Guide to Visiting the Mountain Gorillas in Uganda
Gorillas are tailless and ground dwelling herbivorous apes that are said to originate from the African continent. These great apes are divided into two species named the Eastern Gorillas and the Western Gorillas. They live a life of approximately 35-40 years depending on the care offered to them! Gorillas that live in the zoos may live for 50 years or more!
These great apes are amazing animals and meeting them in the wild is one of the dream experiences that you should not miss in Uganda. On a visit to these animals in the wild you will learn about their amazing lifestyle! Gorillas construct nests on the ground for their shelter during daytime & night. Gorillas usually live in groups which are called troops and these troops are led by one adult male Gorilla called a Silverback responsible for protecting its members in the troop composed of the multiple adult females and their offspring. When I call Gorillas herbivorous apes I mean that they mostly feed on foliage like leaves, stems, pith, shoots plus some fruits.
These Herbivorous apes in Africa are found only in three countries which are in the Eastern part of the Continent named Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo with Uganda hosting most part of the population conserved in two different National Parks. These National Parks named Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park are located in the South Western part of Uganda near the Virunga Massif.
You can visit these great apes on an organized tour in Uganda offered by one of the selected tour operators on this guide. Uganda hosts almost half of the world’s population of the mountain gorillas and offers wonderful opportunities to those interested in gorilla trekking. There are 17 gorilla families that are open to gorilla trekking all year round. There is also one gorilla family for the gorilla habituation experience, a new adventure that allows you to follow the gorillas for a period of up to four hours. Of the 17 Gorilla families, sixteen of them are found in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a large ancient tropical rain forest in South Western Uganda.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park hosts most part of the Uganda’s Gorilla Population which is grouped in four sectors named Nkuringo, Buhoma, Rushaga and Ruhija sector. Among these four sectors apart from Nkuringo Sector which has only two gorilla families for trekking the rest of the sectors have more than two Gorilla families for trekking. This Bwindi impenetrable National Park is found in the Western part of Uganda characterized with its thick impenetrable forest which habits these shy endangered Mountain Gorillas, reaching this park from Kampala its usually about 8-9 hours’ drive on Masaka- Mbarara highway with a stopover at the equator for some explanation about the equator, Photographs and snacks after continue with the journey.
Reaching this park you are entitled to do a lot of activities but the major one is Gorilla trekking plus Gorilla Habituation experience which is only done in Bwindi but not the same case to Gorilla trekking, in Bwindi it’s your choice to choose from the four sectors where you are going to trek depending on the location of your hotel of residence but if you are much interested in variety Rushaga is the right place. Before you enter the Jungle to beat the impenetrable forest it’s very vital to know the rules followed while trekking with these apes and this is usually done early in the morning at the offices by the park officials, it’s a must to go by these rules otherwise you may be disqualified and the permit fee of $600 USD paid per person may not be refunded to you.
After the briefing you are assigned a park ranger per a group of eight people to lead you through the Jungle and as for them most times are informed of where these great apes spent their last night, the time for the trekking activity depends on how near or far these apes spent the last night but after discovering them you are allowed to stay around them for only one hour while sharing and you are free to take a lot of photos for memories but do not use flush cameras. After that session next step is heading back to the park offices for the gorilla trekking certificate award but while in the Jungle you will be able to observe nature through sighting different species like birds, reptiles like snakes, insects like butterflies plus other physical features situated in the park.
If not Gorilla trekking there is also Gorilla habituation experience which always goes for a full day while trekking with these apes in the jungle accompanied with a permit fee of $1500 USD paid per person per day. This experience is only done in Bwindi impenetrable National park as Mgahinga doesnot have any gorilla family for habituation.
Mgahinga National Park is your second choice Gorilla hosting destination in Uganda also located in the western part of Uganda in the Virunga Massif near Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, its characterized with both montane and Bamboo forests. This park has only one Gorilla family named Nyakagezi Family for trekking; the price for the permit remains the same as mentioned above. After Gorilla trekking in Mgahinga next day you can do Golden Monkey tracking which involves trekking in the jungle in search of these primates, they usually feed on the bamboo leaves and stems, you will be able to sight other species like birds, insects and more. If you are lucky you will be able to sight these Golden Monkeys swinging in the tree branches or moving on the ground and you are free to take a lot of photos for memories but don’t use flush cameras.