Luxury Activities To Do In Mgahinga Gorilla National Park: The park is the smallest national park in Uganda located in the southwestern part of the country in Kisoro District. Mgahinga national park forms one of the Virunga volcanic mountain linkages of Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda and like Bwindi Impenetrable forest national park, Mgahinga Gorilla National park is famous for mountain gorillas with its activity of gorilla trekking. Mgahinga national park in Uganda shares borders with Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, and Bwindi impenetrable forest National Park in Uganda. Mgahinga national park features three extinct volcanoes which include Muhabura, Sabinyo, and Gahinga mountain ranges. These mountains form the bigger 6 Virunga Mountains. The park is known as the home of endangered mountain gorillas as well as wandered Golden monkey. The primates have been able to survive in this park because of its unique vegetation composed of montane rain forests, tropical seasonal forests lowland equatorial evergreen forests, and Bamboo Mountain Vegetation.

Mgahinga National Park is one of the 10 national parks in Uganda that is used for tourism purposes and it is famous for its Endangered Mountain gorilla species spearheading gorilla tourism. This is one of the amazing parks with amazing sceneries and wildlife and therefore you should not miss out on an opportunity to visit this park while in Uganda. Mgahinga National Park is under the management of the Uganda Wildlife Authority a body in charge of managing all the protected and conservation places in Uganda. There are different luxurious activities that you can enjoy while visiting Mgahinga Gorilla national park and the top 5 luxurious activities that you can enjoy in Mgahinga National Park include the following;

Gorilla trekking safaris in Mgahinga National Park

Mgahinga National park is the second-best place in Uganda that is specifically protected and promoted for gorilla tourism. Because of the presence of endangered mountain gorillas, the parks offers visitors an opportunity to do gorilla trekking as one of the 5  luxury activities that can be done in this park. Gorilla trekking is the chief activity in Mgahinga National Park where visitors can trek and see the gorillas. This activity of gorilla trekking in Mgahinga Gorilla National park will enable you to see the habituated mountain gorilla family while visiting this conservational park. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is home to the Nyakagezi gorilla family, the only gorilla family found in this park and the rest of the mountain gorillas reside in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National park still in Uganda, Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Volcanoes National park in Rwanda. Mountain gorillas are believed to be sharing over 97% of the DNA with human beings and there are amazing creatures to watch in their natural environment.

The chances of seeing gorillas in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park are high and this makes Uganda a unique destination for gorilla trekking. Mgahinga national park receives only 8 visitors per day to trek and sees Nyakagezi gorilla family ground and after seeing this gorilla family, then you spend only one hour viewing the family, how it feeds, lives, and moves among others. You must obtain a gorilla trekking permit since it is one of the essentials for you to have a successful trip for gorilla activity in Mgahinga National park. This means that before you set off for your gorilla trekking trip to Mgahinga National Park in Uganda, make sure that you already have a gorilla permit. The gorilla trekking permit should be booked in advance to cement your spot for gorilla trekking.

Once you have booked the permit then, your dates of travel and the space availability are confirmed. In Mgahinga National Park, a group of 8 clients or people per day visit the Nyakagezi Family meaning that there are only 8 gorilla permits per day and this means that you will have to book this permit in advance because of competition, here at Africa Adventure Vacations we can book for you the gorilla trekking permit inclusive all the road and air trip to Mgahinga National Park from Entebbe international airport, Uganda’s only international airport. A gorilla trekking permit in Mgahinga national park costs the United states dolars700 for Foreign Nonresidents,  United states dollars 600 for Foreign residents, and Uganda shillings 250,000 for East African citizens.

Once you have decided to book with us the gorilla trekking permit to Mgahinga National Park, you just need to give us your dates of intention to travel and trek the gorillas and it is our responsibility that we shall check the availability of permits on those actual days online or we physical go and check with Uganda Wildlife Authority. After we have checked, then we book your permit temporally as we send you the invoice and after you make the initial payments for the permit, we go ahead and secure fully your gorilla trekking permit and then confirm to you that we have secured the permit, we send you the scanned copies of the receipts that we have obtained from Uganda wildlife authority. Remember that it’s only Uganda Wildlife Authority that is responsible for issuing gorilla trekking permits in Uganda.

Golden monkey trekking safaris in Mgahinga National Park

Golden monkeys are also one of the endangered primates of the world and it is only in Uganda where you can go and find the golden monkeys. Golden monkey trekking is another activity of luxurious nature that has made Mgahinga Impenetrable forest National park so famous and so unique as compared to other parks. There are 2 communities of golden monkeys in Mgahinga National park that have been habituated for tracking. Unlike gorilla trekking, visitors will pay United States dollars 100 to obtain a golden monkey trekking permit as per the Uganda Wildlife Authority Tarif plan of 2020 to 2021. Golden monkey tracking also starts early at 7:00 am with the briefing of them don’t and don’ts while in the forests trekking for golden monkeys and after this briefing, you will head to the forest headed by guides, rangers until you see the golden monkeys. Upon seeing them, you will be allowed to stay with them seeing /viewing them for only one hour. Golden monkey trekking can only be found in Mgahinga National Park and Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and thus golden is the top 5 luxury activity done in Mgahinga National Park.

