Rwenzori Mountains National Park

The Rwenzori Mountains National Park, measuring 996 km² lies along the Uganda-Congo border in Western Uganda. The park was gazetted in 1991 and is a World Heritage site and Ramsar site.

The Arabs knew it as “Jebel Al Kamar”, “White Mountains,” while the Bakonjo living on its slopes called it “Rwenzori or Rwenjura”, which means “rain maker” or “rain mountains.

The mountain range, stretches 120km-long and 65km-wide with several mountain peaks that have permanent snow and glaciers despite being a few km north of the Equator.

The highest peak is Margherita on Mt Stanley at 5,109m. Others are Speke (4,890m) and Baker (4,843m). The snow peaks can be reached by hiking the Central Circuit or the Kilembe Trail. It takes six to seven days to climb to the summit. Shorter and non-technical treks are offered.

In 1906, Luigi Amedeo, the Duke of Abruzzi, led a scientific expedition in the Rwenzoris naming the peaks according to Victorian figures but also adding some Italian Royal family names.

Margherita, was named after Margherita of Savoy, an Italian queen of the Kingdom of Italy. Mount Baker is named after Sir. Samuel Baker, a British Explorer. Mount Gessi, 4,715m is named after Romolo Gessi, an Italian military officer who made the first circumnavigation of Lake Albert.

Elena at 4968m, which is the base camp for climbing Margherita peak was named after Queen Elena of Italy, a daughter to King Nicholas I, of Montenegro.

Mount Emin Pasha 4,719 m is named after Mohamed Emin Pasha who was Governor of Equatoria Province.

Mount Speke, 4,889 m is named after John Hanning Speke who in 1862 reached Ripon Falls in Jinja and concluded it was the source of the Nile. Mount Stanley is the biggest mountain with Margherita as its highest peak. Sir Henry Morton was an Anglo-American journalist and a leading figure in the exploration and colonization of Africa.

Scott Elliott Pass is named after Prof. Scott Elliott who made the first attempt to climb the Rwenzoris.

Fresh field Pass is named after Douglas Fresh field, former President of the English Alpine Club. He tried to climb Rwenzori in 1905 and failed.

Climbing the Rwenzori Mountains

The Rwenzoris offer opportunities for crowd- free climbing adventures for both technical and non-technical climbers.

Wildlife

Rwenzori Mountains National Park has 70 mammals and 217 bird species including 19 Albertine Rift endemics, as well as some of the world’s rarest vegetation.

Of the 70 species of mammals in the Rwenzoris, six are Albertine Rift endemics while four are endemic to the park.

Some of the wildlife include: elephant, chimpanzee, colobus and blue monkeys, bushbucks and the three-horned chameleon.

Vegetation

Rwenzori is known for its distinctive flora in distinct altitudinal vegetation zones. The lower slopes are blanketed in montane forest followed by bamboo, tree heathers and afro-alpine. The latter is known for its distinctive giant plants of Senecio (groundsel) and lobelias.  The afro-alpine zone has one of the world’s rarest botanical communities limited to East African mountains above 3800m.There are over 20 lakes in Rwenzori Mountains with the most accessible being Mahoma at 2,651m, in the bird-rich forest of the Central Circuit.

Birding

The Rwenzori National Park is an Important Bird Area (IBA) hosting 217 bird species of which 17 are endemic to the park. The forest zone, at around 1800m has a variety of birds like:

Rwenzori Turaco (Gallirex johnstoni)

Rwenzori Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris stuhlmanni

Rwenzori Nightjar (Caprimulgus ruwenzorii

Grauer’s Broadbill (Pseudocalyptomena graueri

Shelley’s Crimsonwing (Cryptospiza shelleyi)

Rwenzori Batis (Batis diops)

Dwarf Honeyguide (Indicator pumilio)

Grauer’s Warbler (Graueria vittate)

Handsome Francolin (Pternistis nobilis

Stripe-breasted Tit (Melaniparus fasciiventer)

Red-throated Alethe (Chamaetylas poliophrys)

Rwenzori Hill Babbler (Sylvia atriceps)

Archer’s Robin-Chat (Cossypha archeri)

Blue-headed Sunbird (Cyanomitra alinae)

