Uganda's Western Region
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
Hinged at the extreme southwest corner of Uganda, Mgahinga National Park is the country’s smallest national park at only 33.7 sqkm. Yet, what Mgahinga lacks in measurement, it more than makes up for in diversity and importance. Defined in 1991 to protect the Ugandan collection of mountain gorillas, Mgahinga encompasses the country’s sector of the picturesque Virunga Conservation Area. It is the towering Virunga Volcanoes, straddling Rwanda, which protects the 300 mountain gorillas that comprise the remaining half not found in Bwindi National Park.
A dense tropical rainforest at the lower slopes of the Virungas, Mgahinga’s lush vegetation includes bamboo, lichens and mosses, all of which more than nourish the primates that call this breathtaking park home. While most of the park’s native residents make it a point to avoid their curious audiences, the Nyakagezi group is well habituated to humans and can be visited along the gorilla track.
