Virunga National Park

Deep under Virunga, the ground is slowly pulling apart.

Hot melted rock pushes up through the cracks. That is how the volcanoes were made. One volcano has a lake of glowing lava in its top!

Virunga sits in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of Africa's Great Rift Valley. Here the Earth's crust is slowly stretching apart, and molten rock can rise to the surface. UNESCO says this stretching built the Virunga Mountains, a chain of eight volcanoes, seven of them partly or fully inside the park.

Two of them, Nyiragongo and Nyamulagira, are the most active volcanoes in Africa. Their lava is very runny. Nyiragongo's crater holds a lake of lava, which the park describes as about 700 feet (210 meters) across. In the north, the Rwenzori Mountains rise to 5,109 meters, high enough for glaciers.

UNESCO places the park in the center of the Albertine Rift, part of the Great Rift Valley, where extension of the crust has raised the Virunga massif of eight volcanoes, seven wholly or partly within the park. Nyamulagira and Nyiragongo, the continent's two most active, account between them for about two-fifths of Africa's historic eruptions and are known for the extreme fluidity of their alkaline lava. Nyiragongo is of world importance for its almost permanent lava lake, which drains periodically with serious consequences for nearby communities; the park gives the lake as about 700 ft across and the volcano as 3,470 m.

The Rwenzori are not volcanoes: UNESCO calls them the only true alpine mountain chain in Africa and its largest glacial region. The park's northern sector holds about 20% of the massif and shares Margherita Peak (Pic Marguerite, 5,109 m), the third-highest summit in Africa, with Uganda's Rwenzori Mountains National Park. UNESCO also highlights the eroded valleys of the Sinda and Ishango areas.

Hippos splash in the rivers and lakes.

Elephants and buffalo walk across the grassy plains. Okapis hide in the forest. Hundreds of kinds of birds fly here too.

Because the park climbs from warm plains to icy peaks, it holds an amazing mix of life. UNESCO counts 218 kinds of mammals, 706 kinds of birds, 109 kinds of reptiles and 78 kinds of amphibians, plus more than 2,000 kinds of plants.

On the grassy Rwindi plains and around Lake Edward live elephants, buffalo, warthogs and hippos. Both savanna elephants and forest elephants live in the park. Shoebills, tall birds with huge beaks, hunt in the swamps near Lake Edward. In the forests lives the okapi, a shy relative of the giraffe found only in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

UNESCO credits the altitude range of 680-5,109 m, rainfall and soils with making Virunga Africa's most biologically diverse national park: over 2,000 plant species (10% endemic to the Albertine Rift), 218 mammals, 706 birds, 109 reptiles and 78 amphibians, with savanna wildlife biomass of about 27.6 tonnes per km², one of the highest on Earth. Rarities include the okapi, endemic to the DRC, and the Rwenzori red duiker; the park also matters for wintering Palearctic birds.

Its hippo population shows both loss and recovery. UNESCO's description cites large hippo numbers along Lake Edward and the Rwindi, Rutshuru and Semliki rivers, but the park reports a collapse of about 98% from the 1960s-1970s, after heavy poaching, before its 2017 count exceeded 2,000 for the first time in over 20 years. In 2020, a herd of more than 500 elephants, the largest seen since the 1980s, was recorded in the Ishasha corridor.

Park rangers look after Virunga.

They watch over the gorillas every day. They walk through the forest to keep the animals safe. Lots of people live near the park too.

More than 800 rangers protect Virunga, the park says. They are local men and women who go through hard training, and they check on the gorillas every day. In 2015 the rangers received National Geographic's Explorer of the Year award for their work.

About four million people live within a day's walk of the park. The park is working with them on projects such as small power stations that use rivers to make electricity, farming, fishing and tourism, to create jobs and reduce the pressure on the park's forests and wildlife.

Virunga's history includes long periods of conflict. The park describes attacks on patrol posts from 1990, the arrival in 1994 of nearly 2 million people fleeing the genocide in neighboring Rwanda, most settling within walking distance of the park, and war in the DRC from 1996, with armed groups, poaching, charcoal production and land clearance continuing in parts of the park since. UNESCO notes that the ICCN has lost many staff killed on duty, and WWF records that parts of the gorilla habitat have at times been occupied by armed groups, making conservation work dangerous or impossible. Proposals to explore for oil around Lake Edward in 2013 met local and international opposition; the company involved did not renew its claim.

The park's response combines protection with development. More than 800 rangers protect it, and the Virunga Alliance invests in hydropower, sustainable agriculture, fisheries and tourism for the roughly four million people living within a day's walk, aiming to give young people alternatives to joining armed groups.

Gorilla walks are only for older children and grown-ups.

Visitors walk quietly with rangers. They wear a mask so the gorillas don't catch a cold. Never feed or touch wild animals.

Gorilla treks are led by Virunga's rangers and trackers, and visitors must be at least 15 years old. The walk to a gorilla family takes about 1 to 2.5 hours each way through the forest, so good boots, long sleeves and long socks help against thorns, stinging plants and ants.

Gorillas can catch human illnesses, so every visitor wears a mask near them, and anyone who feels sick should cancel or change the date. The park closes attractions if there is any sign of a security problem, and families should always follow their own government's travel advice before going.

Virunga's tourism service sets an age limit of 15 years for gorilla visits; treks are led by rangers and local trackers (pisteurs) who monitor the park's ten habituated groups, and take about 1 to 2.5 hours each way. Because mountain gorillas are susceptible to human disease, visitors wear surgical masks in the gorillas' presence and are asked to cancel or rebook if unwell.

Security matters too. The park states that it assesses conditions continuously, may temporarily close attractions if there are signs of a security issue, and that visitors must assess their trip on the advice of their own consular services. Respect for distance, quiet and hygiene protects both visitors and the animals.