Is A Visit To Virunga National Park Worth It? Virunga national park is located within the Eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo and it is situated within the Albertine Rift Valley. This game park was officially established as a national park in 1952, which makes it to be considered among the oldest national parks in the country covering a total surface area of about 77,893 square kilometers. more so, Virunga national park is seen as a great destination for one to choose to travel to while planning to go on an adventurous safari because it is surrounded with tropical and dense forests covered with a green lush vegetation and the montane forests which have over 3000 floral species which tend to also act as good natural habitats to many wildlife species. Hence giving a chance to tourists to sight see at many animals as they explore within the national park also exploring more within this park gives you opportunities to participate in many interesting activities, which helps individuals to create remarkable memories and have a great time of a good experience while on their safari which ranks their visit worth it. Therefore below are some of the activities that tourists can do such as;
Chimpanzee trekking.
Chimpanzee trekking is considered as the second top exciting activity that is done by many tourists while they tour around this national park because it is a home to large numbers of chimpanzees that are usually spotted within the dense forests. More so, this activity is best done within the morning hours because it is when individuals get to spot many chimpanzees as they move out of their hidings to look for food. In addition, it is during this time when tourists get to get to watch and observe their characters and behaviours such as; they get to see how they eat and feed their young ones, see how they collect fruits and many others. However, before the trekking, tourists are always asked to represent their chimpanzee trekking permits at the park headquarters and then they are briefed about the rules and regulations that they should follow while trekking such as; they are advised to avoid eating and drinking while in the presence of the chimpanzees among others. Later, they are put in groups with a maximum number of four people and each group is being assigned to a park guide whose role is to lead them through different trails while tracking where the chimpanzees are located within their natural habitats.
Gorilla trekking.
Virunga national park is famously known to be a good destination to travel to while planning to go on a gorilla trekking safari in the Democratic Republic of Congo because it is known to be a home to over eight-habituated mountain gorillas groups, which are always available to be trekked within the park. and some of these gorilla families include; Bageni gorilla group, Humba gorilla group, Mapuwa gorilla group, Lulengo gorilla group, Kabirizi gorilla group, Rugendo gorilla group, Munyanga gorilla group, Nyakamwe gorilla group and many others.
Gorilla trekking activities always go for about 2-6 hours depending on where the gorillas are located and tourists are always encouraged to purchase their gorilla trekking permits which are charged at a cost of about 400 USD for the foreigners per person and 150 USD for the citizens. More so, this activity always involves individuals to move within the hilly forested areas with an aim of tracking where the mountain gorillas are located however, trekkers should note that this activity is best for individuals who are physically fit and are free from diseases like; pressure and other conical heart problems due to the fact that they will hike through different areas which seems to be tiring. Before the trekking tourists are always given a short briefing about how to handle themselves during the trekking such as; they encouraged to maintain a distance of about 7 meters while in the presence of the endangered mountain gorilla species, avoid maintaining a direct eye contact with the species, disable the use of flash lights while taking pictures and recording videos of the species in order to prevent them from being violent and many others.
And apart from the above two mentioned activities, there are more other things that tourists can do while they explore within Virunga national park that contribute to making their tour a successful one and some of these activities include; bird watching where they able to see birds like; Madagascar bee-eater, yellow-billed barbet, double collared sunbird, bronze sun bird, Rwenzori Batis, Olive woodpecker, regal sunbird, paradise fly catcher, alpine chat and many others. tourists can also embark to community visits and cultural encounters, guided nature walks where they are always accompanied with a park guide, visit the senkwekwe orphanage centre which is a home to over 4 gorilla families such as; Ndakasi, Ndeze, Maisha, Matabishi and many others.
Contact our trusted tour operators in case of more inquiries and information about what makes it worth it visit in Virunga national park and Book with our tours and travel companies such as; Achieve Global safaris and Focus East Africa tours who offer the best tour packages while on your Congo safari in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
