Virunga National Park is not only the biggest of all the 4 mountain gorilla safari parks, but is also the most biodiverse conservation area in Africa. Virunga is a special destination to find a huge concentrations of the mammals including the rare mountain gorillas, reptiles, birds, and amphibians.
Virunga National Park (originally Albertine National Park) is a spectacular National Park located in the Albertine Rift Valley, Eastern D. R. Congo. Established in 1925, Virunga Park is Africa’s oldest National Park and occupies an area of 7800sq.km. This park straddles at an altitude of 680m along the Semliki River Valley and 5109m in the Rwenzori Mountains.
From the North to South, the Virunga National Park is 300km and extends toward the international border between Uganda and Rwanda. Virunga protects 2 active Virunga Volcanoes; Mount Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira. These have significantly shaped the park’s distinct habitats and fauna.
Virunga was officially recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 due to its biodiversity and diverse habitats. The park protects variety of exceptional and endemic species including the unique mountain gorillas.
Virunga National Park is most popular for its abundant wildlife. Within this park alone, there exist over 200 mammal species, 708 species of birds, 65 amphibian species, and 109 reptiles. The diverse mammal species that survive in mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei), golden monkeys, common chimpanzees, Hamlyn’s monkeys, Dent’s mona monkeys, blue monkeys, mantled guereza, olive baboons, DeBrazza’s monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys.
Other notable mammals that survive in Virunga’s diverse habitats include the African buffaloes, African bush elephants, Weyns’s duikers, Okapis, hippos, water chevrotain, bongo, red river hog, harnessed bushbucks, and aardvark. There are also common warthogs, Uganda Kobs, waterbucks, and adjacent to Queen Elizabeth National Park (Uganda), at times lions come roaming in the area.
Along the northern region, the likely species to encounter include African leopards, crested porcupine, western tree hyrax, Emin’s pouched rat, Boehm’s bush squirrel, lord derby’s scaly tailed squirrel, marsh mongoose, and many others.
Virunga is a rich birding destination, providing home to diverse Albertine rift endemic species. The special Albertine rift endemic avifaunal species in the Virunga Park in Congo include Archer’s ground robin, Rwenzori batis, Rwenzori turacos, red-throated alethe, dusky crimson wing, collared apalis and stripe breasted tit. Other endemic species include strange weavers, Kivu ground thrush, red faced woodland warblers, regal sunbird, handsome spurfowl, and Rwenzori double-collared sunbird.
Other non-endemic species of birds in Virunga include African goshawk, mountain buzzard, harrier hawks, African hobby, red-eyed dove, brown necked parrot, archer’s ground robin, blue headed coucal, barred long tailed cuckoos, red chested cuckoos, white eyed slaty flycatchers, cardinal woodpeckers, white browed robin chat, white browed crombec, mountain oriole, yellow whiskered greenbul, chestnut throated apalis, Chubb’s cisticolas, mackinnon’s shrike, black headed waxbill, African citril, narrow tailed starling, collared sunbird, mountain illadopsis, mountain sooty boubou, Doherty bush shrike, olive woodpecker, Luhder’s bush shrikes and others.
A total of about 2077 species of plants make up the floral composition of Virunga National Park. These comprise of 264 species of trees and 230 plants which are endemic to the Albertine rift area. The plains of Virunga largely comprise of grassland, wetlands and papyrus sedge, common reed, jointed flat sedge, kowai fruit. The montane forest ranges around 1800 to 2800m, these dominates the Southern side of the park. The subalpine and foremost African redwood dominate the altitude of 2600m up to 3000m. At 3700m elevation, there are tree heath, mosses and heathers.
Virunga National Park is most popular for its exhilarating gorilla trekking, a unique primate adventure that allows you immerse yourself in the jungles to see mountain gorillas. These unusual apes survive only in the 4 National Parks including Virunga National Park. The other 3 parks to visit to see mountain gorillas include Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda; Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.
Gorilla trekking in Virunga involves spending quality time in the jungles in search for mountain gorillas with an expert. This adventure may last for 2-6 hours inclusive of an hour for up close and personal encounter with mountain gorilla families in the wild.
8 habituated gorilla groups are all open for gorilla tourism in the Virunga and include Kabirizi, Humba, Nyakamwe group, Munyaga, Rugendo, Lulengo, Mapuwa and Bageni. You can only be allowed to visit any of these gorilla groups when you have a valid gorilla permit and each can be obtained at USD 400 per person.
Beyond trekking mountain gorillas, Virunga is also an ideal place to encounter the common chimpanzees in their natural environment. Chimpanzee tracking in Virunga involves navigating via the rainforest in search for the chimp community. When you come across chimpanzees, an hour is given for you to enjoy a close encounter with these apes. During habituation experience, you spend a long day following the community of chimps, observe their daily behaviors, and taking pictures. This is conducted in the Tongo Forest.
Nature walks take you the enriching habitats in Virunga and this is done with the lead of an experienced park ranger guide. As you walk, you can be enjoying the stunning landscapes and also sight for some faunal/floral species.
A hike to the summits of Nyiragongo involve conquering the 3470m elevation, navigating via a lush forest with an expert. The treks begin from Kitabi ranger post with briefing and overall, the entire journey to the summits takes about 3-4 hours. The hiking fees are set at around USD 300 per person and in case you have heavy luggage, you may need to hire a porter to assist you.
Nyiragongo lies around the Northern side of Goma border and Lake Kivu, west of Rwanda border. It features a powerful crater on its summits measuring 2km wide with 2 cooled lava benches.
Bird watching excursions allow you enjoy a view of diverse bird species in the Virunga in their different habitats. Over 708 species of birds have been recorded in the Virunga and they range in the varying habitats including swamps, rainforests, mountains, swamps, marsh and water bodies as well as rift valleys.
On bird watching expedition, expect to come across a range of birds such as the stripe breasted tit, dusky crimson wings, Rwenzori turacos, archer’s ground, red throated alethe, red faced woodland warblers, and Kivu ground thrush.
Other birds include the collared apalis, regal sunbird, Rwenzori double collared sunbird, barred long tailed cuckoos, brown necked parrots, African hobby, mountain buzzards, and African goshawk. You can also spot the yellow whiskered greenbul, black headed waxbill, mountain oriole, cardinal woodpeckers, Madagascar bee-eaters, Rwenzori turacos, narrow tailed starling, and others.
Virunga National Park is best visited from June, August, till September and December to February. Low rainfall amount is experienced around these months of the year and the forest floor is remains relatively drier. These are the driest months of the year also most preferred for mountain gorilla trekking adventures, volcano hiking and other activities.
Virunga National Park Congo features a significant number of accommodation choices including budget, midrange and luxury. They include among others Mikeno Lodge (luxury facility), Kibumba Tented Camp (Midrange), Virunga Inn Resort and Spa, Tchegera Island Camp, Bukima Tented Camp, Lulimbi Tented Camp, Nyiragongo summit shelters, and more.
Virunga is accessible either by road or air. By road, there are different options to connect to the park including driving from Kigali city in Rwanda -Gisenyi via Goma border.
From Uganda, you can also connect to Congo’s Virunga Park via Bunagana border and you can set off from Kisoro. At the border, you can clear with the authorities and necessary documentation to be presented include visas, passport and yellow fever vaccination card.
By air, visitors can take flights up to Goma airport where the local driver guide picks you up. From Goma, drive to the park head offices or direct to your lodge.
