Accommodation in Kahuzi- Biega National Park.
here are a few accommodation facilities situated within and around Kahuzi-Biega national park and most of these facilities offer visitors budget, mid-range and luxury services which have been tailored to suite your personal tastes and preferences. Accommodation options within and around the national park include; Mount Kahuzi Hotel, Hotel Begonias, Lodge Coco, Orchids Safari Club, Lakeside Hotel Bukavu and Hotel Exodus Bukavu among others.
Security in Kahuzi-Biega National Park.
The Democratic republic of Congo is known to be one of the politically unstable regions on the African Continent. However, unlike most areas of the country, the eastern province of the DR Congo is quite safe. Security in Kahuzi-Biega national park is guaranteed for tourists visiting the national park. However, visitors are also advised to continuously stay up to date with the political situation in the park and in Congo at large. Never go on a self-game drive in the national park because it is quite risky.
Kahuzi Biega National Park- Gorilla Trekking in Congo .
Kahuzi-Biega National Park is a protected area near Bukavu town in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo known as the home for the eastern lowland gorillas apart from maiko National Park.
It is situated near the western bank of Lake Kivu and the Rwandan border. Established in 1970 by the Belgian photographer and conservationist Adrien Deschryver.
the park is named after two dormant volcanoes, Mount Kahuzi and Mount Biega, which are within its limits. With an area of 6,000 square kilometres (2,300 square miles),
Kahuzi-Biega is one of the biggest national parks in the country. Set in both mountainous and lowland terrain, it is one of the last refuges of the rare species of Eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri), an endangered category under the IUCN Red List.
The park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1980 for its unique biodiversity of rainforest habitat and its eastern lowland gorillas. In 1997, it was listed on the List of World Heritage in Danger because of the political instability of the region, an influx of refugees, and increasing wildlife exploitation.
Must See in Aberdare
- Eastern Lowland Gorillas
- Golden Monkey
- Chimpanzees
- Primates - Monkeys
- Mount Kahuzi
- Endangered Birds
- Wildlife animals
- Elephants
Overland Kenya Safari
Geography of this National Park.
The park lies west of the Bukavu town in South Kivu Province, covering an area of 6,000 km2 (2,300 square mi). A small part of the park is in Mitumbi Mountain range of the Albertine Rift in the Great Rift Valley, and the larger part is in lowland terrain. A corridor of 7.4 km (4.6 mi) width joins the mountainous and lowland terrain. The eastern part of the park is the smaller mountainous region measuring 600 km2 (230 square miles); the larger part measures 5,400 km2 (2,100 square mi) and consists mainly of lowland stretching from Bukavu to Kisangani, drained by the Luka and Lugulu rivers which flow into the Lualaba River. Two dormant volcanoes are set within the park’s limits and lend their names to it: Kahuzi (3,308 m (10,853 feet)) and Biega (2,790 m (9,150 feet))
The park receives an average annual precipitation of 1,800 mm (71 in). The maximum temperature recorded in the area is 18 °C (64 °F) while the minimum is 10.4 °C (50.7 °F).
Flora in kahuzi biega national park
The park’s swamps, bogs, marshland and riparian forests on hydromorphic ground at all altitudes are rare worldwide. The western lowland sector of the park is dominated by dense Guineo-Congolian wet equatorial rainforest, part of the Northeastern Congolian lowland forests ecoregion, with an area of transition forest between 1,200 metres (3,900 feet) and 1,500 metres (4,900 feet). The eastern mountainous sector includes continuous forest vegetation from 600 metres (2,000 feet) to over 2,600 metres (8,500 feet), and is one of the rare sites in Sub-Saharan Africa which demonstrates all stages of the low to highland transition, including six distinguishable primary vegetation types: swamp and peat bog, swamp forest, high-altitude rainforest, mountain rainforest, bamboo forest and subalpine heather. The montane rain forests are part of the Albertine Rift montane forests ecoregion. Mountain and swamp forest grows between 2,000 metres (6,600 feet) and 2,400 metres (7,900 feet), bamboo forest grows between 2,350 metres (7,710 feet) and 2,600 metres (8,500 feet), and the summits of Mounts Kahuzi and Biéga above 2,600 metres (8,500 feet) have subalpine heather, dry savannah, and grasslands, as well as the endemic plant Senecio kahuzicus.
FAUNA
The national park protects a greater diversity of mammal species than any other national park in the Albertine Rift. Among the 136 species of mammals identified in the park, the eastern lowland gorilla is the most prominent. According to a 2008 status report of the DR of Congo, the park had 125 lowland gorillas, a marked reduction from the figure of 600 gorillas of the pre-1990’s conflict period, and consequently the species has been listed in the endangered list. The park is the last refuge of this rare species. According to the census survey of eastern lowland gorillas reported by the Wildlife Conservation Society in April 2011, at least 181 gorillas were recorded in the park.
Other primates include the eastern chimpanzee, and several Cercopithecinae, Colobinae and owl-faced monkey. Some of the mammals include the bush elephant, bush buffalo, hylochere and bongo, eastern needle-clawed galago, Maclaud’s horseshoe bat, Ruwenzori least otter shrew, and Alexander’s bush squirrel.
How to Get to Kahuzi Biega National Park.
Most tours to Kahuzi-Biega national park start from Rwanda with pick-ups in Kigali city or Cyangugu town. Other tourists may also prefer to fly into Goma International Airport where you will find our company guide waiting for you. It takes about 6-7 hours to drive from Kigali City to Kamembe in Cyangugu town via the Rusizi I road. After crossing the borders at Goma and Bukavu, travelers will have to drive for about 1½ hours to get to the national park.
Alternatively, visitors can choose to board a flight from Kigali Airport and land in Goma Airport, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is a very convenient mode of transport to the DRC. Once in Goma, travelers can drive 230km to the national park.
Kahuzi Biega National Park in eastern Congo is located 30 Kms from Bukavu Town and it takes one and Half Drive to enter into the national park and its can be accessed by road and by air however travelers have to understand that from kavumu airport and at Miti, take left and keep going straight until you reach the visitor centre.
