Where to See Mountain Gorillas

Mountain Gorilla trekking is done in Uganda and Rwanda plus few treks in Congo –Democratic Republic of Congo .Mountain Gorilla trekking is a unique adventure experience that you can do if you love traveling. Uganda is blessed with naturalforests that form natural habitat for these gentle giants of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and Mgahinga National Park. All these parks are famous formountain gorilla trekking in Uganda.

Thus to see mountain gorillas will be visting these parks in Uganda. In order to have a secure gorilla treking will need to book a gorilla trekking permit with tour operator like Travel Hemispheres who have arranged mountain gorilla trekking safaris for the last 20 years with Fred Bukenya a tour consultant. Also can trekk and see mountain gorillas in Rwanda at Park De volcanoes National Park and also to a limited extent in Congo because of insecurity and trekking of mountain gorillas is done at less extent. Gorilla terkking and seeing is done inside the parks in their natura habbitat . Thus will need permit to enter the park . Permision is given when you pay or buy a gorilla trekking permit issued by the park authorities in Uganda or Rwanda, In Uganda , a permit cost US $ 700 while in Rwanda a permit cost US $ 1500 per visist on single day. If you haven’t already booked your tour ahead of time, flying into the capital city of Kampala, Please email us at Travel Hemispheres we shall do it for you. Our email is : info@travelhemispheres.com you’ll be able to find plenty of tour options from our site: www.travelhemispheres.com that would love to do with us. Remember that a permit is needed so it is better if you purchase a tour as soon as possible so is the gorilla trekking permit can be acquired also in time (gorilla permits do run out as there are a limited number of permits available- first come first serve basis) Every visitor coming to Uganda would wish to get into contact with these gentle giants moreover our distant cousins( over 98$ DNA). Uganda should treats gorilla tracking as the pinnacle of the tourism industry in the country. Seeing and trekking mountain gorillas continue attracting more numbers of tourist visiting the country Uganda the Pearl Of Africa which has celebrated her 61st Independence from the colonial Master the British. This has increased passes tourist coming from UK to see these gentle giants of Bwindi.

What is Gorilla Trekking Experience

Gorilla trekking started in 1993 in Uganda at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. Then the company I was working for was the first to arrange clients to go and trek mountain gorillas of Bwindi national park. Gorilla trekking as requirement you need a gorilla permit and in Uganda a permit today cost US$700.00. You need to have slept near as trekking and briefing start at 8.00am form park offices. Originally gorilla trekking started from Buhoma where the original park offices were established to oversee all activities going in the park. Today the park has many points of starting from as many gorilla family groups have been habituated to allow many tourists in single day to trek mountain gorillas in their natural habitat of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National park. Other than Buhoma , Ruhija, Rushaga, Kisoro, Nshongi Have been established and are starting points for gorilla trekking safaris. What is gorilla trekking experience? Gorilla trekking involves walking and hiking hills and valleys of the Bwindi terrain that make Bwindi park as you follow the foot steps of gorillas in their natural habitat with park rangers. Gorillas live in family groups and after each day’s work and feeding they make nests where they will sleep and spend the night. By following them it means that will first reach where they slept and then follow their footsteps as the feed until you come close to them. Usually you are allowed to leave few meters away from them and are give 1 hour to watch them as the feed and juveniles play while the Sliverback is taking a close watch on the new comers if you are likely to cause any harm of if your friendly. You are allowed to take photos and record videos but do not use flash cameras as flash my disrupt the peace of gorillas and tempt them to behave differently. Bwindi is dense tropical forest with different canopies and with lots of undergrowth. Hence impenetrable forest. Just for fun I remember in our course of arranging gorilla trekking expeditions then , some tourists would ask us if they can carry torches in their packaging to help them again in daylight to enter into Bwindi impenetrable forest and then there torches would help them to provide the flash lighting in order to recognized and see properly mountain gorillas in their habitat . However we allayed their fears that by being impenetrable meant that there were thick undergrowth that makes it impenetrable and did not need light but some tools like pangas , slashers to create way so that you can easily reach where gorillas are foraging at that particular day and spend an hour to have nice views while taking snaps video taking photo shooting. So Bwindi Forest by Nature has got many canopies that will not allow sunlight easily penetrate to reach the ground where mountain gorillas could be. Iworked for the company which arranged 1st gorilla trekking safaris at Buhoma Bwindi in 1993. after i ccme up with Travel Hemispheres Uganda safari company. Travel Hemispheres started in 2004 and we have lots of experiennce to handle you let it be budget, mid range, upmarket or luxury safaris .Our niche in safari arrangement experience is unsurpassed

How to do Gorilla trekking safaris in Uganda

 

