Mount Muhabura
A cone above the lakes.
Ainembabazi leviticus — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jgdb500 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jgdb500 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · USAID Biodiversity & Forestry — Public domain · Ainembabazi leviticus — CC BY-SA 4.0
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is a small park of just 33.9 square kilometres in the Virunga Mountains of south-west Uganda. It takes in three inactive volcanoes, Muhabura, Gahinga and Sabyinyo. It adjoins Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park and the southern part of Virunga National Park in DR Congo, so wildlife moves freely between them. The park was created in 1991 and ranges in height from 2,227 to 4,127 metres, within the Nile watershed. The area has two rainy seasons a year. The Batwa people lived in these forests before the park was set up, and a cultural trail lets some of them tell visitors about their old way of life, so listen with respect. The eye goes first to the tall cone of Muhabura above fields and lakes, then to the jagged top of Sabyinyo, with bamboo forest on the lower slopes. Visitors come to track gorillas and golden monkeys, or to climb one of the volcanoes in a long day. Terraced fields run along the park boundary, with a stone wall separating it from the farms around it. It is about 10 km from Kisoro in a straight line and about 15 km by road. Few gorilla families live here, so check that permits are available before you plan. Climbing Muhabura is long and hard, so do not start without good fitness. Bring warm, rainproof clothes, as the weather changes fast up high.
A cone above the lakes.
In the bamboo.
Old forest life.
South of Kisoro, south-west Uganda
Yes, but families are few and permits limited, so check ahead, with Bwindi as an alternative.
Yes, with a ranger on a long day trip, Muhabura being the highest and hardest.