Virunga

Virunga National Park was established in 1922 and it is the oldest park in Africa. It is a UNESCO World heritage for its incredible biodiversity and hosting one of the remaining populations of mountain gorillas. The park consists of savannah grasslands, swamps, rain-forests, steppes, 3 volcanoes – Mikeno, Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo and several water bodies. In the park you will find other animals such as the rare okapi, chimpanzees, forest elephants, African buffaloes, Ugandan Kobs, hippos, giant forest hogs, waterbucks, warthogs, topi, duikers, lions, colobus monkeys and blue monkeys. There are 706 species of birds, 65 of amphibians and 109 of reptiles

The greatest threat to Virunga National Park is poaching, encroachment on park land and rebel groups operating in some parts of the park. Militias operating in the park have carried out several attacks on park rangers which has negatively affected tourism. The discovery of crude within and outside the park may turn out to be the greatest of all the threats in the future

Activities that you can do in the park; Mountain Gorilla trekking, Chimpanzee trekking, Hiking to Mikeno and Nyiragongo, Chimpanzee orpharnage visit, bird watching, nature walks.