Travel Guide Rwenzori National Park

Marking the Congolese border north of Lake Edward, Rwenzori, more commonly known as the "Mountains of the Moon", is a crystalline massif (unlike Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, the continent's other "5,000") that has been classified as a national park since 1991. The Rwenzori Massif has about twenty peaks above 4,500 m, some covered with "eternal snow", and culminates at 5,109 m at Margherita Peak, the third highest peak in Africa. These mountains were already mentioned by Ptolemy in 150, who made them the source of the Nile. The first Europeans to approach them were Arthur Jephson and Thomas Parke, who were part of Stanley's expedition to rescue Emin Pasha in 1888, but it was in 1906 that Luigi di Savoia, Duke of Abruzzo, conquered the main peaks. The Rwenzori is a region of great beauty whose glaciers, waterfalls and lakes offer an alpine setting unparalleled in Africa. The park contains important natural habitats for endangered species and a particular flora rich in numerous species, including giant lobelias. As for the fauna, although these animals are rarely seen, there are elephants, buffaloes, leopards... and for the birds the Rwenzori touraco, an endemic species of the Albertine Rift. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994, the Mountains of the Moon are a true paradise that experienced climbers can discover during a week of challenging trekking, but in a setting worthy of a fairy tale