Rwenzori Apalis (Apalis ruwenzori)

Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher (Melaenornis ardesiacus)

Mountain Masked Apalis (Apalis personata)

Dusky Crimsonwing (Cryptospiza jacksoni):

Kivu Ground Thrush (Geokichla piaggiae tanganjicae)

Rwenzori Mountains bird list

1. Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater Merops oreobates
2. African Black-headed Oriole Oriolus larvatus
3. Black Sawwing Psalidoprocne pristoptera
4. Common Bulbul Pycnonotus barbatus
5. Green White-eye Zosterops stuhlmanni
6. African Dusky Flycatcher Muscicapa adusta
7. Little Green Sunbird Anthreptes seimundi
8. Collared Sunbird Hedydipna collaris
9. Olive-bellied Sunbird Cinnyris chloropygius
10. Red-chested Sunbird Cinnyris erythrocercus
11. Superb Sunbird Cinnyris superbus
12. Bronze Mannikin Spermestes cucullata
13. African Pied Wagtail Motacilla aguimp
14. Black-faced Rufous-Warbler Bathmocercus rufus
15. Little Greenbul Eurillas virens
16. Variable Sunbird Cinnyris venustus
17. African Pitta Pitta angolensis
18. Bronze Sunbird Nectarinia kilimensis
19. Rwenzori Turaco Gallirex johnstoni
20. Black-billed Turaco Tauraco schuettii
21. Rwenzori Batis Batis diops
22. Brown-crowned Tchagra Tchagra australis
23. Lowland Sooty Boubou Laniarius leucorhynchus
24. Rwenzori Apalis Oreolais ruwenzorii
25. Gray-capped Warbler Eminia lepida
26. Red-throated Crag-Martin Ptyonoprogne rufigula
27. Angola Swallow Hirundo angolensis
28. Kikuyu Mountain Greenbul Arizelocichla kikuyuensis
29. Red-faced Woodland-Warbler Phylloscopus laetus
30. African Thrush Turdus pelios
31. White-starred Robin Pogonocichla stellata
32. Blue-headed Sunbird Cyanomitra alinae
33. Regal Sunbird Cinnyris regius
34. Western Citril Crithagra frontalis
35. Red-chested Cuckoo Cuculus solitarius
36. White-rumped Swift Apus caffer
37. Mountain Buzzard Buteo oreophilus
38. Crowned Hornbill Lophoceros alboterminatus
39. Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird Pogoniulus bilineatus
40. African Paradise-Flycatcher Terpsiphone viridis
41. Mackinnon’s Shrike Lanius mackinnoni
42. Northern Fiscal Lanius humeralis
43. White-tailed Crested Flycatcher Elminia albonotata
44. Black-faced Apalis Apalis personata
45. White-browed Robin-Chat Cossypha heuglini
46. Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat Cossypha niveicapilla
47. Northern Double-collared Sunbird Cinnyris reichenowi
48. Pin-tailed Whydah Vidua macroura
49. Red-eyed Dove Streptopelia semitorquata
50. Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo Cercococcyx montanus
51. Cardinal Woodpecker Dendropicos fuscescens
52. African Yellow-Warbler Iduna natalensis
53. Evergreen-forest Warbler Bradypterus lopezi
54. Red-throated Alethe Chamaetylas poliophrys
55. Purple-breasted Sunbird Nectarinia purpureiventris
56. Yellow-fronted Canary Crithagra mozambica
57. Eastern Yellow-billed Barbet Trachylaemus purpuratus
58. Gray Cuckooshrike Ceblepyris caesius
59. African Blue Flycatcher Elminia longicauda
60. Green-backed Camaroptera Camaroptera brachyura
61. Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
62. Slender-billed Starling Onychognathus tenuirostris
63. Stuhlmann’s Starling Poeoptera stuhlmanni
64. Abyssinian Thrush Turdus abyssinicus
65. Strange Weaver Ploceus alienus
66. Dusky Crimsonwing Cryptospiza jacksoni
67. Sharpe’s Starling Pholia sharpii
68. Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
69. Olive Woodpecker Dendropicos griseocephalus
70. African Crested Flycatcher Trochocercus cyanomelas
71. Gray Apalis Apalis cinerea
