Rwenzori Mountains National Park – Mountains of the Moon - Uganda – selected by Lonely Planet as the best area for trekking in the world!

This area become real world famous due to the British explorerer Sir Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904) for over 100 years ago, who searched for and found the Scottish missionary David Livingstone. Mr. Livingstone was also explorer who travelled from Scotland to find the source of the Nile, and had not been heard of.

Rising from the Rift Valley floor to a wintry elevation of 5,109m, the Rwenzori supports large tracts of evergreen and bamboo forest, while the higher moorland zone is known for its other-worldly cover of giant heathers, lobelias and groundsels. Ecologically, Uganda is where the East African savannah meets the West African jungle.

The Rwenzori Mountains in southwestern Uganda offer some of the best trekking in East Africa and are almost as popular with travellers as Kilimanjaro and Mt Kenya, though definitely harder to climb.

Within the Bwindi National Park in the south-west, the Waterfall Trail, Muzabijiro Loop Trail and Munyaga River Trail, there are three beautiful walks of varying degrees of difficulty. The water around the Ssese Islands south of Kampala is clean, cool and perfect for swimming. On the Nile River, it`s possible to take a white-water rafting tour. The mountain range here stretches for about 100km (62mi) and is also one of Uganda's most spectacular national parks. At its centre are several permanently snow and glacier-covered mountains; the highest is Mt Stanley, named after the world famous British adventurer and explorer.

Fort Portal, a quiet, verdant town at the northeast end of the Ruwenzori Mountains, is a tea-growing centre. It's also the base to explore the Kibale Forest National Park, 30km (19mi) to the southeast, which is famous for its chimpanzees. It's said to have the highest density of primates in the world.

Uganda's main attraction is the endangered mountain gorilla, the bulkiest of living primates, and among the most peaceable. These giants share 95% of their genes with humans. They are fewer than 700 today, who live between the Bwindi National Park and the Virunga Mountains. In Uganda there are five habituated gorilla group who can be observed by visitors; four in Bwindi and one in Mgahinga National Park.

There are so many spectacular national parks to experience in Uganda. Rwenzori Mountains National Park is definitely one of them that the adventurers should experience. So as the staff in Lonely Planet put it, it`s the best area in the world for hiking and mountaineering.

Stein Morten Lund, 17 June 2005

Additional information

For more information click on the following links:

www.lonelyplanet.com

www.visituganda.com

The search for the Nile's source:
The source of the Nile and its life-giving floods has been a mystery for centuries. There are several fascinating stories about it. Ptolemy held that the source was the "Mountains of the Moon". Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus), fl. 2d century A.D., celebrated Greco-Egyptian mathematician, astronomer, and geographer. He made his observations in Alexandria and was the last great astronomer of ancient times. Although he discovered the irregularity in the moon's motion, known as evection, and made original observations regarding the motions of the planets, his place in the history of science is that of collator and expounder.

The search the origin of the Nile attracted much attention in the 18th and 19th century. James Bruce, the Scottish explorer, identified (1770) Lake Tana as the source of the Blue Nile, and John Speke, the British explorer, is credited with the identification (1861-62) of Lake Victoria and Ripon Falls as the source of the White Nile. It`s producued a movie based on this story, which is well worth to be seen. 

As mentioned above. This area become real world famous when the British explorerer Sir Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904) was there for over 100 years ago. He searched for and found the Scottish missionary David Livingstone. Mr. Livingstone was also explorer who travelled from Scotland to find the source of the Nile, and had not been heard of. It`s also made a movie about this incredible expedition.