The Birding Watching Trail.

Mgahinga national park, is covered by tropical forest which has acted has a home to variety of mammal species and a wide variety of bird spices with over 115 different bird species and for the bird watchers, this is a great opportunity where you will be able to see over a hundred of these species in a single day. During the activity, you will be guided by experienced guide who understands the trail through the forest. Being a hilly area, expect some hiking and comfortable hiking boots are essential. With the help of your guide, this is the perfect opportunity for any birder who wishes to see the rare and very beautiful bird species that are found in the forest. This hike is perhaps the best of all following the popular gorge Trail and it goes half-way up the famous Mt. Sabinyo.

The trail leads you through the area in between Gahinga and Sabinyo with excellent scenery in addition to the amazing birds, hiking through the trail, lasts for bout 3–4-hour long the Gorge with a variety of bird species including; Dusky turtle Dove, the olive Thrush, the Kivu-ground Thrush, the Brown-crowned Tchagra and the Bronze Sunbird as well as Regal Sunbird and also Cape Robin-chat Other birds include the Blue-headed Sunbird and Rwenzori Batis, a huge number of Black-headed Waxbill as well as the Streaky Seedeater, among others.

Some of the best birding areas within this forest are places around the bamboo belt which lies at a height of about 2,500metres high above sea level and areas occupied by the tall montane forest which lies at about 2,660m above sea level. The commonly seen birds in these zones include the Rwenzori Turaco which are seen in big numbers in areas lying above 2,700m. And then along the border of Uganda and Congo especially around the ground level, you will find birds like the Chubb’s Cisticola, the Red-faced Woodland Warbler, there are Banded Prinias, the Doherty’s Bush-shrike which are very vocal although not easily seen in this tangled vegetation cover along the edge of the forest.

Mgahinga gorilla National Park is one of the best destinations that anyone can visit for an amazing birding safari. It is true that most of these birds are Albertine rift endemics. The existence of the birds is supported by the existing various vegetation covers.

What to pack for a birding safari in Mgahinga Gorilla Park

The park is open to travellers all through the year, birding activity can be done all year around though the wet season is a bit challenging due to the wet and slippery trails but it’s also the perfect time to view the birds when the vegetation is green and plenty food for the birds to feed on. To have the best safari experience, you need to park the right essentials required for this particular activity.

• Comfortable hiking boats are a good choice to hike through the trail most especially during the wet season when the trails are wet and slippery.
• A camera is a must and very essential item for any safari trip to capture the beautiful memories of your safari trip.
• Insect repellent to keep insects like mosquitoes off you, you can also carry a hat, suns screen to protect you from the strong rays of the sun.
• It’s important to carry rain coat just in case it rains, the weather in this part of the country changes all the time which means, it can easily rain heavily any time and you get wet from the jungle.
• You need to also carry drinking water and packed food in case the hike takes much longer time.

Despite bird watching being the main activity, expect to see more than the birds and the primate species, you will also view antelopes especially the bushbucks, buffalos and elephants, among others.