One of the most exciting wildlife adventures is gorilla trekking. Only four national parks offer primate lovers the opportunity to visit gorillas and these are Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, Virunga National Park in Democratic Republic of Congo, Mgahinga Gorilla Park and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. Uganda is special because she hosts half of the remaining population of mountain gorillas in two national parks – Bwindi and Mgahinga.
Due to its extensive biodiversity, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. Besides the mountain gorillas, Bwindi is home to 120 different kinds of mammals, including side-striped jackals, small antelopes, giant forest hogs and the African Golden Cat. The park is also home to chimpanzees, as well as Black-and-White Colobus monkeys. This magnificent rainforest is home to 310 bird species and more than 220 species of butterflies. The Frazer’s Eagle Owl, African Green Broadbill, Brown-necked Parrots, and White-tailed Blue Flycatcher are a few of the interesting bird species.
The other destination in Uganda where tourists can go gorilla trekking is Mgahinga National Park. Uganda’s smallest National Park and located at the base of three extinct volcanoes. Unlike Bwindi, Mgahinga is part of the larger Virunga region, which also contains the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and the Virunga National Park in Democratic Republic of Congo. The endangered mountain gorillas and golden monkeys are the main attractions. Other options for visitors include searching for smaller primates and mammals, doing nature or forest walks, climbing mountains, and bird watching.
More than 35 gorilla groups have been identified in Bwindi, 21 of which are habituated and available for gorilla trekking. There is only one tourist-friendly habituated gorilla troop in Mgahinga.
Both in Bwindi and Mgahinga, gorilla trekking can be challenging because it requires traversing difficult and treacherous terrain in search of the gorilla families. The Nyakagezi group in Mgahinga, however, is widely acknowledged to be a much simpler group to trace. In comparison to the majority of the gorilla groups in Bwindi, they have a smaller home range. Visitors to Bwindi may need to travel further into the forest in order to find some of the gorilla groups because it is such a large forest. However, some gorilla families in Bwindi reside close to the beginning points which might take around two hours to find them
Only eight visitors aged above 15 are allowed to track a gorilla group in a day at both parks and for strictly one hour at most. This was designed to help protect the gorillas from human diseases and irritation as a result of prolonged human presence.
Mgahinga gorilla national park is the only park in Uganda where visitors can spot both the endangered golden monkeys and Mountain Gorillas. This means that visitors can combine gorilla trekking with golden monkey tracking while in this park and also known as the park where Gold meets Silver. While in Bwindi, you can combine Gorilla trekking with chimpanzee tracking thus hitting two stones at the same time. Therefore no matter which park you chose, you have more than gorilla trekking to experience.
Both parks allow visitors to interact with the Batwa people. Before being evicted in 1991, the Batwa pygmies were the park’s dominant and original community. The presence of the Batwa in the park contributed to the continued decline in the number of mountain gorillas, golden monkeys, and other park creatures, leading to their eviction; however, they later settled in communities near the parks, where they are currently found today.
Gorilla trekking in Mgahinga offers tourists the chance to engage in mountain hiking. You can choose between Mount. Muhabura, Mount. Sabyinyo or Mount Gahinga, three of the volcanoes in Mgahinga. Visitors who ascend any of these volcanoes will be rewarded with breathtaking views of Mgahinga National Park and the chance to see primates like Golden Monkeys, forest creatures, and birds along the way.
Gorilla habituation experience in Uganda.
This involves visiting mountain gorillas which are still undergoing habituation process and this means these primates are not yet used to human presence, it is only experienced in Rushaga – south of Bwindi national park and visitors get to spend more than 4 hours studying the gorillas’ behaviors and social life. It is done at a cost of $1500 per permit for foreign non-residents.
Cost of gorilla trekking permits in Uganda.
Both Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park charge $700 for gorilla trekking permits. Foreign residents pay 600$ per person while east African citizens pay 250,000 UGX per person. However, depending on the quality of accommodation facility and transportation, the total cost of a gorilla trekking tour in Uganda might range from $1600 to $2000.