72. Mountain Yellow-Warbler Iduna similis
73. White-browed Crombec Sylvietta leucophrys
74. Mountain Illadopsis Illadopsis pyrrhoptera
75. Cape Wagtail Motacilla capensis
76. Black-headed Heron Ardea melanocephala
77. Chestnut Wattle-eye Dyaphorophyia castanea
78. Black-crowned Tchagra Tchagra senegalus
79. Pied Crow Corvus albus
80. White-necked Raven Corvus albicollis
81. Olive Sunbird Cyanomitra olivacea
82. Yellow-bellied Waxbill Coccopygia quartinia
83. Northern Gray-headed Sparrow Passer griseus
84. Black Kite Milvus migrans
85. Speckled Mousebird Colius striatus
86. Gray-headed Kingfisher Halcyon leucocephala
87. Mosque Swallow Cecropis senegalensis
88. African Black Duck Anas sparsa
89. Green-headed Sunbird Cyanomitra verticalis
90. Copper Sunbird Cinnyris cupreus
91. Crowned Eagle Stephanoaetus coronatus
92. Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill Bycanistes subcylindricus
93. Stripe-breasted Tit Melaniparus fasciiventer
94. Chestnut-throated Apalis Apalis porphyrolaema
95. Yellow-whiskered Greenbul Eurillas latirostris
96. Rwenzori Hill Babbler Sylvia atriceps
97. Stuhlmann’s Sunbird Cinnyris stuhlmanni
98. Thick-billed Seedeater Crithagra burtoni
99. Scarce Swift Schoutedenapus myoptilus
100. Chinspot Batis Batis molitor
101. Yellow Longbill Macrosphenus flavicans
102. Red-faced Crimsonwing Cryptospiza reichenovii
103. Rameron Pigeon Columba arquatrix
104. European Bee-eater Merops apiaster
105. Albertine Boubou Laniarius holomelas
106. Cinnamon Bracken-Warbler Bradypterus cinnamomeus
107. Archer’s Robin-Chat Dessonornis archeri
108. Streaky Seedeater Crithagra striolata
109. Blue-spotted Wood-Dove Turtur afer
110. Levaillant’s Cuckoo Clamator levaillantii
111. Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus
112. African Marsh Harrier Circus ranivorus
113. Dwarf Honeyguide Indicator pumilio
114. Eurasian Kestrel Falco tinnunculus
115. Brown-throated Wattle-eye Platysteira cyanea
116. Lühder’s Bushshrike Laniarius luehderi
117. Gray-backed Fiscal Lanius excubitoroides
118. White-chinned Prinia Schistolais leucopogon
119. Black-and-white Mannikin Spermestes bicolor
120. Black-crowned Waxbill Estrilda nonnula
121. Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher Trochocercus nitens
122. Banded Prinia Prinia bairdii
123. Toro Olive-Greenbul Phyllastrephus hypochloris
124. Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird Pogoniulus chrysoconus
125. Tropical Boubou Laniarius major
126. White-winged Black-Tit Melaniparus leucomelas
127. Trilling Cisticola Cisticola woosnami
128. White-eyed Slaty-Flycatcher Melaenornis fischeri
129. Rock Pigeon Columba livia
130. Laughing Dove Spilopelia senegalensis
131. Blue-headed Coucal Centropus monachus
132. Marabou Stork Leptoptilos crumenifer
133. African Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus
134. Palm-nut Vulture Gypohierax angolensis
135. Woodland Kingfisher Halcyon senegalensis
136. Western Tinkerbird Pogoniulus coryphaea
137. Chubb’s Cisticola Cisticola chubbi
138. Slender-billed Greenbul Stelgidillas gracilirostris
139. Yellow-streaked Greenbul Phyllastrephus flavostriatus
140. Chestnut-winged Starling Onychognathus fulgidus
141. Northern Black-Flycatcher Melaenornis edolioides
142. Gray-chested Babbler Kakamega poliothorax
143. Mountain Wagtail Motacilla clara
144. Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle Aquila africana
145. Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus
146. Hadada Ibis Bostrychia hagedash
147. Malachite Sunbird Nectarinia famosa

 Source: eBird