Category: Advice

Mountain Gorilla Watching: All You Need to Know

The mountain gorillas are known as gorilla beringei beringei and are noted to be the descendants of the ancestral monkeys which are known to have lived in Africa and Arabia at the beginning of the Oligocene epoch about 34 – 24 million years ago.

Despite the poor record of their evolutionary history, it is believed that the primate group which evolved into gorillas separated from the common ancestor along with the chimpanzees and humans about nine (9) million years ago and the initial relative of mountain gorillas is known as Proconsul Africanus.

The mountain gorillas are known to have separated from the Eastern lowland gorillas about 400,000 years ago while the two are believed to have separated from the western lowland gorillas about 2 million years ago.

Mountain gorilla treks in Uganda are an unforgettable life-time memory experience. Gorilla trekking in Uganda is an amazing captivating search involving long walks following gorilla trails in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park majorly or Mgahinga National Park.

Travel to Africa and Tour Mountain in Uganda deep in the heart of Africa’s most spectacular rain forests. A mountain gorilla trek trip in Bwindi can take anything from 15 minutes to 8 hours, depending on where the Uganda Gorillas are located. At the end of each Gorilla search in Uganda`s thick forested mountains, you will stay for only one hour photographing, admiring, learning and interacting with these great mountains Gorillas or apes.

Uganda gorilla safaris require one to have gorilla permits that are bought in advance to allow one track gorillas because only a maximum of Eight people are allowed to search each gorilla group in Bwindi, and Mgahinga. Uganda has 12 mountain gorilla groups open to tourists and one spends only one hour observing these beautiful mountain Gorillas and taking photos.

Mountain Gorilla trekking Safari in Congo Virunga National Park-Positioned to the Central of Africa, DR. Congo Gorilla Safaris & Tours/ Mount Nyiragongo Volcano Climbing Hiking Safari Tour Trips are among the most authentic African safari adventures that tourists can ever undertake majorly because of her less exploited virgin wilderness.

Democratic Republic of Congo has passed through a series of naming including Belgian Congo from 1908 to 1960 and Zaire from 1971 to 1997. DR. Congo borders a range of African countries including Central African Republic and South Sudan in the north, Republic of the Congo to the North West, Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola to the south west, Zambia to the south, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda to the east providing for East Africa combined safaris.

DR Congo Gorilla safari tour trip offers Mountain Gorilla tracking in Virunga National Park Congo Africa. It is a rewarding primate Congo Gorilla Tour Safari package designed to enable you explore the critically endangered Mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo at your own pace.

The gorillas in Congo have been less explored compared to the rest in the region and thus the tour offers an authentic touch of these ancient species in their intact wilderness.

Gorilla Habituation Experience in Uganda

Mountain gorilla habituation experience is a newly  tourism activity in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and also the only gorilla destination offering this unique activity, gorilla habituation allows visitors to take part in the gorilla habituation or training experience. Mountain gorilla habituation experience takes place in the Rushaga area of Bwindi impenetrable forest with four participants being allowed per group the cost for permit is 1,500 USD per person.

There are two gorilla groups being habituated in the Rushaga area by researchers at the present time namely;

Bushaho gorilla family

Bushaho is one of the two gorilla families undergoing the habituation experience in Rushaga area. The family is led by a dominant silver back Bahati and is situated in the Nkuringo sector of Bwindi impenetrable forest national park. Bushaho family separated from Nkuringo family and is now composed of 8 members. These include I silver back Bahati, 3 adult females, 1 black back, I infant and I sub adult. The family is named after the site (Bushaho) at which the family was first sited and is still under the habituation experience.

Bikingi gorilla family

This is another gorilla family under habituation experience in Rushaga area. It is located in Rushaga sector of Bwindi impenetrable forest national park comprising of 22 with a newborn baby on 10th/9/2016 members led by a dominant silver back. The members include 9 infants, 9 adult females, 1 silver back, and two sub adults. The family was named after Bikingi area where it was first sited before its habituation process was started. Bikingi is the dominant silver back that leads the family.

The two families are not yet open to formal gorilla safaris but still undergoing habituation, travelers interested in interacting with these families must pay 1500 USD for four hours to gain this memorable experience. Please book your permit in time to avid disappointments because the number of gorilla habituation permits are limited to 4 permits per day for a family of gorillas being habituated in the Rushaga area Bwindi Forest, it is the only Country where one can find the Gorilla Habituation Experience in the whole world which is Uganda.

You will have to wake up very early at about 6:00am to start your trek in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. You will be guided by researchers who have been trained to habituate mountain gorillas. Once you find the gorillas under habituation, researchers will start conducting their day today activity as they explain to you all the details. This may involve learning about gorilla behaviors, naming of gorillas as well as photography.