Gorilla trekking in Uganda  is and Incredible experience. You need to arrange tour with us - Travel Hemispheres Uganda Safari company and we arrange for you a best safari holiday with us. Uganda safaris combine as many  as you may think that it is just a walking, driving, trekking, name it. . But gorilla trekking is carried out in an impenetrable forest of Bwindi forest that has existed for thousand years and is among the African tropical forests that are still intact and exist in south western  Uganda as a country. You will be trekking hills up and down as the topography  of the area is hilly and  with wide valleys . The day begins with briefing from rangers post or park headquarters. The assembling will be  composed of rangers to guide you, trackers and guides. Also strong Bakiga men who work as porters whom individual trackers will hire their services to  help them carry their back packs and even can support you to give you push if will get tired before getting out of the forest.   Will also need good walking shoes  and a jacket call it rain coat as rain may not be ruled out on every day while still deep in the forest. At times this real African rain forest because you may not miss rain almost on daily basis what a blessing. Gorilla trekking takes place under the canopies of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National park.

What is Covid-19 visitor rules towards to Uganda?

 What is Covid-19  Visitor Rules  To  Uganda

Covid -19 did not spare Uganda. Though it is still at its lowest in terms of people affected.   Visitors wishing to do uganda safaris and tours  must have tested negative for at least 72 hours. All travelers arriving in Uganda must have a negative COVID-19 certificate. The only accepted test is a SARS-CoV 2 Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) performed within 120 hours of departure (meaning travelers must be tested and get results within 5 days of their first flight). Other tests, such as Rapid Diagnostics Test (RDTs), are not accepted.

  All travelers arriving or transiting through  border points of Rwanda, Kenya Tanzania and .Sudan  will be screened upon entry ton arrival and be allowed to proceed on you tour to Uganda.

For Rwanda  all travelers are required to wait 24 hours for the results of their COVID-19 test in a designated transit hotel. All COVID-19 prevention measures announced by the Ministry of Health must be respected during waiting period• The Government of Rwanda has negotiated special rates at designated transit hotels for the 24 hour waiting period. Should a guest wish to remain in the hotel after receiving negative test results, they are welcome to extend their stay at the hotel’s applicable rates.

While in Uganda visitors after showing certificate  convid -19 will be allowed to proceed on safari with your guide.  I is rtill not easy to cross from either country to another and am still gathering information as to whether will be allowed to cross from Uganda to Rwanda.  As of today they allow visitors who are passing at one entry that is airport. 

While doing Uganda safari , gorilla tracking has been resumed  and it is going on smoothly.  We at Travel Hemispheres are arranging tours and safaris to all destination parts of the country. Your  itinerary  and cost  to track gorillas  in Uganda will tailor-made for your interests and taste.  . We also have golden monkey tracking  activity in Uganda.

 

Covid19 Lockdown a blow to Mountain Gorillas in Congo

As covid19 is not only affecting people but also the protection of endangered Mountain gorillas in Congo when rebel militia attacked the park and killed 12 rangers protecting Mountain Gorillas in the Virunga national park in Democratic Republic of Congo. All visits were suspended due to Corona virus and these rebels are taking advantage of the situation. This  is affecting gorilla safaris in the region. Even other parks should be on the look out to protect all national parks to top poaching that may come up as result of covid19 lockdowns.

The park in eastern DRC, home to critically endangered mountain gorillas as well as hundreds of other rare species, has faced repeated incursions and attacks by local armed groups.

About 60 fighters from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a Hutu rebel group, ambushed a convoy of civilians that was being protected by 15 rangers, said Cosma Wilungula, the director of the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation. Many others were seriously injured, he said.

There was no immediate confirmation from the Virunga park of the incident or casualties.

The park has been repeatedly hit by violence. It was shut to tourists for eight months in 2018 after a series of attacks on staff but reopened after a thorough review of security precautions and reinforcement of the 700 rangers deployed to keep animals and visitors safe.

The park, in North Kivu province, has a reputation as one of the most dangerous conservation projects in the world. It faces multiple security threats including illegal charcoal production, smuggling and poaching, as well as from the Mai Mai militia.

Founded in 1925 by Belgian colonial authorities, the park struggled in the immediate aftermath of the country’s independence in 1960 but flourished under President Mobutu Sese Seko, who took power in 1965.

The park suffered further during the civil war that followed Mobutu’s chaotic fall in 1997. Virunga’s mountain gorilla population declined to 300. It has since risen to more than 1,000, and the numbers of other animals such as forest elephants are also rising.

In 2007 a partnership was established between charities funded by private donors, the EU and the Congolese wildlife service. Emmanuel De Merode took charge and implemented a wide-ranging overhaul.

The rangers, who are recruited from nearby villages, are paid a monthly salary of $250, a sizeable sum for them. Initiatives have focused on nearby communities, with micro-loans and hydroelectric power projects to boost the local economy.

