What Are Three Things You Can Find In Virunga National Park? Virunga national park is located within the Eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo and is situated within the Albertine rift valley covering a total surface area of about 77,893 square kilometers. More so, Virunga national park is considered to be among the oldest national parks in the country because it was established as a national park in the year of 1952 and it is seen as a great ecological system.
Virunga national park is best destination for tourists planning to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo while on an adventurous safari because it is surrounded by a tropical rain forest which is covered by a dense vegetation and the montane forests and also have over 3000 flora species which act as good natural habitats to many wildlife species. more so, this national park is commonly visited because of its endangered mountain gorilla species which act as the main tourist attraction within the park and visiting in this national park gives you chances to explore in many interesting activities where tourists gain new experiences such as; bird watching, gorilla trekking, chimpanzee trekking, community visits, guided nature walks where they always accompanied with park guides who lead them through different trails due to the fact they are more familiar with many parts within the park, landscape viewing where they get opportunities to explore through the beautiful landscapes , visiting the Senkwekwe orphanage centre which is found in Rumangabo, cultural encounters and wildlife viewing and many others. More so, there are so many things to see while touring around this national park and some of these include;
Three things to see in Virunga National park.
What Are Three Things You Can Find In Virunga National Park? Mountain Gorillas.
Rwanda as a country is has approximately around 1,000 mountain gorillas but around 604 of these are only found in Virunga national park that tourists exploring within this national park can always see and it is noticed that there is a big increase in the number of the mountain gorilla species in the park due to the concerted efforts of the NGOs, the government and the communities which have worked hard together to protect these endangered species. more so, Virunga national park has over 8 habituated mountain gorilla groups that are always available for the gorilla habituation process and for research purposes and therefore these gorilla groups families include; Kabirizi gorilla group, Mapuwa gorilla group, Humba gorilla group, Rugendo gorilla group, Bageni gorilla group, Lulengo gorilla group, Nyakamwe gorilla group, Munyaga gorilla group. Therefore, Gorilla trekking in this national park always involves tourists to hike through the hilly forested slopes within an aim of searching where these mountain gorilla groups are being located and the trekking activities always begin from the Bukima patrol post where the trekkers are always encouraged to arrive there an hour before the trekking begins in order to first go through the registration process and also get briefed about the rules and regulations to follow during the gorilla trekking and some of these include; to avoid maintaining a direct eye contact with the endangered species most especially with the silverback, avoid eating and drinking while in the presence of the species and to keep a distance of about 7 meters between themselves and the species in order to avoid any harm.
More so, trekking these endangered species within their natural habitats takes tourists about 2-6 hours and then get about 1 hour to spend with the species after they are being located. Tourists who have an interest engaging gorilla trekking activities are therefore, encouraged to purchase their gorilla trekking permits which they will be required to represent at the park headquarters before the trekking and these permits are charged at a fee of about 400 USD per person for the foreigners and 150 USD per person for the Congolese citizens.
What Are Three Things You Can Find In Virunga National Park? Bird species.
Tourists exploring within Virunga national park can be able to sight see very many beautiful and unique bird species because this national park is a home to over 706 bird species due to the fact that it is surrounded with a thick forest vegetation and some of these bird include; red knobbed coot, brown throated wattle eye, white thighed hornbill, blue crested flycatcher, blue headed sunbird, cinnamon breasted bunting, African paradise flycatcher, mountain wagtail, black winged stilt, mourning collared dove, blue headed sunbird, willow warbler, blue cheeked bee-eater, red backed shrike, stripped kingfisher, spot flanked barbet, grey headed sparrow, snowy crowned robin chat and many others.
What Are Three Things You Can Find In Virunga National Park? Wildlife species.
Virunga national park is a home to over 196 mammal species such as; buffaloes, Uganda kob, Blue duiker, hippos, bay duikers, water bucks, giant forest hog, yellow backed duiker, 70 amphibians, 200 reptiles and other primate species such as; red tailed monkeys, chimpanzees, blue monkeys, mona monkeys, Hamlyn monkeys, Mantked guereza, African red colobus monkeys, olive baboons, grey cheeked mangabey and many others. Therefore, tourists who opt to visit within this park can get chances to see all the above-mentioned species, which makes their adventurous safari a successful one.
Contact our trusted tour operators for more information about other things to see while in Virunga national park and book with our tours and travel companies who offer the best tour packages while on your safari in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
