VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK
Virunga is found in the Albertine rift valley in the North East of Democratic Republic of Congo. It's part of the Virunga conservation area along with Uganda's Mgahinga national park and Rwanda's Volcanoes national park. Virunga national park has one third of the world's population of the mountain Gorillas in the lush of the volcanic forests of Virunga and the park was established as Albert national park in 1925 and later changed to Virunga national park in 1969.
It became the world heritage site in 1979. The park possesses a wide diversity of plants and animals due to it's dramatic variations in altitude from 680 m (2231 ft) to 5109 (16765 ft), moisture levels and topography.
It has a truly stunning scenery and contains several volcanic mountains such as Karisimbi, Mikeno, Visoke, Sabinyo, Nyiragongo, Nyamurangira and the other two which are still active.
More than 2000 plant species have been recorded and identified, 200 mammal species with 22 primate species ie the mountain Gorillas, the Eastern plain Gorillas and the Eastern Chimpanzee among others. Mammals in the Savannah include elephants, lions, buffaloes, antelopes, warthogs and more than 250 bird species have been recorded where some are Albertine endemics.
Activities that can be done in the park.