Gorongosa National Park

Overview

Located in Northern Mozambique, the Gorongosa is one of Africa's famous wildlife areas. It can be pretty tough getting there, and even impossible in the rainy season, but the trip is worth the effort.

The park is open to day visitors for a fee of $20.00. To get to Gorongosa, take the EN6 out of Beira towards Chimoio. At 128km approximately from the airport bridge, Beira is Inchope, which marks the border with Manica province. The road to Gorongosa is north of the junction and signposted from there.

The park was founded in 1921 when an area of bush measuring about 1000 km2 was set aside for the protection of native animal species and the establishment of a game reserve. The park became one of the most popular game reserves of Southern Africa until the civil war of 1983.

Inside the park you may be lucky enough to see lion, leopard, elephant, hippo, buffalo and many other species. Sadly the rhino which were once present in the park are thought to have been completely exterminated during the war.

The park consist of three major ecological zones - the Rift zone, the Zambezi valley and the coastal plain of the Indian Ocean. Within these zones are various habitats including forests, waterfalls and flood plains all with their individual flora and fauna. It is thought that there are more than 500 species present in the park including more than 300 large mammal species.

History

When to Go