Rwenzori National park is located 25 km from Kasese and is famous for its lush
green forest which is loaded with Afro Alpine vegetation, birds, small mammals
and flowers and is spread out in 1,000 square km of land. There are numerous
waterfalls, lakes, glaciers, and the third highest mountain in Africa, Mount
Stanley.
Even though the Rwenzori National Park forms the part of great African Rift valley this place is not volcanic which distinguishes it from other mountains like Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro. Mount Stanley is 1901 meters high and is named after its first European explorer, Henry Morton Stanley. The Rwenzori Mountains lie just north of the Equator along the border Congo and Uganda. Rwenzori is an ideal travel and tourism destination for nature lovers.
The park has many natural habitats of endangered species and huge bio-diversity of flora and fauna including Symphonia trees, giant tree ferns, hisbiscus, wild ginger, balsams, begonias, green giant earthworms which can reach upto 1.5 feet, olive pigeons, sunbirds, black and white colobus monkeys, chimpanzees, elephants, giant hogs, buffalo, bushbucks, leopards and much more. Glaciers are also a part of Rwenzori, even though there were 43 in 1906 in an area if 7.5 square km, but now there are just 3 left in an area of 1.5 square km due change in climate. Besides Mt Stanley (5,109m), there are 5 more peaks Mt Speke (4,890m), Mt Baker (4,843m), Mt Emin (4,798m), Mt Gessi (4,715m) and Mt Luigi di Savoia (4,627m). The central circuit hike takes six nights/seven days and reaches an altitude of 14,000ft (4,267m) above sea level. The conditions on the mountain are a challenge to even an experienced tourists because this mountain is known for its un-engineered, steep and slippery trails, frequent rainfall, cold temperatures, bogs, mud, steep terrain and high altitude.
Lake Edward lies at the southern end of the mountains and connected to another lake called Lake George. Both are very important for the local communities where many locals earn their livelihood by fishing and cattle grazing. Rwenzori National park is a great travel and tourism destination of Uganda.
