Gorilla families and gorilla permits in rushaga sector

November 25, 2019

Bwindi Impenetrable National.

Bwindi Impenetrable National park is located in the southwestern part of Uganda in the districts of Kabale, Kisoro and the park is covered by rain forest and is home to the Gorillas with more than half of the worlds Gorillas staying here. The park has four sectors, namely Buhoma sector, and Ruhija sector located in the north, Nkuringo sector and Rushaga sectors located in the south. All sectors have been habituated for gorilla tracking, and they boost a number of gorilla families that can be tracked. Choosing any of our Gorilla safaris will offer you an option to visit gorillas and with more time do any other trips available. Click here for more about Safaris.

Gorilla Families and Gorilla permits in Rushaga sector

Rushaga sector boasts the highest number of Habituated gorillas groups compared to any other sector in Bwindi. The sector has Mishaya gorilla family, Kahungye Gorilla Family, Bweza Gorilla Family, Busingye Gorilla Family and Nshongi Gorilla Family. These are all habituated and ready to be tracked. All the sectors combined boost up to 40 Gorilla permits available for tracking per day and with each gorilla group allowing 8 people for tracking per day. Also, Rushaga has two other families of Bikyingi and Bushaho, which are for Habituation experiences.

Habituated mountain gorilla families in Rushaga

Nshongi Gorilla Group

This was by far the largest gorilla group in Bwindi and boosted over 36 Gorilla members in the Family, and over the years the group has broke up twice to form the now Mishaya and Bweza Gorilla Families. Currently, the group has 25 members with Nshongi as the dominant silverback heading the group and other 3 sub silverbacks, 4 blackbacks, 7 Adult females and 6 juveniles and 4 infants. This group being the largest, also makes it beauty for visitors as they get to see many members of the Family, which provides a very interesting experience.

Mishaya Gorilla Group

This group was originally a member of the nshongi Gorilla group. In 2010 there were flights and Mishaya the silverback split to create its group, the silverback managed to break away with 7 members, the group is famous for its fighting nature and over the years it has managed to attract other members (female) with the number now shooting up to 12 members and 3 infants.

Bweza Gorilla Group

This initially broke away from Nshongi Gorilla Family with 8 members in 2013. While park authorities through this group would reconcile with Nshongi and join back, it failed to do so and was opened up to the general public for tracking. The group and consists of 1 silverback, 2 infants and the others being females and juveniles. This is by far the most exciting group to watch by visitors as it goes about its day to day activities in the park.

Kahungye Gorilla Family

This group was habituated in 2011 and opened for tracking and by then had 27 members, not even after a year, the group through flights and misunderstandings split to create the Busingye group. The group now remains with 13 members with the silverback Rumansi and follows by 2 black backs Rwigi and Ruhamuka, females and juveniles.

Busingye Gorilla Family.

This group was created in 2012 after splitting up from Kahungye group. The group gets its name from its head Busingye meaning “peace” which ironically he is not, Busingye is known for picking fights amongst other groups. The group started with 7 members, but now it has been able to grow up to 8 members and is thriving from grabbing females from other males, and this is a sign of power.

Gorilla Habituation experience gorilla families in Rushaga

It’s the process where mountain gorillas are trained to get used to humans, the process takes several years of the train with a team of well trained Gorilla rangers and doctors, the takes up to 4 hours per day with the Gorillas, there are two families for habituation, i.e. Bikyingi gorilla family and Bushaho gorilla family. Bikyingi family is located in Rushaga and has 21 members with 1 Silverback 2 sub-adults, 9 females and 9 infants while Bushaho family located farther south close to Nkuringo sector has 8 individuals with 1 silverback called Bahati, 1 black back, 3 adult females, 1 sub-adult, 1 juvenile and 2 infants. The head of this group is Bahati, who was a former member of the Nkuringo Gorilla Family.

How to book a trip to see the gorillas

Encounter Africa safaris will help you book this trip and will ensure that everything goes well. To book this tour, contact us and send through our booking form. Once you send through the inquiry, we will check availability on the Uganda Wildlife system and check if permits are available. Once we find availability, we will send you a quote for you to confirm. Booking gorilla permit requires you to book in advance, as they are limited in number. On a day the Rushaga sector has 40 permits available for the 5 Gorilla groups with each group tracked by a maximum of 8 people. If you contact us in time, Encounter Africa Safaris will ensure that you have the tour arranged for you to your specifications.

Price of Gorilla permits.

As mentioned above, Gorilla permits are issued by Uganda wildlife Authority, and they issue a maximum of 40 permits for Rushaga sector. The Gorilla permit costs USD600.00 at the moment, but it has been proposed that with effect from Next year July the price of the Gorilla permit will be increased to USD700.00 per person per trek.

Gorilla Habituation permits are also available on sell for tracking, and this permit allows you to spend 4 hours with the Gorillas at USD1500.00 per person and only 4 slots are available for this for you to buy on to. Encounter Africa Safaris will help you secure these permits and your trip to see the Gorillas as we have made such an experience a memorable one for many clients in the past.

How to get to Rushaga sector of Bwindi Impenetrable NP

Rushaga located in the south of Bwindi impenetrable National park can be easily accessed from either Entebbe in Uganda or Kigali in Rwanda. From Entebbe you can either take a domestic flight to Kisoro Airstrip which is one and a half hours flight or embark on the 8-9 hours scenic drive to Bwindi will take you via the Equator at Kayabwe and have a stop in Mbarara for lunch then proceed with the scenic drive. While if you choose to start the trip from Rwanda, the drive is relatively short for 4-5 hours which tales you via the genocide museum of Kigali then to Bwindi.

Where to stay while Rushaga sector of Bwindi

There are many accommodation places to stay based on depending on your budget, with a budget, mid-range and luxury accommodations all available. For budget and camping Nshongi Camp, Rushaga Havens Lodge while Mid-range accommodation we have Rushaga Gorilla Camp, Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge and Luxury accommodation we have Rushaga Valley Lodge, Gorilla Safari Lodge and Chameleon Hill Lodge.

Also, you can stay in accommodations around Kisoro and Nkuringo side of Bwindi with accommodations like travellers Rest Inn and Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge respectively.

For more information about gorilla families and gorilla permits in rushaga sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and how to book tours to that sector of the park, feel free to contact Encounter Africa safaris, and we will be more than glad to tailor you a safari of a lifetime. Encounter Africa safaris is highly reviewed on safari bookings as well as trip advisor. For more comments and recommendations about our service, please look no further than these two platforms.