Compare Mgahinga national park and Volcanoes national park

Compare Mgahinga national park and Volcanoes national park: Mgahinga national park is a gorilla destination in Uganda while Volcanoes national park is a gorilla destination in Rwanda. Both national parks are part of the Virunga conservation area which also comprises Virunga national park in DR Congo. Mountain gorilla trekking is the main activity done in both Mgahinga national park and Volcanoes national park since they are lucky to be harboring mountain gorillas.

Compare Mgahinga national park and Volcanoes national park

The gorilla trekking activity

Gorilla trekking in Mgahinga national park and volcanoes national park do start early in the morning. The activity starts with trekkers learning the rules and regulations of trekking at the briefing center. In all national parks, a group of mountain gorillas is trekked by a maximum of 8 people.

The trekkers are led by armed ranger guides who know the best trekking trails to use while searching for mountain gorillas. The trekking is done inside the jungle and the trekkers take 2 to 7 hours looking for the mountain gorillas. The time taken to locate the mountain gorilla family depends on the speed of trekkers as well as the nature of the trails.

After hours of searching and locating the mountain gorilla family, the trekkers in both national parks are given 1 hour to be around the members. During the time given, trekkers are able to learn about the gorilla behaviors, take photos and watch the members do daily activities like nesting, hunting, feeding, grooming, coupling, and much more.

The chances of seeing mountain gorillas

In both Mgahinga national park and volcanoes national park chances of seeing mountain gorillas are very high. It’s very rare to find out that tourists trekked mountain gorillas in these two national parks and failed to find them. Mgahinga national park is very small and mountain gorillas love specific areas like the bamboo vegetation so rangers will always help you spot the members.

Volcanoes national park has over 10 mountain gorilla families which means you can’t move into the jungle and fail to see mountain gorillas. There are rangers deployed in both national parks to keep monitoring the mountain gorillas. In the morning some trackers go into the jungle and see where mountain gorillas are then they call rangers and they go with trekkers knowing which trails to use.

In terms of gorilla permit price.

The gorilla permit price for Mgahinga national park is cheaper than that of the volcanoes national park. The gorilla permit price of Volcanoes national park is in fact twice the money of Mgahinga national park. Rwanda decided to make itself a luxury tourism destination, therefore, this is why the permit price is a bit high compared to other areas which are home to mountain gorillas.

Rwanda Development Board set the gorilla permit price for Volcanoes national park at $1500 while Uganda Wildlife Authority set the gorilla permit price for Mgahinga national park at $700 for foreign non-residents, $600 for foreign non-residents, and UGX250,000 citizens of East African member states. The price of the gorilla trekking permit in Volcanoes national park equals the price of the gorilla habituation permit in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park Uganda.

In terms of gorilla families

Mgahinga national park has only one mountain gorilla family and the volcanoes national park has 10 mountain gorilla families. Mgahinga national park is very small with about 100 mountain gorillas but Volcanoes have more mountain gorillas living in the rainforest and grasslands. With 1 mountain gorilla family, it means that only 8 permits are in Mgahinga and 80 gorilla permits are in Volcanoes national park.

In terms of accessibility.

Volcanoes national park is easily accessed compared to Mgahinga national park. Volcanoes national park Rwanda is located 2 to 3 hours from Kigali which is the starting point of most safaris and Mgahinga national park is located 9 to 10 hours from Entebbe and Kampala where most safaris start. Mgahinga national park can still be accessed from Kigali nit again it takes 4 to 5 hours to cross via Cyanika border to Kisoro and then to the park.

In terms of affordability

Mgahinga national park is affordable compared to Volcanoes national park. Volcanoes national park is a luxury tourism destination with luxury lodges while Mgahinga national park is very affordable with budget, mid-range, and luxury lodges. The gorilla permit price in Mgahinga is cheaper compared to that of Volcanoes national park. There is a very big price difference when it comes to the park. The permit for Volcanoes national parks buys two permits for Mgahinga national park.

Best time to visit

Mgahinga national park and volcanoes national park are better visited during the dry months which happen from June to September and December to February. The dry season is very good because it’s characterized by little or no rainfall which makes the trekking trails dry and easier to navigate, the vegetation is short and scattered with clear views of wildlife, and roads leading to the parks are in good condition.