All visits to Virunga were suspended last month to protect the gorillas from infection by the coronavirus. This may affect other gorilla safaris to say Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda  and Volcanoes  national park in Rwanda. All thees 3 national parks share same massif in the Great Lakes Region.

The Gentle Giants of Bwindi : Mountain Gorillas Apes of Bwindi

Gorillas, Chimpanzees, orangutans and humans all belong to the order of primates .Human share98.4%of their genetic material with gorillas and 98.8% with chimpanzees. Gorillas ,the largest of the great apes are divided into three sub species that include the western lowland gorillas and the Eastern low land gorillas. The Eastern and the Western low land gorillas were identified for science in 1847 and 1877 respectively. The subspecies- the mountain gorilla was identified for scientific purposes in the year 1903 and has gone on to be the Uganda's star attraction. Mountain gorillas are distinct from low land gorillas. They are larger ,have more hair ,a short truck,a broad chest and shoulders and also have a longer and slightly different noise shape. Mountain gorillas are born small, covered with black hair and usually weigh about 2.3 kilograms. Gorillas develop as twice as human babies with the mature female mother also under going a gestation period of nine months. They are unique species ,as a gorilla with an infant may not have another baby not until four years. Male and female gorillas between the ages of three and six years are classified as Juvenile. They increase in size and weight at similar rates for the first six years. On reaching six years most mountain gorillas weigh 68kg and usually four feet tall. The female mountain gorillas stop growing taller at around six years where as the males continue growing both in size and in weight till they reach the age of ten to eleven. Between the ages of six – ten the male ones have black hair and are referred to as the black backs. On reaching maturity which is usually between 10- 12 years, they develop silvery grey hair on their backs therefore referring to them as silver backs. The silver backs usually leave their parental group at the age of 11and then moves alone or in the company of the other males for a few years before managing to attract females from other groups to him hence forming his own family .Gorillas communicate through vocalizations. Twenty- five vocalization have been so far recognized with each one having its own particular meaning. As an element of their socialization ,they communicate through howls ,grunts ,barks and hoots .screams and roars signal alarm or warning and are often produced by silverbacks . They also communicate by beating on their chests or on the ground .This is done to show stature ,prevent fights or even scare opponents . However, even the infants beat their chests as a kind of displacement activity during play perhaps just to copy their elders. Mountain gorilla life is peace full and quite .It is from this that they have come to be Africa's gentle giants which has promoted gorilla safaris and tourism in general These gentle giants are found in the in the areas of Bwindi Impenetrable Ntional park and Mgahinga Gorilla National park in Uganda while in Rwanda they are confined in Parc des volcans and in Virunga Republic of Congo.

Silver back is a dominant male in a group about 12 or more gorillas that usually include females ,juveniles and other infants. On a good day ,you find them chewing leaves ,laughing and farting not only continuously but with a lot of contentment .They are diumal and nomadic ,sleeping each night in fresh nest built from leaves and branches. Mountin gorillas are primarily vegetarian with their menu composing bamboo, nettles and gallium being some of their favourites. They occasionally eat safari ants which are scooped in huge handfuls to stuff into the mouth until the safari ant bites over power them. Gorillas spend most of their time in travelling and foraging in search for food since plants and trees change with seasons .

10 Days Uganda Holiday Safari Tour

Day 1: Kampala-Murchison Falls National Park

Morning after breakfast drive to Murchison falls. Stop for lunch at Masindi town. Lunch  will be at Masindi and proceed to Murchison falls. Visit the top of the falls an exciting point where millions of gallons of water squeeze in 6-7 meter gap with thunderous sound before falling down 40 meters forming placid river. Dinner and overnight at lodge of your choice. At Paraa Safari Lodge FB or other related budget option cost chosen

SAFARI COST: 2 People sharing

Luxury cost per person: US$ 6330

Upmarket cost per person: US$ 5270

Middle Cost per person  :  US $ 3485

Budget cost per person:US$ 2863

Day 2: Murchison Falls National Park

Wake up early take a game drive looking for wildlife. Murchison Falls is the largest national park in the country and harbors different flora and fauna. Your game drive in the morning with a local guide who will assist you to sight wild game in the northern bank of River Nile where concentrations of game are in common sight of elephants, giraffes, antelopes, lions leopards hyenas and many bird species are a common sight.

Afternoon go for a boat cruise on the famous River Nile up to the bottom of falls viewing variety of game that throng along banks of the river. Chances of sighting the shoe bill stork are many though not a guarantee and many more bird species continue up to the bottom of the falls where you will see animals like schools of hippos, crocodiles and many species of birds dinner and overnight. FB

Day 3: Murchison  – Fort Portal/Kibale .

