Best places to see mountain gorillas in Uganda
Best places to see mountain gorillas in Uganda: Uganda is one of the countries in the world lucky to be hosting endangered mountain gorillas. The country is the most popular when it comes to mountain gorillas for it hosts the highest number of these primates. Uganda hosts these mountain gorillas in two national parks which is another blessing on its own.
Uganda’s mountain gorillas do live in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and Mgahinga National Park. Bwindi has the highest population of these gorillas and Mgahinga has a few with only one family so far habituated. Looking for the best place to see mountain gorillas in Uganda, Bwindi would be the best to go to for it has many families to trek and one to habituate.
Best places to see mountain gorillas in Uganda
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is the best place to see mountain gorillas in Uganda. The gorilla national park is the largest with over 350 sq. km in the southwestern part of Uganda. Bwindi is the best park to see mountain gorillas for it has the largest number of mountain gorillas in the whole world.
Bwindi impenetrable forest national park houses the largest population of mountain gorillas in the whole world. Over 21 mountain gorilla families are open for visits within this park, unlike other protected areas which have a few families. One of the mountain gorilla families is semi-habituated and allowed to be trekked by a maximum of 4 people in a single day.
Seeing mountain gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
Seeing mountain gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is done in the form of gorilla trekking or gorilla habituation. Gorilla trekking is an activity done for 1 hour while gorilla habituation is an activity done for 4 hours. Both activities enable tourists to see mountain gorillas for a good time allowing them to capture images, videos and lastly knowing about their gorilla habits.
Gorilla trekking and gorilla habituation within Bwindi impenetrable forest national park start early in the morning hours at the park headquarters. Here the park rangers teach about the rules and regulations of trekking or habituation. After grouping is done where trekking is done by a maximum of 8 people and habituation by 4 people.
Trekkers are given armed ranger guides to lead them in the jungle and those who would love to hire porters can get them at the starting point at a very small fee. Driving to the starting points of the trekking normally takes a few minutes and it’s from here that trekkers start searching for where a given family could be.
Searching a mountain gorilla family of Bwindi takes 2 to 5 hours and the time taken depends on its location, the speed of trekkers, and the nature of the trekking trails. As trekkers search for where the mountain gorillas could be, there are many chances of seeing forest attractions like the animals, birds, water sources, and vegetation to mention but a few.
After hours of searching, trekkers do get an opportunity to see the mountain gorilla family they have been looking for. If it’s normal gorilla trekking, they do get one hour of being around these apes as they carry out daily activities. For gorilla habituation, trekkers do participate in activities that make mountain gorillas get used to human presence around them.
Mountain gorillas are said to be close relatives to human beings and visiting them in the wild comes with opportunities of knowing about their habits. Tourists get to see them carry out daily activities like nesting, hunting, breastfeeding, mating, playing, and much more. Tourists can capture images and record videos for future memories before leaving the gorilla family.
The best time to see mountain gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
Mountain gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park can be seen throughout the year however some months are better off than others. June to September and December to February which are the driest months of the year are the best to see mountain gorillas of bwindi. This is because of the good weather characterized by little rainfall and plenty of sunshine.
During the dry season, trekkers get to see the mountain gorillas on time because of the dry and passable trekking trails, the views are clear because of the short vegetation cover and the roads leading to the park are in very good condition. Tourists can still visit Bwindi during the rainy season which happens from March to May and October to November.
Tourists coming in the rainy season should know that there is plenty of rainfall within Bwindi. The rain affects most of the park activities including gorilla trekking and gorilla habituation. In the rainy season, the trekking trails are muddy and slippery, the vegetation is tall with unclear views of mountain gorillas and the roads leading to the park are in poor conditions.
How can i get to Bwindi to see mountain gorillas
Tourists from across the globe can find Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park in the southwestern part of Uganda in a district named Kisoro. The area can be accessed from Entebbe/Kigali. From Kigali tourists can only use road transport via Kyanika and Katuna borders and from Entebbe they can only use either road transport or air transport.
By road transport, tourists from Entebbe pass through Kampala, Mpigi, Masaka, Lyantonde, Mbarara, Ntungamo, Kabale or Kisoro to any of the sectors of the park. The journey to Bwindi from Entebbe is about 9 to 10 hours and comes with beautiful views of a several attractions along the way. For flights, there are airline companies flying from Entebbe/Kajjansi to Kisoro or Kihihi airstrip.
