Mgahinga National Park is located in the Southwestern part of Uganda, home to mountain gorillas, it is one of the few places in the world to see the critically endangered species. The conservation area sits up in the clouds an extension of the Ugandan side of the great Virunga volcanic region. 3 of the 8 series of the Virunga mountains are situated in the national park. The 33.7 square kilometers national park takes its name from Mountain Gahinga, traditionally the name means a pile of stones cleared from farmlands. The national park was declared a game reserve in 1930 by the colonial government,and later in 1991, it was upgraded to the status of a national park species that call this home.
Mgahinga National Park straddles along the borders with Rwanda and the democratic republic of Congo. It is elevated between 2227m and 4127m above sea level, the dense forest has a cultural importance to the communities surrounding villages the Batwa tribe lived in the forest amicably together with other forest creatures due to conservation purposes, they were evicted and continued living around the park and passing on their culture to generations. Thebeautiful forest forms a backdrop of an angelic rhythm of volcanoes.
Driving to Mgahinga National Park takes approximately 524 square kilometers from Entebbe International Airport, it takes about 9 hours’ time to the national park, the route taken through the god tarmac road is magical winding through the hills, banana, and tea plantations of the Kigezi islands, the main road passes through Masaka – Mbarara – Kabale – Kisoro, en route you will stopover at the equator for a picture moment, it is at and at the Igongo cultural center for lunch. Popular vehicles used on this route for safari include safari land cruisers, safari drones, and minivans in case of many guests, these can be hired at a rate according to the company giving the service.
Driving to Mgahinga National Park can be reached from Kigali International Airport via the Cyanika border it takes 6 hours to drive and off a dirt road of about 14 kilometers to Mgahinga National Park, inter park wise the conservation area can easily be accessed from Bwindi’s impenetrable national park from the Nkuringo sector, and Lake Buyonyi the home of many birds in Kabale district. Other means of getting to the national park is flying to the destination from the Entebbe International Airport or Kampala Kajjansi to Kisoro airstrip, there are scheduled or charter flight transfers daily which can be arranged directly with your ground handler or through the airline.
Mgahinga National Park can be visited all year round but is best during the dry season during the months of December-February and June -September, there are fewer rains during this time hence less difficulty in participating in park activities like mountain gorilla trekking, golden monkey tracking, birding in Mgahinga national park and cultural encounters with the indigenous people of the park, the Batwa community lived and hunted in the forest until they were evicted due to conservation purposes. The Ntebeko Visitor Center is the starting point for most of the activities with tail heads to the Virunga mountains and the short and longer walks to the community.