After breaking your fast ,  proceed to   Fort Portal /Kibale with packed lunch. Drive in one of the remotest parts of this country enjoying different forest environment and other savannah woodland vegetation plus communities along the road stop where you find local market to mix briefly with local people. Arrival  will be a in the evening enjoy nice views of the mountains of the moon on clear days.

Continue to Kibale National Park where you will settle in at Primate Lodge luxury tent facilities. Dinner and overnight FB

Day 4: Kibale Forest National Park

After breakfast visit Kanyanchu the park headquarter offices for your chimpanzee tracking where you will see other primates like the colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys plus other primates that share this forest with chimpanzees. The park also hosts over 320 species of birds including the yellow spotted nectar, yellow rumped tinker birds etc. It also has colorful butterflies; over 250 species have been spotted. For nature lovers, the dense forest is still intact you can see trees of different species. Track chimps in their natural habitat. Kibale Forest National Park is believed to have most concentration of primates in the world. Over 12 different species of primates including chimps in this park have been recorded. Enjoy a lot plant life with tall tropical tree species.

After lunch drive along the foot of Mountain Rwenzori and on clear days enjoys its nice ice peaks that remain wonder on equator line. Stop for communities along the road stop where you find local market to mix briefly with local people. Dinner and overnight at Mweya Safari Lodge. FB

Day 5: Queen Elizabeth National Park

Early Breakfast in the morning, there after carryout a game drive to catch-up with the early risers and predators returning to their hideouts. You are likely to meet grazing hippos, elephants, lions, spotted hyenas and leopards, bushbuck, waterbuck and stripped jackal, and of-course the several warthogs.

After lunch take boat cruise on Kazinga channel connecting Lake George and Lake Edward viewing different game lion, elephant, buffalo and many more plus plenty of birdlife. Dinner and overnight at Mweya safari Lodge. FB

Day 6: Queen Elizabeth – Ishasha – Bwindi

After breakfast you will drive Kyambura gorge to track chimpanzees. After picnic lunch, drive towards the southern sector of Queen Elizabeth national park. – The Ishasha sector famous for climbing lions. And precede to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park the home of Mountain Gorillas. It is estimated half of the world’s surviving population of mountain gorillas –300 live within Bwindi boundaries. Dinner and overnight at Buhoma Luxury Lodge FB

Day 7: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

Early morning breakfast and head for gorilla trekking with guides together with other tourists trackers on this day. The trek is strenuous but enjoyable. This is the major tourist attraction in Bwindi. Carry packed lunch with you that will have at picnic site in the forest. The thrill of your encounter with these gentle giants will erase your difficulties of the potentially strenuous trek. Spend time in awe watching gorillas go about their activities. Each encounter is different and has it’s own rewards. You are likely to enjoy a close view of adults feeding, grooming and resting as the youngsters frolic from vines in a delightfully playful display. Return from tracking gorillas, have dinner and overnight At Buhoma Luxury lodge. FB

Day 8: Bwindi – Bunyonyi

After breakfast will be have a Batwa forest  walk  taking back many years when pygmy communities used to stay in this forest as as forest gatherers around, or do village walk  of Buhoma Community where you will see different local people as they do their day to day activities, visit the local/traditional healers, local brew distillation points, after the village walk will return back the lodge for lunch,  or to the community hospital or ca even donate to the community. After lunch will drive to Kabale and continue to Lake Bunyonyi, check in at you lodge for dinner and overnight.

Day 9: Bunyonyi – Lake Mburo

Morning take a boat ride on Lake Bunyonyi a seeing plenty of bird life and visiting communities as they go their daily activities. Enjoy this Switzerland of Africa scenery. After lunch drive to Lake Mburo national park or Mbarara town. Lunch will be on the way transfer to Lake Mburo Diner and overnight at Mantana Safari Lodge.

Day 10: Lake Mburo – Kampala

After Breakfast take a game drive  or later do natural walk or take boat ride on Lake Mburo . After proceed to Masaka road to Kampala. Stopover on your way could be for Ankole grassland where long horned cattle are common sight. Continue northwards breaking at the Equator crossing. Continue to Kampala. END .

SAFARI COST: 2 People sharing

Luxury cost per person: US$ 6330

Upmarket cost per person: US$ 5270

Middle Cost per person  :  US $ 3485

Budget cost per person:US$ 2868

All cost options are based on full board all inclusive.

Please note the safari cost include:

• meals and accommodation as indicated in the itinerary
• full time safari driver/guides,
• park entry fees, all game drives, boat/ launch trips, forest guiding walks, all activities while on safari and all the applicable Government Taxes.
• 4×4 wheel drive vehicle with gas
• Airport transfers.
• 1 gorilla permit per person
• chimp permit per person – Kibale/Kyambura