Magical moments with the mountain gorillas
Magical moments with the mountain gorillas: Uganda is blessed with two national parks where tourists can encounter endangered mountain gorillas and these are Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and Mgahinga National Park. These two national parks are located in the south western part of the country harboring the highest population of endangered mountain gorillas in the whole world.
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National park harbors mountain gorillas in its four sectors namely Rushaga, Nkuringo, Ruhija and Buhoma. Mgahinga national park is the smallest national park and harbors one mountain gorilla family which is fully habituated. Seeing mountain gorillas is the most done activity in these national park as tourists come to see apes that are said to be close relatives to human beings.
Meeting the mountain gorillas in the thick forests of Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and Mgahinga national park is a once in a life time opportunity and a dream come true for most travelers in the country. The activity gets you close to the mountain gorillas and you get an opportunity to learn about their habits. These apes are the second closest relatives to human beings sharing more than 98% human DNA.
Spending time with mountain gorillas in Uganda.
Gorilla trekking is carried out every day in Mgahinga National Park a home to one mountain gorilla family and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park a home to several mountain gorilla families living in different sectors of the park. To carry out mountain gorilla trekking in any of these national park, you must have a valid gorilla trekking permit.
On the day of trekking, all trekkers of the day must be at the briefing centers early in the morning for gorilla permit check and to learn the rules and regulations of the activities. Those trekkers with excess luggage may hire porters and once groups are formed, armed ranger guides are assigned to lead the trekkers in the jungle.
Tourists are driven to the starting points of the trekking where they are left to head in the jungle with the armed ranger guides. Inside the jungle, different trekking trails are used to search where the mountain gorillas could be and while doing so several attractions such as mammals, primates, birds and unique vegetation covers among others.
Searching and locating mountain gorillas can take 2 to 5 hours and once the members are spotted, trekkers get to have 1 hour around the gorillas which comes with an opportunity of taking photos, recording question and asking rangers anything about these apes which enables one to learn more about the gorilla habits.
Once the gorilla trekking is done, trekkers are asked to move out of the jungle and head to next destinations. Every trekker is given a trekking certificate and they join their drive guides to move to the next destination or lodge. Gorilla trekking is always a dream come true for many tourists in the world and at the end of the end the dream would have been fulfilled.
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Spending four hours with the mountain gorillas
Habituation is the only way tourists can stay around mountain gorillas for longer hours. A semi habituated is currently available in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and can be habituated by a maximum of 4 people. These people must have gorilla habituation permits and on the day of trekking these permits must be present at the sector headquarters.
The activity starts with briefing where trekkers are taught about the rules and regulations of the activity. Those who have excess luggage can hire porters to help them carry while in the jungle at a small fee. Trekkers are driven to the starting point of the trek and are left to head in the jungle with the armed ranger guides.
In the jungle a semi habituated mountain gorilla is searched and this takes 1 to 4 hours to locate the members. When spotted, trekkers get to have 4 hours around the members and these come with an opportunity of asking the team as many questions as you want about these apes which enables one to learn more about their habits. Being part of their day to day activities.
Trekkers are allowed to take photos and record videos for future memories. After a good time around the mountain gorillas, you will be asked to trek out of the jungle and get back to your drivers. While trekking out, you will be able to meet the different forest attractions among which include mammals, primates, birds, vegetation and water sources among others.
The cost of seeing mountain gorillas of Uganda
To meet the endangered mountain gorillas of Uganda in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and Mgahinga National Park one needs a gorilla trekking permit. Those that want habituate mountain gorillas need a gorilla habituation permit and these are sold to those visiting Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park which has one mountain gorilla family currently going through habituation.
There are currently 4 gorilla habituation permits in Bwindi and these costs $1500 for foreign non residents, $1000 for foreign residents, and UGX750,000 citizens of East African member states. Gorilla trekking costs $800 for foreign non residents, $700 for foreign residents, $500 Rest of Africa and UGX300,000 citizens of East African member states.
Uganda has the most affordable gorilla permits compared to Rwanda when it comes to countries that are safe. This makes the Uganda permits to sell out quickly and it’s from here that we always ask tourists to book in advance. Permits need to be purchased 6 months or even more before the trekking day since they do sell out quickly.
The best time to visit the endangered mountain gorillas of Uganda
The driest months of year June to September and December to February are the best times to meet the mountain gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park in their natural habitats. These months have little or no rainfall which makes keeps the trekking trails less muddy, vegetation is short giving clear views of the mountain gorillas and other forest attractions.
October to November and March to May are other months’ tourists can use to visit mountain gorillas of Uganda. Tourists should however know that there is plenty of rainfall and little sunshine with in the park. The trekking trails stay muddy and slippery which makes trekking difficult. The vegetation is tall with clear views of the mountain gorillas and roads leading to the park tend to be muddy.
Getting to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Mgahinga National Park
To get to any of these national parks, one has to use either road transport or air transport and it just a single day. By air transport, there are different airlines in the country that fly to different tourist destinations among which include these gorilla parks. There are flights from Entebbe to Kihihi for those visiting the northern part of Bwindi which is Ruhija and Buhoma sector while those going to Rushaga sector, Nkuringo sector and Mgahinga National Park can fly to Kisoro.
Using road transport, tourists may visit Bwindi and Mgahinga National Park from Kigali which is the shortest way or they can start from Entebbe airport and this takes 9 to 20 hours. From Kigali, tourists will cross the border at Kyanika and Katuna border to any of the parks. From Entebbe, the journey goes through Kampala, Mpigi, Masaka, Lyantonde, Sanga, Mbarara, Ntungamo, Kabale to Ruhija and Buhoma or Kisoro to Nkuringo, Rushaga or Mgahinga National Park.
