Rwenzori Mountains – the Mystical Challenge & fabled Mountains of the Moon are located in western Uganda along the Uganda-Congo border.
The equatorial snow peaks of Rwenzori National park include the third highest point in Africa – Margetrita peak magestically standing at 5109m ASL, and the steep slopes are enveloped in moorland, bamboo and rich, moist montane forest with Huge tree-heathers and colorful mosses with giant lobelias and ever bluming Flowers that equally create a magical colourful scene.
Rwenzori Mountains are absolutely a world-class hiking and mountaineering mystical challenge destination where a nine- to twelve-day trek will get skilled climbers to the summit of Margherita – the 3rd highest peak in Africa.
Park at a Glance
Size: 996km2
The park was gazetted in 1991 and was recognized as a World Heritage site in 1994 and Ramsar site in 2008.
Highest point: 5,109m above sea level on Mt Stanley’s Margherita Peak. Mt. Stanley is bisected by the border with the DR Congo.
The Rwenzori is not volcanic like East Africa’s other major mountains but is a block of rock upfaulted through the floor of the Western Rift Valley.
The Rwenzoris were christened the “Mountains of the Moon” by the Alexandrine geographer Ptolemy in AD 150.
The explorer Henry Stanley placed the Rwenzori on the map on 24th May 1888. He labeled it ‘Ruwenzori’, a local name which he recorded as meaning “Rain-Maker” or “Cloud-King.”
The oldest recorded person to reach Margherita Peak was Ms Beryl Park aged 78 in 2010.
