The Rwenzoris – fabled mountains of the moon – lie in western Uganda along the Uganda Congo boarder situated in Bundibugyo, kasese and Kabarole districts. Rwenzori mountains national park borders the DRCs Virunga national park on the east side of the western Albertine African rift valley.
Rwenzori mountains national park was a designated UNESCO world heritage site because of its out standing natural beauty in 1994 but later established as a protected national park in 1991.
The park is famed for its beautiful plant life where it boosts with Africa’s third highest peak after Mount Kilimanjaro and Kenya. The park is almost 1,000 km in size with many waterfalls, lakes and glaciers.
Rwenzori national park is made up of the central and eastern half of the mountain. The park has glaciers, snow fields, waterfalls as well as lakes and is regard one of Africa’s beautiful mountain areas. The park hosts six glacial peaks including Mount Stanley, mount Speke, mount Gessi, mount Emin pasha, Mount Luigi da Savoir and Mount Baker.
The park is home to 70 mammal species, 219 bird species with 19 Albertine Rift endemics with some of the world’s rarest vegetation zones. The equatorial snow peaks, the lower slopes are wrapped in moorland, bamboo and rich, moist montane forest. Huge tree heathers and colorful mosses are draped across the mountain the mountain side with giant lobelias and everlasting flowers.
Rwenzori is an intimate and remote destination welcoming travelers who seek to glimpse a world class hiking and mountaineering adventure. A 9- 12-day trek will get skilled climbers to the Summit of Margherita (the highest peak) through shorter routes non-technical treks are possible to scale the surrounding peaks.