Rwenzori National Park

Rwenzori National Park

Rwenzori national park is one of the leading mountaineering national parks in Africa having five of the top ten highest mountain peaks in Africa. All these are shared among Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania; Mount Kilimanjaro and mount meru in Tanzania, Mountain Kenya and Rwenzori mountains in Uganda also shared with Democratic republic of Congo.

The highest peaks in Rwenzori national park range between 4300 meters above sea level and 5109 meters above sea level.

Rwenzori National Park Location

Rwenzori Mountains are located in the western part of Uganda bordering Uganda with democratic republic of Congo. It extends to Virunga national park in Democratic republic of Congo. The highest peak Margherita is also shared between Uganda and Democratic republic of Congo.

There are mainly three common routes to the Rwenzori mountains national park; there are daily flights from Entebbe to Kasese of about an hour and a half from where you can continue to Rwenzori national park through a self drive or hire with the drive to the park which might take you about 15 minutes. The park can also be accessed through public transport means from Kampala to Kasese for about 6 hours.

However public transport means such as buses and Taxi might require you to have at least two extra hours at your disposal just in case of any delays.

Accommodation in Rwenzori Mountains National Park

Accommodation is one of the three pillars that drive any safari alongside entrance fees and transport. Rwenzori mountains national park has a number of packages to consider for your trip but why would need accommodation in a mountaineering destination?

Most of the time on your hike in the Rwenzori mountains, you will be camping as part of the package of your mountaineering experience. For this reason, accommodation is needed a day before you start your mountaineering experience and the last day after your mountaineering experience.

This implies that; regardless of your Rwenzori itinerary, you are likely not to have more than four nights in any hotel in the Rwenzori mountains national park area. With such at the back of your mind, you might have to consider two important things;

  • How to reduce your mountaineering budget by spending less on accommodation
  • How to have lesser days of non package accommodation while maximizing on the quality of accommodation

Below are some of the hotels to consider for accommodation in Rwenzori mountains national park most of which are an average of 15 minutes drive from the national park;

  • Hotel Margherita
  • Equator snow Lodge
  • Rwenzori international Hotel
  • Tropical Savannah Guest House
  • Katara Lodge

Rwenzori Mountains National Park Hikes

The park offers one day and two days hikes of different circuits of up to 2300 meters above sea level. The hikes also come handy with forest nature walks, community walks through Kichamba to Karangura ridge, and Bundibugo area.

Though Rwenzori mountains national park has a diversity of wildlife; they are not commonly seen during the hike apart from a few; Rwenzori otter, blue monkeys, forest elephants, three-horned chameleon, chimpanzees among several other mammals.

Rwenzori Mountains National Park Cultural Tours

Kasese, Bundibugyo and fort portal are some of the neighborhoods to Rwenzori mountains national park. Besides the recorded explorer history of the mountains, there is a lot of legends and historical lifestyle that goes around this park. With the help of some of the best tour operators in the Rwenzori area, you will have the opportunity of not only climbing Rwenzori Mountains but also discovering a lot of culture and history behind this area.

For instance, the mountains have several rivers and lakes that have acted as water sources to the local communities making some of the known hiking circuits the daily routes for people to acquire water for survival.