Visit Virunga

Visit Virunga mountains and this a change of mountain slopes and there are 3 gorilla national parks that make up the Virunga and they are found in 3 African countries.

Virunga National Park, Congo

Virunga National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on the border of Uganda and Rwanda. The park is Africa’s oldest national park and is also the continent’s most biologically diverse protected area. The park’s 7800 sq.km includes forest, savannah, lava plains, swamps, erosion valleys, active volcanoes and the glaciated peaks of the Rwenzori Mountains. Virunga National Park is home to about a quarter of the world’s critically endangered mountain gorillas. The park’s two other great ape species include the eastern lowland (Grauer’s gorillas and chimpanzees), make Virunga the only park in the world to host three taxa of great apes. Another prominent inhabitant of the park is the Okapi, an endangered species that resemble a zebra but is more closely related to the giraffe.

Virunga is located in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province, and covers nearly 8,000 square miles. As well as being home to one of the world’s largest populations of the critically endangered mountain gorillas, it has hundreds of other rare species.

Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

Volcanoes National Park lies along the Virunga Mountains, with 8 ancient volcanoes, which are shared by Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Volcanoes National Park was first gazetted in 1925, as a small area bounded by Karisimbi, Bisoke and Mikeno volcanoes, intended to protect the gorillas from poaching. It was the very first national to be created in Africa. Subsequently, in 1929, the borders of the park were extended further into Rwanda and into the Belgian Congo, to form the Albert National Park, a huge area of 8090 km2, run by the Belgian colonial authorities who were in charge of both colonies. After the Congo gained independence in 1765, the park was split into two, and upon Rwandan independence in 1962 the new government agreed to maintain the park as a conservation and tourist area.

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Uganda

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is of a larger ecosystem, the Virunga Conservation Area (434sq km) which includes two adjacent parks in Rwanda and Congo. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park sits high in the clouds, at an altitude of between 2,227m and 4,127m. It was formed to protect the rare mountain gorillas that inhabit its dense forests, and it is also an important habitat for the endangered golden monkey. It is almost striking features are its three conical, extinct volcanoes, part of the spectacular Virunga range that lies along the border region of Uganda, Congo and Rwanda. Mgahinga forms part of the much larger Virunga conservation area which includes adjacent parks in these countries.