2023 Activities in Kahuzi Biega National Park in Congo: The Kahuzi-Biega National Park is located on the eastern province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, near Bukavu town, on the western bank of Lake Kivu, near the Rwanda border. The park was founded in 1970 by Adrien Deschryver, a Belgian conservationist and photographer, and takes its name from two dormant volcanoes, Mount Kahuzi elevated at 3,308 meters and Mount Biega standing at 2,790 meters, and covers an area of 6,000 square kilometres, making it one of Congo’s largest national parks with both lowland and mountainous terrain.
Kahuzi-Biega National Park in Congo was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980 for its unique richness of rain forest environment and for being home to the critically endangered lowland gorillas. The park is divided into two halves, one mountainous and one lowland.
2023 Activities in Kahuzi Biega National Park in Congo.
The park is home to 136 animals, including lowland gorillas, which are indigenous to the area, as well as 349 bird species, 42 of which are also endemic! Other primates include Chimpanzees and Colobus bai, as well as relatively uncommon residents of the Eastern Congo jungles such as the gigantic forest genet and the aquatic genet. Bush elephant, bush buffalo, hylochere, and bongo are among the other species found in the region.
Lowland Gorilla Trekking
Eastern lowland gorillas can be seen in their native environment by visitors to Congo’s Kahuzi-Biega National Park. In addition, tourists may follow the park’s endangered mountain gorillas, which is a once-in-a-lifetime chance that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Although travelers can hike mountain gorillas in the national park, the major tourist attraction in Kahuzi-Biega is the eastern lowland gorillas.
These gorilla subspecies are the biggest of all gorilla species and can be distinguished from mountain gorillas simply because eastern lowland gorillas are larger than mountain gorillas.
Bird Watching
With about 342 bird species, 42 of which are indigenous to the national park, Kahuzi Biega is a bird lover’s heaven. Among the birds sighted were the African green wide bill, the yellow crested helmet-shrike, the Congo peafowl, and the Rockefeller’s, among many more. The national park is one of the vulnerable locations under international union conservation area protection.
Chimpanzee Habituation at Lwiro Sanctuary.
Lwiro Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Kahuzi Biega national park is situated approximately 50 kilometers in Bukavu town south of Lake Kivu. It is also around 10 kilometres from Kahuzi Biega National Park. Tourists who want to hike chimps in Congo are frequently recommended and persuaded to visit these orphaned and solitary chimps in this facility. This institution is housed in Mobutu’s old jail.
The Lwiro primate rehabilitation and rescue centre is located on the grounds of the Lwiro Chimpanzee Sanctuary. Although its major focus is chimps, it also contains baboons and a variety of monkeys, which gives wonderful tourism attractions to Lwiro such as seeing the local community, birding, and adventurous species in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Visit Lake Kivu.
Visitors to Kahuzi-Biega National Park can explore Lake Kivu. A boat ride on Lake Kivu allows you to see the spectacular marine and wildlife that exists within and around the lake. Lake Kivu is located within the Albertine Rift, between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This lake is one of Africa’s big lakes.
Cultural Tours.
Tourists visiting Congo’s Kahuzi-Biega National Park may take a cultural tour of the local indigenous communities both inside and outside the park. Visitors may take a quick tour of the town, engage with the locals, learn about their daily lives, and enjoy entertaining performances by local dance groups such as dances, storytelling, singing traditional songs, and playing traditional games.
How to Get to Kahuzi Biega National Park in Congo.
There are two ways to travel to Kahuzi-Biega National Park from Rwanda; either go to Goma or transit through Cyangugu. Arrive in Goma and board the fastest ferry possible from Goma to Bukavu, covering a distance of 100 kilometres in 2 hours and 45 minutes. The ferry runs twice a day (7:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.) and costs $50.
The alternative option is to go by road; the journey between Goma town and Bukavu is 209 kilometres and takes 3 hours and 30 minutes, with some rough parts between Kalehe and Kabibwi. Taxis may be hired for $100 to $150 per day.
Once in Bukavu, you’ll most likely need a somewhere to stay for the night, and there are plenty of options. The next morning, you board a speed boat from Bukavu to Kahuzi-Biega National Park, where you will be met by park employees and taken to your planned activity for the day. The same boat returns to Bukavu in the afternoon.
