Rwenzori Mountains national park

Rwenzori Mountains national park: Rwenzori Mountains national park is located in the western part of Uganda. The national park is found in three districts Kabarole, Kasese, and Bundibugyo where it covers an area of 998 sq. km. Rwenzori Mountains national park extends to the borders of Uganda and DR Congo where it forms a boundary in the Albertine rift region.

Mountain Rwenzori national park was gazetted in 1991 as a national park by the Uganda Wildlife Authority. Uganda Wildlife Authority is the government agency responsible for managing and protecting all attractions in and around Rwenzori Mountains national park. UWA has played a very important role in protecting park attractions and teaching the nearby people how important the area is to nearby communities and the country.

Mountain Rwenzori national park covers an area of 998 sq. km which protects a number of attractions. The national park protects 70 mammals, 5 primates, and 217 bird species. It’s said that 19 of the bird species are Albertine rift endemic meaning that they can only be found in areas situated in the Albertine region.

Rwenzori Mountains national park has got some of the rarest vegetation in the world, rovers, waterfalls, glaciers, and a mountain. It’s from here that the national park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994 and designated a Ramar site in 2009

Rwenzori Mountains national park hosts Mount Rwenzori which is the fifth-highest mountain in East Africa. The highest peak in this park is on Mount Stanely’s Margherita peak which is about 5109m above sea level. Because of Mountain Rwenzori, the national park is one of the best places to go hiking and mountain climbing in Africa.

Attractions in Mountain Rwenzori national park

Mountain Rwenzori

When one thinks about visiting Rwenzori Mountains national park, one thing they want to see is Mountain Rwenzori. Mount Rwenzori is the major attraction in Mountain Rwenzori national park and it’s found at the border of Uganda and DR Congo.  Mountain Rwenzori is 120km long and 65km wide on the western side of the park.

Mountain Rwenzori happens to be one of the tallest mountains in Africa and East Africa. Mount Stanley (Margherita PK) is the fifth highest peak in Africa and East Africa with a height of 5109 meters above sea level. Tourists who love hiking and mountain climbing normally try Mount Rwenzori where they hike for 1 to 12 days.

Animals

Mountain Rwenzori national park is home to 70 mammals and 5 primates that live in different vegetation covers at the base of mountain Rwenzori. The national park harbors animals such as 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.

bird species in Rwenzori national park

Over 217 bird species have been recorded in Mountain Rwenzori national park making it one of the birding destinations in western Uganda. It’s been said that 27 of these bird species are endemic to the Albertine region and not seen elsewhere in the country. Bird watching is one of the most done activities in Rwenzori Mountains national park by birders visiting the western region.

Birds of Mountain Rwenzori national park include Rwenzori turaco, dwarf honeyguide, dusky crimsonwings, stout cisticola, thick billed seedeater, black faced rufous warbler, grey chested illadopsis, brown woodland warbler, slender billed starling, chestnut throated apalis, golden winged sunbird, cinnamon bracken warbler, lagden’s bush shrike, red tufted sunbird, angola swallow, Rwenzori batis, collared apalis.

Other bird species of Rwenzori national park Grey apalis, black billed turaco, streaky seedeater, handsome francolin, ruppell’s staling, African pied wagtail, red faced cisticola, black capped apalis, sharpe’s starling, lesser striped swallow, white necked raven, fawn breasted waxbill, narrow tailed starling, African thrush, grey headed nigrita, chestnut winged starling, red chested cuckoo, great crested grebe, and cattle egret to mention but a few.