Virunga National Park is a 7,800 square kilometre national park covering the Virunga and the Rwenzori mountains. It is one of the most biologically diverse areas on the planet, making it a wonderful place for wildlife plans to visit.
The park is particularly famous for the mountain gorillas that reside within it. There are only 880 mountain gorillas left and one quarter of them live in Virunga National Park. As the park is so diverse, you can see a huge variety of different animals and some rare species.
Overview
Virunga is a 7,800 square kilometre national park covering the Virunga and the Rwenzori mountains. It is one of the most biologically diverse areas on the planet, making it a wonderful place for wildlife plans to visit.
The park is particularly famous for the mountain gorillas that reside within it. There are only 880 mountain gorillas left and one quarter of them live in Virunga National Park. As the park is so diverse, you can see a huge variety of different animals and some rare species.
Just some of the animals you might see include hippos, lions, elephants, giraffes and chimpanzees all call Virunga home. Head to Lake Edward if you want to see lots of bird species, the lake also contains over 50 species of fish.
Virunga is home to the world’s largest lava lake, which sits at the top of Mount Nyiragongo. You will be able to see it if you make the trip to the top of the mountain. From the top of the mountains the views are simply breathtaking.
The park has a total of five volcanoes, one of which is considered to be the most active in all of Africa. Nyamulagira has erupted over 40 times since the late 1800s. The park is made up of lots of different terrains, which is another reason why it is such an interesting place to visit. In the park you will come across valleys, volcanoes, swamps, lava plains, forests and even savannas. Everyone who visits Virunga appreciates the amazing scenery and huge variety of things to see.
Mountain Gorilla Trekking
This is the most done tourism activity in the Virunga national park. There are six habituated gorilla families in the national park available for trekking. Virunga national park is one of the four national parks in the whole world with the surviving mountain gorillas alongside the volcanoes national park in Rwanda, Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and Mgahinga gorilla national park both in Uganda. Kabirizi is the largest family in the national park with approximately 32 members including 10 babies, 4 sub adults, I black back, 11 adults, five juveniles and 1 silver back named kabirizi. The other gorilla families in the national park are Rugendo, Munyaga, Humba, Mapuwa and Lulengo families.
Chimpanzee Habituation
This is yet another interesting wild life activity done in this park started by a zoologist named Frankfurt in 1987. Chimpanzees were made familiar to human beings and since the travelers have been flocking into the national park for chimpanzee habituation and trekking experiences. The chimpanzee habituation permit is sold at 100usd and allows travelers to interact with the chimpanzees learning more about them.
Nature Walks
Virunga National Park is a tropical rain forest with dense vegetation. There are various trails that travelers follow leading to different directions and sites. Travelers encounter various animals during the walks, which include buffalos, elephants, different types of monkeys, Thomas cobs and large concentration of hippotamuses approximately 20,000 living on the banks of lake Edwards and other water in the national park.
Nyiragongo Hike
The experience does not only stop at wild life but also include hiking the Nyiragongo volcanoes. Virunga national park has the very active Nyiragongo volcano in its center whose summit harbors the largest large lava lake in the whole world. The volcano is very active in that records show that it has erupted over 34 times and the last one was in 2002 when the lava lake drained and lava flowed to the near by communities. Travelers hike up to the summit of the volcano and have a clear view of the dazzling lake with lots fumes coming out of melilite nephelinite.
Landscape Viewing
Virunga national park is the best site for viewing the spectacular montane landscapes in the neighboring countries. These include the snow summits and the jagged relief of the Rwenzori Mountains, the volcanoes in the virunga conservation area together with the Afro alpine vegetation of tree ferns and the dense forests.
More still, travelers see the eroded valleys spotted in the Ishango and Sinda regions. The views provide travelers with extraordinary experience since they do not need to travel to the places viewed while in the Virunga National Park.
In conclusion, therefore, Virunga national park situated in the Virunga Conservation Area in the democratic republic of Congo. The national park is rich in unique and diverse features ranging from natural, cultural, historical and manmade resources a combination that provides travelers with a phenomenal experience.
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