonstration of hunting skills, gathering of honey, making of various artworks such as bamboo cups, and more.
After that, visitors are taken to the former refuge for the Batwa. It is known as the Garama cave. From here they perform different cultural ceremonies to memorialize that ancient period.
