Garamba National Park

Garamba National Park is located in the Orientale province in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the north east of the country bordering south Sudan. Garamba National Park is renowned for its large herds of elephants and it’s the only place where you will spot the Kordofan giraffe in Congo. The national park has an area cover of 4,920 kilometers squared and it was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1980. The Garamba national park was early renown for habituating a number of species of the northern white rhinos, however the park greatly suffered poaching during the Congo civil wars in 2008 and the last white rhinos were killed by poachers.

The national park was established in March 1938 thus making it one of Africa’s oldest national park with a very rich biodiversity that is characterized by savannah grasslands, rocky outcrops and tropical rain forests, papyrus marshlands with dotted inselbergs. The park is located in a transition of Congo tropical rainforests and guinea Sudan savannah. The national park is fed by three rivers that is River Aka, river Dungu and river garamba. It’s also estimated to have over 1000 species of trees 5% of which are endemic to the area. The elephants of Garamba were trained to work in agriculture fields and forestry purposes.

ACTIVITIES AT GARAMBA NATIONAL PARK

BIRD WATCHING

The national park boasts with a number of birds where some are endemic to the park. The birds are residential while others are migratory. Garamba National Park is a place for bird lovers with over 550 species of birds recorded within the park. Some of the birds include fish eagle, pied kingfisher, long tailed cormorants, white backed pelicans, pink backed pelicans, spur winged plovers and white faced whistling among others.

WILDLIFE VIEWING

Garamba National Park was earlier known for having a number of herds of northern white rhinos although the population dramatically declined. The national park is as well a home to a number of animals such as lions, hyenas, African elephants, buffalos, hyenas, hippos, bush pig, De Brazza monkey, vervet monkey, golden cat and waterbucks among others.

FISHING

Fishing at Garamba national park can be done at the designated areas of the rivers and thus tourists on their safari are advised to come along with their fishing gears.

GUIDED NATURE WALKS

The guided nature walks at Garamba expose you to many plant species, butterflies and insects as well as primate species.

BOAT CRUISING

While on a safari, for tourists who want a thrilling experience in the Congo basin wilderness they can take a boat cruise on the Garamba Rivers and enjoy the parks flora and fauna including spotting some of the acquatic animals and water birds.

BEST TIME TO VISIT

The best time to visit Garamba National Park is in the dry season but from June to December when it’s rainy thus making all the roads to be impassable and the vegetation is very thick and it’s not easily passable as well as to spot wildlife species.

HOW TO GET THERE

The park can be accessed by air or by road from arua to Nagero. However tourists are encouraged to use air transport always as it’s very convenient.