Attractions in Rwenzori Mountains national park

Attractions in Rwenzori Mountains national park: Attractions in Rwenzori Mountains national park are those things that make tourists love and want to visit the area. Rwenzori Mountains national park is a 998 sq. km piece of land in western Uganda that protects different attractions. Among the attractions found in Rwenzori Mountains national park include mountains, rivers, lakes, vegetation, animals, and birds to mention but a few.

The wide array of attractions in Rwenzori Mountains national park make the area one of the major travel destinations in western Uganda. Rwenzori Mountains national park receives different tourists from all over the world. Tourists always come to explore the different attractions which are found within the park. The tallest mountain in Uganda is found inside this park and the birds are some of the things that make tourists visit Rwenzori Mountains national park.

Attractions in Rwenzori Mountains national park

Hiking Mountain Rwenzori

This is the biggest attraction in Mountain Rwenzori national park. Rwenzori Mountain is the highest mountain in Uganda, and the third tallest in Africa. Hikers that visit Uganda normally want to visit Rwenzori Mountains national park and hike Mount Rwenzori. Hiking Mount Rwenzori is done all throughout the year and hikers can hike to different levels of the mountain.

To hike to the top of Mountain Rwenzori at Mount Stanley on Margherita Peak, a hiker would need 9 to 12 days. Hiking starts with a briefing where hikers are taught the rules and regulations of the activity and armed ranger guides lead them towards the top of the mountains. While hiking Mountain Rwenzori, the hikers get an opportunity to go through different vegetation covers, meet different animals, pass through different rocks, and get an opportunity to see the different attractions surrounding the mountain.

Birds

Birds are attractions in Rwenzori national park and bird lovers really like to visit the place to see the different bird species recorded there. Over 217 bird species have been recorded in the park and 19 are said to be endemic to the region. Participating in bird watching activities will enable bird lovers to see so many of the birds that have been recorded in the park. During the search tourists use different birding trails and access areas where birds are often spotted.

Birds to see in Rwenzori mountain national park include Rwenzori turaco, yellow billed barbet, Rwenzori apalis, African black duck, latham’s francolin, little greenbul, afed pigeon, augur buzzard, glossy ibis, laughing dove, tambourine dove, marabou stork, African thrush, honeyguide greenbul, Abyssinian ground hornbill, eastern plantain eater, Evergreen forest warbler, African scared ibis, chestnut wattle eye, African penduline tit, Albertine boubou.

African emerald cuckoo, speckled mousebird, scarce swift, scaly throated honeyguide, yellow longbill, brown crowned tchagra, olive woodpecker, white-necked raven, white spotted flufftail, tripocal boubou, red knobbed coot, shikra, black-crowned tchagra, snowy crowned robin chat, Eurasian kestrel, grey tit flycatcher, chinspot batis, red-headed malimbe, white chinned prinia, African dusky flycatcher to mention but a few.

Animals

Rwenzori Mountains national park has 70 mammals and 5 primates living in different vegetation covers of the park. These animals can be seen during guided nature walk activities since no game drives are conducted in the park. Animals in this park include Elephants, leopards, bushbucks, giant forest hogs, Rwenzori otters, blue monkeys, black-fronted duiker, African civet, chimpanzees, L’hoest’s monkeys, giant forest hogs, black and white colobus monkeys, olive baboons and red colobus among others.

Rwenzori snow peaks

Mountain Rwenzori has 6 different mountain peaks located at different angles of the mountain. The peaks on Mount Rwenzori include Mount Stanley (5109m), Mount Speke (4890), Mount Baker (4842m), Mount Emin (4798m), Mount Gessi (4715m), and Mount Luigi di Savoia (4627m). Mount Stanley has got different subsidiary summits with Margherita Peak being the highest point. Hikers can climb Mount Rwenzori for 9 to 12 days and get a chance to get to any of the peaks.

Lakes

Rwenzori Mountains national park has about 20 lakes and these are attractions because there are tourists who come to see them. Some of the lakes in Rwenzori Mountains national park include Hujuku Lake which is found in Bujuku valley, Lake Mahoma, and Lake Kitandara to mention but a few. There are also several rivers on Mount Rwenzori that flow to different directions in the park.

Best time to visit Rwenzori Mountains national park

Tourists can visit Rwenzori Mountains national park at any time of the year however some months are better than others. The dry season months from June to September and December to February are the best to visit the park and this is because they are characterized by little rainfall and plenty of sunshine. During the dry season, tourists find the trails in the park passable, vegetation is short with good views of attractions, and roads leading to the park are impassable.

Tourists can still visit Rwenzori Mountains national park in the rainy season which happens from March to May and October to November. During this period, tourists should come knowing that there is plenty of rainfall in the park which makes the trails muddy and slippery, vegetation is tall with unclear views of attractions, and roads leading to the park are in poor conditions.

Accessing Rwenzori Mountains national park

Tourists from Kampala/Entebbe can access Rwenzori Mountains national park at any time using road transport. From Kampala/Entebbe, tourists go through Mityana, Mubende, Kyenjojo, Fort Portal, and finally Kasese where the park is located. It takes a single day to access Rwenzori Mountains national park but the journey comes with stopovers along the way.

Tourists who prefer using luxury means of transport can fly on their visit to Rwenzori Mountains national park. There is no airstrip in Rwenzori Mountains national park but tourists can fly to the nearby which is Kasese Airstrip. Airline companies like Bar Aviation Uganda and Aerolink Uganda can fly tourists to Kasese airstrip where they later drive to Rwenzori Mountains national park.