Tag: Kahuzi-Biega NP /DR Congo/
area: 6,000 km2/2,300 mi2
UPDATE, December 2025: Kahuzi-Biega National Park is currently closed for tourism.
Named after two dormant volcanoes, this park near Bukavu is known worldwide for Grauer’s or eastern lowland gorillas. Three habituated groups reside in the highland sector of the park that also protects over 1,100 plant species and 350 species of birds.
Kahuzi-Biega has the distinction of being the only national park in the Gorilla Highlands region that has properly integrated Batwa “Pygmies” in its daily activities.
For our main Gorilla National Parks page with travel advice please click here.
Our Stories:
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How Working in Kahuzi-Biega National Park Works
In yesterday’s photography moment Marcus called my place of work, Kahuzi-Beiga National Park, the most “off-the-beaten-track” place to do gorilla tracking … He is not wrong, and I can think of two reasons for that: It is my job to put the park onto the map, so I’m glad to be your Gorilla Highlands Expert…
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Never Gets Old
70mm, f/5, 1/250s, ISO400 As much as we try to focus on highlights, attractions and activities other than gorilla tracking, this remains — undeniably and deservedly — the region’s top drawcard. I am fortunate enough to have lost count of the number of occasions I have been out with gorillas. My first time wasn’t exactly conventional.…
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Congo Sunrise
20mm, f/8, 1/50s, ISO100 One of the reasons I enjoy immersive travel so much is that it’s too easy to miss out on powerful experiences if your trip mainly focuses on “highlights”. I am almost always up before sunrise, no matter what, because … well, why would I want to be asleep when a new day begins?…
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Tracking Time
38mm, 1/250s, f/5,6, ISO400 The Batwa are in many ways the Gorilla Highlands region’s forgotten people. The original inhabitants of this part of Africa, the Batwa are — or at least were — traditional hunter-gatherers, living in and off what used to be extensive forests. Marginalised by later arrivals, they were ousted from their final…
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What Can a Lady Marketeer Do for Congolese Wildlife?
Hello everyone! I’m Gloria Mwenge Bitomwa and I am a tourism officer at Kahuzi-Biega National Park, home to the endangered eastern lowland gorillas also known as Grauer‘s gorillas. I lead a team of 50 people who help with the daily monitoring of our conservation area and the 14 gorilla families who reside here with us. My…
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Big 1
500mm, 1/500s, f/4, ISO500 I’m not sure if you have come across the New Big 5 Project: basically, an initiative to come up with, obviously, a new big five. The old big five list — lions, elephants, buffaloes, rhinos and leopards — actually originated with hunting, as they were considered the most dangerous of Africa’s…
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Marhale and His Gift of Joy
One of the most rewarding parts of studying the social behaviour of animals is getting to know individuals and watching their personalities come through. For gorillas, we begin identifying each one using a variety of characteristics, such as unique nose prints, ear shape, and scars. For example, notice the notches on Pilipili’s ear and the…
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Travel Advisory for the Democratic Republic of Congo: Insider Info & Superb Images
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a challenging place in many ways. It is best known internationally for poverty, civil war and Ebola. At the same time, it is also a land of opportunity. The population is rapidly growing (it has passed 80 million), GDP is on the march, there is an increasing…
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Three Faces
25mm, 1/200s, f/6,3, ISO1250 My experiences with gorillas are probably reversed from those of most people’s. My first 20 hours or so in the presence of gorillas were all in DR Congo, in Virunga and Kahuzi-Biega national parks. I then had quite a bit of time with them in Uganda, followed by more DRC as…
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