Virunga national park was gazetted in 1925 by King Albert of Belgium solely with a purpose to protect the endangered mountain gorillas. The Virunga national park map covers an area of about 7800km2 and is part of the Virunga conservation area which includes Mgahinga in Uganda and Volcanoes national Park in Rwanda.
Additionally, Tourism in this park has been hit hard because civil unrest. 2013 the park has been growing tremendously in vegetation and biodiversity.
The virunga national park tourism has boomed since it was reopened. Some of this vegetation is what facilitates the habituation of some wildlife species like the gorillas.
Virunga national park gorilla trekking
The virunga national park gorillas are definately worth seeing. They once became number one on the list of endangered species in virunga national park.
Right now, there are six habituated gorilla families in the park and are waiting to be trekked. Virunga National park is among the four only parks where these gorillas still inhabit. Others being Mgahinga, Bwindi and Parc Nationale des Volcans (PNV).
Kabirizi is the largest family in the national park with approximately 32. The other gorilla families in the national park are Rugendo, Munyaga, Humba, Mapuwa and Lulengo families.
Please note: A Virunga national park mountain gorilla permit is USD 500.
Landscape viewing
The virunga national park location gives the best site for viewing the spectacular mountain landscapes in the neighboring countries.
These include the snow summits and the jagged relief of the Rwenzori Mountains, the volcanoes in the virunga conservation area together with the Afro alpine vegetation of tree ferns and the dense forests.
Chimpanzee habituation
This is the next most obvious thing in the park. This chimpanzee tracking is as old as 1987 and was started by a zoologist named Frankfurt in 1987.
Chimpanzees are the closest apes to humans and since their discovery, a lot of people have been flocking the Virunga Parks to have a look at these special creatures.
The chimpanzee habituation permit is sold at USD 100 and allows travelers to interact with the chimpanzees learning more about them.
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Nature walks
Virunga National park is a tropical rain forest with dense vegetation. There are various trails that travelers follow leading to different directions and sites.
Travelers encounter various animals during the walks, which include buffalos, elephants, and different types of monkeys, Thomas cobs and large concentration of hippopotamuses approximately 20,000 living on the banks of Lake Edward and other water in the national park.
Nyiragongo hike
There is another exciting thing to do which is hiking Nyiragongo which is an active volcano. It is found in the center of the park and it has the largest lava lake in the world.
This mountain last erupted in 2002 and the lava streamed more than 20km into the communities around. Up to 2002, the mountain had been recorded to have erupted over 34 times.
More still, travelers see the eroded valleys spotted in the ishango and Sinda regions
Netflix Documentary
Finally, Virunga national park has become an international sensation especially after a Virunga national park Netflix movie came out. This documentary is defined worth the watch. Check out the Trailer Here
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