Gorillas in Uganda

 

Gorillas are primate mammals and they are one of the major and key elements that have highly contributed to the tourism industry of Uganda through gorilla trekking safaris and the gorilla habituation experience in two national parks of Uganda where that harbors the gorillas in the natural environment. Uganda is a home to the mountain gorillas that are found in the two national parks that is Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and Mgahinga gorilla national park.

Mountain gorillas in Africa are found only in three countries that share the volcano massif conservation area that is Virunga national park in Congo, volcanoes national park in Rwanda, Mgahinga gorilla national park and Bwindi impenetrable forest of Uganda.

Gorillas in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park

Bwindi forest is situated in south western Uganda in kanungu district covering an area of 321 square kilometer. It is dominated by thick impenetrable tropical forest that receive rainfall throughout the year and forests are characterized by bamboo trees, large tree canopies among others that act as food and shelter for the mountain gorilla species.

Bwindi impenetrable forest national park is a home to almost half of the remaining mountain gorilla population in the world. The park harbors about 400 mountain gorilla species that survive in the high altitude areas of the forest and they move from place to another to look for food.

The park has about 17 mountain gorilla family that have been habituated for gorilla tourism and others still under going through the habituation process and monitored by the researchers. Bwindi forest has been divided into four sectors, that is Buhoma sector in the north, Rushaga sector in the south, Ruhija sector in east and Nkuringo sector in the west that are home to the these habituated gorilla families such as Bweza, Nkuringo, Rushengura, Habinyanja, kahungry, Nshonji, Mishaya, Nyaguriro and Mishaya among other gorilla families in the

Besides the mountain gorillas, there are other such wildlife animals that can be spotted in the park such as the elephants that can easily camouflage with the environment, the huge forest hogs, the white and black colobus monkeys, the grey checked mangabey monkeys, among other primates that keep swinging from tree to another as they search for food as well as different bird species that you will spot their calling in the park. The bird species expected be seen include; African harrier hawk, fly catcher, African blue, African green pigeons, white tailed blue among others.

Mgahinga gorilla national park

The park is located in kisoro district that covers an area of 13.1 square kilometers, and is part of Virunga massif conservation area. The Virunga conservation massif is a home to three national parks such as Mgahinga in Uganda, Virunga national park in Congo ad volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. Mgahinga gorilla national park harbors three inactive volcanoes such as mount. Muhavura, Mount. Gahinga, Mount. Sabinyo which are governed and controlled by the Uganda wildlife authority body that is in charge of wildlife conservation and protected areas in Uganda. Mgahinga is a home to about 80 mountain gorilla populations, and only one habituated gorilla family known as Nyakegyezi with about nine individuals, that is open for gorilla tourism throughout the year. The is also famous for golden monkey trekking experience that is magical activity that is highly enjoyed by a number of travelers, as well as primates mammals that can be spotted in the park such the white and black colobus monkeys.

Gorilla permits in Uganda.

The gorilla trekking permits in Uganda are only sold and issued out at the Uganda wildlife authority headquarter offices that is located in Kampala. The Uganda wildlife authority charges the gorilla trekking permit 600 USD per person per day and gorilla habituation experience 1500 USD per person per day. The gorilla trekking permit allows travelers to spend only one hour the mountain gorillas family from the time they meet a gorilla family while as gorilla habituation permits allows travelers to spend 4 hours with gorilla family from the time they find it.  The gorilla trekking permit has been on a fixed price of 600 USD per person but by the beginning of 1^st June 2020, there will be an increase of the gorilla trekking permit to 700 USD per person. It therefore important that travelers take note of this so as it can give them proper planning and being updated so that they are not cheated by con men who call themselves tour operators that have discounted gorilla permits yet they do not exist.

Best time for gorilla trekking Uganda.

Gorilla trekking experience in Uganda is open for tourism throughout the year; however the best time to enjoy gorilla trekking experience is during dry season in the months of mid-December to February and June to mid-October. During the dry season there is little rain that is expected to inconvenience the gorilla trekking adventure, and the roads and trekking trails are not muddy and slippery to make the trekking difficult, as well the movement of the safari vehicles becomes easy.

However the dry season in Uganda is the peak when very many travelers are coming to Uganda to enjoy gorilla safaris, therefore the gorilla trekking permits are very competitive, they are on a very high demand and the permits get sold out very fast. On this note, we advise travelers to making advance booking of about 6 months before travel if they are planning to travel in those months.

Gorilla trekking permits can be booked through a Uganda safaris expert, who has experience in handling gorilla safaris, or travelers can also book directly from the Uganda wildlife authority headquarter offices in Kampala.  For more information regarding best to go gorilla trekking contact adventure in the wild safaris and we will help you book your gorilla trekking permit as well as arranging your gorilla safaris in any of the destinations in Uganda.