Volcano Climbing/Hiking safaris in Mgahinga National Park

For visitors interested in hiking or mountain climbing, the Mgahinga national park is the best for them as it provides opportunities for volcano climbing of the Virunga mountain ranges. Mgahinga national park itself has 3 volcanic ranges of the 6 found in the Virunga mountain linkage, the three volcanoes of Mgahinga include Mountain Sabinyo, Muhabura, and mountain Gahinga, and these available you with different hiking/climbing options of these volcanoes in Mgahinga National Park. Mountain Sabinyo is good for climbing as it stands at 3669 meters and you will spend about 8hours climbing this steep-sided slop up to its peak/summit. Mountain Gahinga is the smallest at 3474meters and within 6 hours you will have reached the peak of this mountain. That is a round trip including ascending and descending. You can also climb mountain Muhavura with its highest peak at 4,127meters, ascending and descending, here you will move for a long trip of twelve kilometers and this takes around 8 hours, once you manage to hike up to the top of these Volcanoes, you will be able to have clear views of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Virunga Volcanoes and Lake Edward. And Rwenzori mountains. Hiking in Mgahinga National park allows a chance to see different wildlife species in the Park including forest elephants, bird species, primates and gorillas, unique tree species, and on your lucky day you might see the individual gorillas of the Nyakagezi gorilla family group.

Batwa Cultural community experience in Mgahinga National Park

It is believed that Mgahinga National Park was once inhabited by Batwa people who are well known as pygmies until when they were removed from the park and now stay around the park as adjacent communities. These people are so good and have been integrated into the conservation of the park. Your trip to Mgahinga National Park will enable you to interact with the Batwa and learn more about their culture and their ways of life.  See their ancestral homes which are the forests, communicate with them as they will lecture you on how best they used to hunt and gather fruits since these were their livelihood activities.

Further, Batwa people have a unique culture in terms of music dance, and drama you can be entertained by them as they showcase their dancing skills and they narrate to you how best they managed to cope up with life outside forests. Apart from the Batwa, there are also other communities whom you can visit around Mgahinga National Park. You will find different women groups engaged in making local crafts and selling different kinds of foodstuff. There are several community schools around the park and feel that you can as well visit these community schools and support them with simple scholastic materials at your will.

Bird watching safaris in Mgahinga National Park

Mgahinga national park also offers the best chances for birders to engage in bird watching activity. There are various bird species in Mgahinga National Park and there are 79 species of birds recorded including those that only be found be found in the East Congo Montane Region to which Mgahinga belongs. Some of the different bird species in Mgahinga National park include Olive Thrush, Brown-Crowned Tchagra, Rwenzori Batis, Dohertys Bush-shrike, red-faced Woodland Warbler, bronze Sunbird, Banded Prinia, cape robin chart, streaky seed eater, Blue-headed Sunbird, Kivi-ground Thrush, Dusky Turtle Dove among others. Often, bird watching in Mgahinga takes place at the gorge amidst Mt Gahinga and Mt Sabinyo and at the forestage, this birding trail head lasts for about 4 hours as you walk with the help of the experienced guides who are willing to help you identify the sound of the birds and their names. At African adventure vacations, we have safari birding trips and professional guides to make your birding safari so fantastic and memorable in Mgahinga National Park.

Nature walk Safaris in the Mgahinga forest.

In Mgahinga national park, there are well-established nature walks trails for visitors enjoying the nature walk safaris. These trails were organized and established by the Uganda Wildlife Authority to make it easy for visitors to enjoy the park. Nature walk safaris in Mgahinga National Park commence at any time of the day and it depends on the time you have as the visitors. But whichever time you choose to do a nature walk, you will be able to spot various bird species including swamp bird species, forest bird species, and lakes such as Lake Mutanda, among others. The guide can best direct you on the tracks to follow while on nature walks in Mgahinga to ensure that you have heard a wonderful experience in enjoying one of trip 5 luxurious activities in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.

How to get to Mgahinga National Park

You can get to Mgahinga national park from Entebbe international airport or Kajjansi airfield in Uganda. Visitors can as well fly to Kigali International Airport and you will drive for only 4 hours to get to Mgahinga National park through the Cyanika border of Uganda and the Republic of Rwanda. Immediately, you reach Kigali international airport, you can decide to first have some city tours around Kigali and thereafter cross to Uganda via Kisoro district in southwestern Uganda for the night. Visitors can also drive for 8-9 hours from Kampala to Kisoro where Mgahinga national is located through Kampala-Mbarara- Kisoro highway to the park. You can as well fly to the Kisoro airstrip from Entebbe /Kajjansi airfield and with air transport, you will spend only 2 hours to reach Mgahinga National Park.

What are some of the accommodation facilities in Mgahinga National Park?

Mgahinga Gorilla National Parka has got many accommodation facilities in form of lodges, hotels, and camps where you can stay based on your interests and budget. There are budget accommodation facilities, midrange accommodation facilities, and upmarket or luxury accommodation facilities. In Mgahinga National park, visitors can stay at Lake Mulele Safari Lodge, Gahinga lodge, and Lake Chahafi resort.  Some visitors can decide to stay at various lodges and hotels in Kisoro and some can even stay at Bwindi lodges especially at Rushaga Gorilla Havens Lodge, gorilla forest camp, Trekkers tavern lodge, Bakiga lodge among others. You need to make you’re booking as early enough to ensure you get a better accommodation facility to stay at during your stay in Mgahinga gorilla National Park.