Visiting Mgahinga national park in the rainy season.
Visiting Mgahinga national park in the rainy season: Visiting Mgahinga national park is subjected to two seasons of tourism. There are two seasons in Mgahinga Gorilla park that is to say the rainy season and the dry season. Travelers should note that Gorilla trekking Mgahinga is done at any time of the year therefore anyone that wants to do Gorilla trekking in Mgahinga Gorilla park can go at any time they wish to.
One of the seasons in Mgahinga national park is called the rainy season or the low season because it attracts a few tourists. The rainy season in Mgahinga Gorilla park does occur in March, April, May, October, and November. These months are characterized by too much rainfall and cold temperatures.
The rainy season can be used to visit Mgahinga Gorilla park by travelers that love discounted things and travelers who find time to travel in such months. Tourists are always welcome at Mgahinga national park during the rainy season because all park activities are open.
Advantages of visiting Mgahinga national park in the rainy seasons
During the rainy season, tourists have more chances of sleeping in the accommodation facilities of their choice. The rainy season attracts a few travelers to Mgahinga national park and this leaves most of the spaces at the lodges unoccupied hence giving a lot of travelers more choices when it comes to where they will sleep.
Visiting Mgahinga national park in the rainy season comes with low rates compared to the dry season. The rainy season has got discounted accommodation facilities since lodge owners reduce prices to attract the few visiting the park. The rainy season has also got discounted rates from local tour operators who reduce prices to attract a few travelers online. This in the end makes visiting Mgahinga national park in the rainy season cheaper compared to the dry season.
The rainy season is the best time for bird watching in Mgahinga national park. November to April is always the best time for bird lovers in Mgahinga national park because there are a lot of migratory birds there. Birds from Europe and Asia countries fly to Mgahinga national park and other parks from November to April. This means that bird lovers will have more bird species to watch during their birding activities.
Mgahinga national park is less crowded in the rainy season simply because a few tourists are within the park. Tourists who love less crowded places should visit Mgahinga national park during the rainy season because the park is always almost empty.
Photography during the rainy season is more clear and better than that during the dry season. Mgahinga national park’s vegetation is so green during the rainy season because the waters support the growth of this vegetation cover. This means that photographers will get clear backgrounds for their pictures although sometimes the tall vegetation might cause unclear views of some animals.
Gorilla trekking or golden monkey trekking on lucky days of the rainy season does take a shorter time. This is when the primates slept close to the starting points the previous night of your trekking. During the rainy season, there is plenty of food for animals within the park and when they sleep and wake up they don’t move so many places looking for what but they rather concentrate in one area.
Disadvantages of visiting Mgahinga national park in the rainy season
The roads leading to Mgahinga national park are muddy and very slippery during the rainy season. From Kampala to Kisoro the roads are very okay because they are well constructed by the government to connect people from one place to another however there are those roads from the main route to the park which are of marram. These roads during the rainy season tend to be muddy because of the rains. Movement of the cars is delayed and getting to the park takes longer than the estimated time.
When the weather is too much in the rainy season, activities sometimes delay as tourists wait for the rain to stop. Inside the jungle, the trails are muddy and slippery which delays the movement of trekkers. In case the primates slept far it means that locating them will take longer because the trails are muddy. Tourists during the rainy season come out of the jungle very wet because of the watery vegetation and their shoes are dirty because of the mad.
Photographing wildlife within Mgahinga national park during the rainy season sometimes becomes very difficult because the vegetation is very tall. The animals are not well seen and the pictures don’t come out so well even though the background is so green.
Best activities to do in Mgahinga national park during the rainy season
There are so many activities that can be done in Mgahinga national park however during the rainy season the best one to do is bird watching. Bird watching during the rainy season is good because a lot of migratory birds are within the park and this increases the number of birds to see while in the park.
During the rainy season, primate trekking activities can still be done but they don’t give out the best experience like in the dry season. Gorilla trekking Mgahinga might be shorter in the rainy season, but the trekking trails are very muddy and slippery which makes the shoes of trekkers dirty and Gorilla trekking Mgahinga takes longer. The chances of seeing mountain gorillas are very high and trekkers will be able to be around the apes for a maximum of 1 hour.
Accessing Mgahinga national park
Mgahinga national park can be accessed using road transport and also air transport. The national park can be accessed by road transport in 9 to 10 hours from Entebbe/Kampala and 4 to 5 hours from Kigali. By road transport from Kigali, you cross to Uganda using Cyanika border in Kisoro and from Kampala you through Masaka, Lyantonde, Mbarara, Ntungamo, Kabale, and Kisoro to the park.
Using air transport, you can access Mgahinga national park once you fly to Kisoro airstrip. There are airline companies like Bar Aviation Uganda and Aerolink Uganda that have flights to different areas in the country including Kisoro airstrip which is near Mgahinga national park. There are only daily morning flights which last for 1 hour and 25 minutes and from the airstrip to the park is less than 1 hour driving.