It’s now very easy Fly into Rwanda and track Gorillas in Uganda’s Bwindi Forest. Because if you fly to Entebbe International Airport it will take you 8-9hours drive to get to Rushaga area in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park but there is a lot to along the way as you drive to Bwindi, for those who don’t want that long drive you can also fly from Entebbe airport to Kisoro town which is one hour drive to Rushaga, the flight to Kisoro town takes 1hour from Entebbe Airport this gives you chance to choose area to do your gorilla tracking and habituation experience.

You can include gorilla habituation into any safari that includes Bwindi impenetrable forest for your safari with us.

Why Gorilla trekking Is Good For Conservation?

To many tourists in Uganda, the most unforgettable part of the safari is encountering the endangered mountain gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable and Mgahinga National park in their natural habitat. This encounter and interactions involves touching them, walking with them. Most of the safaris goers have got a great chance to participate in the thrilling wildlife related activity with their own discretion and this means that the tourist can very selective and boycott questionable operations and the activities which may endanger these gorillas.

There are programs where animals are kept and bred in captivity have been under scurrility and it worth questioning whether the tourism activities with the free- roaming the world animals are very ethnically sound. There are abundant of the non- profit and business that offer these wild activities the market in their adventures as being beneficial to the species which are involved and for  wildlife  conservation as a whole, animals encounters are unfortunately not always good for the animals or for conservation.

Investigating the impact of gorilla trekking on the conservation is very crucial because the endangered mountain gorillas are so much critically endangered and the world fund has reported that there are about 880 individual mountain gorillas which have been left in the whole world. This therefore calls for attention which is to be put in mind that the African gorillas have very few natural predators apart from human beings who are the leading driving force for the extinction of the endangered gorillas thus the population of wild gorillas has to be considered

When gorilla trekking is going to be carried   out , permits which are relatively expensive are required  to trek these gorillas in the national parks of Bwindi and Mgahinga which  need to be arranged  in advance   limited number of trekking permits are issued aimed at restricting the number of tourists groups and the size of  the groups, that visit the gorillas.

Before gorilla trekking, the park authorities brief the visitors on the regulations before they can set off with a much trained ranger with the assistants, who help the tourists who trek gorillas to maintain good trekking relations.

During the real activity of gorilla trekking, when a gorilla approaches a tourist,   the instructions have been put across and this means that gorillas and people do get closer to each other than the safe distance required. A maximum of 8 people are allowed to go to trek gorillas at a time, with up to three groups tracking every day and if you sneeze or cough while with the gorillas, you are requested to cover  your mouth  and turn away from the gorillas and where wearing masks improves safety this is responsible  precaution to protect the primates

The Uganda wild life authority has employed many veterinary officers in the conservation areas who keep the endangered mountain gorillas, healthy and gorillas have been successfully treated by gorilla doctors by UWA which is a non-profit organization  which provides a life saving medical care in Uganda, Rwanda and Congo. However in the pearl of Africa, conservation through public Health has worked hard to improve health care in local communities and to educate gorilla trekkers and other people about disease transmission, livestock issues, and human health and mountain gorillas. The gorilla trekking industry is largely having positive impacts on the communities around and in the national parks where gorilla trekking is being carried out and there is also a local community/people benefit where gorilla tourism and are enlightened more about these primates in their relationship with these great apes and human –wildlife conflicts in most cases is reduced when the people involved in learning about this understand gorillas better.

Planning a Gorilla Trek – Advice for Independent Travelers

Are you looking to taking a gorilla trek in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park? Would you like to meet the gorillas in the wild but you are traveling on a shoestring budget? Here is helpful advice for the gorilla trackers looking to visiting Bwindi on an independent tour.

With improved access to Bwindi Forest, today there are more travelers who travel independently to the park for gorilla tracking.

1. Book your gorilla permits early enough

It is advised to book your gorilla permits early enough so that you may not have surprises of “no availability”. I have seen many tourists traveling to Bwindi and missing tracking the endangered gorillas because of no availability in the peak months of June – September and December – February. If you are “good at risking” atleast make sure that you check for availability a day before the tracking date.

Gorilla permits can be booked at Uganda Wildlife Authority offices in Kampala or through local travel agents listed on this website.

2. Traveling to Bwindi

Given the long distance between Bwindi and Kampala or Kigali, you need to travel at least a day before and stay a night in one of the lodges in the park. From Kampala you can use public transportation – buses to Kisoro or Kabale. It is also possible to hire a car for your trip to Bwindi from local car rental agencies in Kampala or Entebbe.

3. On the D Day

As time for the gorilla trek is approaching, before 8:00 am you are advised first to report to the ranger station either in Mubare, Habinyanja, Rushegura or Nkuringo for registration depending on which group you will be tracking the gorillas.  Talk to one of the many rangers around to brief you about the activity.

Let the guides take you through the trek (½ – 5 hours) into the forest while pushing your way through the undergrowth and parting thick creepers, to track the gorillas.

It will be a memorable feeling spending your time in such an impenetrable forest with the few last remaining (about 650 in the whole world) mountain gorillas our 98% close cousins.