What to do in Rwenzori national park after birding

What to do in Rwenzori national park after birding? With over 217 bird species, Rwenzori mountains national park attracts lots of birders in the western part of uganda. Bird watching is one of the top activities carried out in the park for the area offers gorgeous bird watching opportunities.

Some of the birds that are likely to be spotted in Rwenzori mountains national park include Red tufted sunbird, Rwenzori turaco, red chested cuckoo, lemon dove, chestnut winged starling, black winged kite, cassin’s honeyguide, little egret, mountain yellow warbler, great crested grebe, common sandpiper, lapped faced vulture, red headed bluebill, augur buzzard, laughing dove, mountain yellow warbler, black headed sunbird, black crowned waxbill, cattle egret, mountain illadopsis, red thighed sparrowhawk, and tambourine dove.

Abyssinian ground hornbill, white browed coucal, malachite king fisher, levaillant’s cuckoo, montane nightjar, yellow rumped tinkerbird, scarce swift, stripe breasted tit, brown crowned tchagra, marabou stork, olive woodpecker, yellow fronted tinkerbird, dusky kit, African stonechat, common bulbul, cassin’s hawk eagle, western tinkerbird, red knobbed coot, African hobby, brown woodland warbler, crowned eagle, ashy flycatcher, grey cuckoo shrike, shikra to mention but a few.

Activities to do in Rwenzori mountains national park after bird watching

Hiking Mountain Rwenzori

After doing your bird watching in Rwenzori mountains national park, tourists can use a few days left to go hiking Mount Rwenzori. The mountains of the moon is the tallest mountains in uganda with Margherita peak being at 5109m above sea level. Many hikers hike Mountain Rwenzori hoping that they can reach the summit and be ta the highest point in uganda.

Mountain Rwenzori has fantastic trekking trails (central circuit trail and kilembe route) with spectacular views of attractions on the slopes and those that are surrounding the mountain. Hiking can be done for 1 days to 12 days fir those that want to reach the summit. Hiking goes through different vegetation covers including those that you have never seen before. Hikers meet different wildlife species among which include birds, mammals, primates, reptiles, and amphibians.

As hikers climb mountain Rwenzori, they get an opportunity of seeing the different tallest mountains in the country. There is Mount Stanley, Mount Speke and Mount Baker which are a few kilometers apart. Birders who are not mountaineers can hike mount Rwenzori for a few days and reach a certain level of the mountain.

Nature walks in Rwenzori

At the foot hills of Mount Rwenzori lies Mount Rwenzori mountains national park. A beautiful national park famous for its unique vegetation, lakes, unique sights and hosting the tallest mountain in uganda. Nature walks in this national park is a thrilling experience and a change to get so close to the different attractions found in the park.

Nature walks in Rwenzori mountains national park start with a short drive where tourists get to the starting points of the activity. Tourists will drive through the beautiful green surroundings of Rwenzori mountains national park where they will spot some of the park attractions. Nature walks in Rwenzori gives tourists a different image of the park as they hear the best scents and sounds of the park by foot.

Cultural encounters

Cultural encounters in Rwenzori mountains national park are done in communities around the park and that is where tourists go to interact with the locals. Some of the locals living around the park are those that were evicted from the national park when uganda wildlife authority was gazetting the area. A visit to any of the communities around the park will give tourists an opportunity to interact with the locals and learn more about their culture as well as their way of living.

Cultural encounters in Rwenzori mountains national park are done in different communities among which include Ruboni community which is at the foothills of Mount Rwenzori. Here you meet the Bakonzo who entertain you through dance and drama and also take you around their communities to show you what they do and how they live their day to day life. During the community tour, local people will lead you take you to Mubuku river which is one of the rivers that gets its water from Mount Rwenzori.

When to do bird watching in Rwenzori mountains national park

Birders can go bird watching in Rwenzori mountains national park at any time of the years however the best period is from November to April. The period is the best because that is when migratory birds from North Africa or Europe are with in the park meaning that the number if bird species to see will increase. Lots of bird species are with in the park because there is plenty of food everywhere.

Birding is best done in November to April but birders who come in months such as November, March and April should expect a lot of rainfall with in the park. When the rainfall is too much, the birding trails become muddy and slippery limiting birders access to some of the park areas. In areas where the vegetation is very tall, birders might fail to see certain bird species and photographing them might be a problem.