The naturalistic importance of the Virunga Mountains in North Kivu was recognised as far back as 1925, when it became the first National Park to be established in the whole of Africa. Belonging to a transboundary triangle of special scientific interest, which includes a vast area of volcanic peaks, bordering the Ruwenzori National Park in Uganda and the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
The geological extraordinariness of the region is undoubtedly that it originates in the vast earth fracture of the Great African Rift and is characterised by eight volcanoes towering between 3,000 and 4,500 metres above sea level, two of which are still active today, both in Congolese territory, the Nyamuragina and the spectacular Nyiragongo.
Extraordinary, but also exceptional, as it is one of the last remaining areas of high altitude equatorial forest in nature, a unique habitat that is home to the beautiful ‘silverback’ gorillas (beringei beringei), among many other wildlife species.
A particularly adventurous eco-tourist destination, but also well-equipped and well-served, Virunga National Park is a world-renowned paradise for hikers, eager to discover one of the last naturalistic regions of Equatorial Africa, which presents the world’s greatest biodiversity, a mosaic of grasslands and savannahs, rainforests and alpine vegetation, wetlands and transitional woodlands, vast lakes and glowing lava craters, where extraordinary flora and fauna come to life above 2.000 metres above sea level, and of which mountain gorillas are undoubtedly one of the main extras.
Today, this environmental heritage of inestimable value has unfortunately suffered from the decades of insecurity in the area and the armed conflicts that have taken place in the region for the control of its exceptional mineral resources, giving refuge among its intricate vegetation to bands of rebel groups from Kivu. This has unfortunately decimated its wildlife population, which has fallen victim to poaching. However, an important preservation programme has been in place for several years to protect its rich endemic wildlife, including 700 species of birds and 220 species of mammals, such as lions, buffalos, antelopes, servals, hippos, elephants, and 20 species of primates, as well as gorillas and chimpanzees.
Goma, the capital city of the region overlooking the magnificent Lake Kivu, is the base from which, in total safety and supervised by expert guides, the circuits within the Virunga Park depart, whether they be nature treks through primeval nature or tracking in the footsteps of the gorillas, and the climbs of the Nyiragongo volcano, with its magnificent Dantesque scenery, in perpetual eruption, challenging but without any particular technical impediments, and where it will be imperative to stop for the night, to fully enjoy the contrast of lava and incandescent lapilli standing out in the darkness of the darkness.
All routes secured by the local authorities and the heroic rangers, who will accompany you to discover natural landscapes that are considered among the most extraordinary on planet earth.
