WHAT IS GORILLA TREKKING?
Gorilla trekking is the recreational activity of walking in the dense lush forest Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga national park in search of mountain gorillas.
Where does gorilla trekking take place?
Mountain Gorilla Trekking in Uganda takes place in Bwindi Impenetrable National park and Mgahinga National Park respectively.
The mountain gorilla trekking activity starts early morning at about 08:00 hours local time first with briefing at the respective Bwindi Impenetrable national park sector headquarters.
Bwindi Impenetrable national Park has 4 sector headquarters for gorilla trekking; Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga and Nkuringo.
The gorilla trekking briefing
A Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) staff will take you through the basics of the mountain gorilla trekking activity as well as the guidelines to follow when tracking mountain Gorillas during the briefing.
Gorilla trekking briefing will be done with the aid of a short film after which tourists are divided into parties (groups).
Tourists in a given gorilla trekking group do not exceed a maximum of 8 persons, the number of groups depend on the number of the mountain gorilla families present in that particular sector you have been allocated.
The actual adventure will start when your group has left from the park head quarters; some gorilla trekking groups of only take a short walk from the park headquarters before they encounter mountain gorillas are usually composed of ; the weak adventurers, sickly and those on a limited time budget while others have to drive to their trekking point head-trail and are usually composed of; the avid adventurers, those on a flexible time budget and want to have a fully packed adventure.
Either way, tourists trek mountain gorillas with two or more armed UWA guards that double as tour guides and a number of porters at their service, not only to carry their luggage but could also carry them in case they fail to move.
The amazing jungle trekking activity can last between 1 to 7 hours of searching before encountering a particular mountain gorilla family and depends on how far the group had moved since they where observed nesting up the previous evening
The mountain gorilla tracking activity involves trekking/wading through the tropical rain forest of Bwindi following trails left behind by the mountain gorillas.
Tourists interested in Gorilla trekking have got to be with a degree of fitness that is moderate because Bwindi impenetrable national park and Mgahinga national park both have terrains that are steeply mountainous characterized with a thick soggy vegetation cover of tall and huge trees.
The technique of movement when tracking gorillas will be cross ward along the steep slopes of the Kigezi hills, armed with a walking stick to give you stamina, the stick is also handy in clearing the foliage for you.
The exercise under gone before you meet any particular mountain gorilla family is not for the weak, sick or faint hearted.
On meeting the mountain gorillas, UWA staff allow tourists enough time to observe them; gaze at their feeding culture, take pictures, and ask questions of interest in regards to the gorillas.
The observation of mountain gorillas can last between 30 minutes to an hour depending on the behavior and mood of the gorillas. Later you will return to the Park offices for the reward of a certificate of participation as a souvenir.
N.B: Gorilla trekking requires a degree of fitness as it doesn’t go through well-established tracks and involves a lot of hiking sometimes along steep escarpments. Tour guides allow a Short break of about 5 minutes to enable you carry on.Contact us for more information
