VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK RE-OPENS

Re-opening of Virunga National park, D.R.Congo.

Virunga national park reopened to travelers after eight months of its closure. It had stopped operating following the abduction of two British tourists and the killing of their ranger guide. Africa’s oldest national park, located in the East of Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the four fortunate parks in the world that shelters the famous mountain gorillas. Almost half of the total population of these endangered gorillas calls Virunga region home. It was closed however the Re-opening of Virunga National park has put a smile on many peoples faces.

However, this prime African destination has often been wrecked by the political instabilities in eastern D.R. Congo. It is believed that in the last two years, more than 180 park rangers were killed by rebels, poachers and smugglers.

Virunga national park is considered to be one of the most dangerous conservation areas, claiming over six lives in a single year, making it the highest number ever recorded in a single incident in the history of the park. More to that, two British tourists were abducted, so this called for the world’s attention and tourism in Virunga was immediately banned.

This was to avail ample time to the government to thoroughly check their security policies of the park, revise strategies that ensure safety of the visitors, rangers as well as the wildlife. The government was to recruit 700 game rangers as a security reinforcement.

However, the good news is that, the park is now reopened for tourism. Tour operators can now book gorilla trekking tours in Virunga national park without any worries. Though tourists are currently limited to gorilla trekking and hiking Mountain Nyiragongo, investigations and other security precautions are still being done in the other parts of the park.

In the reopening of the park, the management has promised a more different way of doing things, offering new and better packages that furnish memorable experiences in the park. Everything is to be done differently, all the bookings from transport to, inside and from the park will be exclusively done by the park management.

Mountain gorilla trekking in D.R. Congo is the flagship of the country’s tourism, it attracts the biggest number of tourists on Congo safaris yearning to see the mighty apes of the forest in their natural habitats.

Other travelers storm Virunga national park to engage in several other activities like hiking Mountain Nyiragongo, trekking the lowland eastern gorillas as it is the only national park in the world where trekkers can see both mountain and lowland gorillas.

The park has well maintained forest trails making nature walks here an ideal activity to engage in. For bird watchers, it can never be a disappointment, spot the different bird species that are only restricted to the Virungas. Cultural encounters with the surrounding local communities are as well something to behold.

The other countries where you can find mountain gorillas are Uganda and Rwanda. Bwindi Impenetrable national park and Mgahinga national park are the prime homes for popular gorilla safaris in Uganda, almost three quarters of the total population of the mighty apes peacefully dwell here. Another prime home of the gorillas is Volcanoes national park in Rwanda. All these four national parks are found in the Virunga chain of volcanoes share by the three countries.

If you have already done a gorilla trek in Uganda and Rwanda, then try out D. R. Congo for a differently thrilling experience in Africa. The Re-opening of Virunga National park has brought good news to safari enthusiasts.