Facts about gorilla habituation experience permits in Uganda
Facts about gorilla habituation experience permit in Uganda
Gorilla habituation is the process that leads to forming a gorilla trekking family. The gorilla trekking experience includes escorting a team of researchers and habituation into the wilderness to follow a semi-habituated gorilla family to familiarize them with human presence without altering their nature.
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Uganda is currently the only destination for gorilla habituation experience. The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park’s southern sectors have two gorilla families open for gorilla habituation. In addition, this south sector of Bwindi’s impenetrable national park is home to two gorilla trekking areas: the Rushaga area and the Nkuringo area.
What Is Gorilla Habituation Experience?
The gorilla habituation experience is an adventure where you follow a semi-habituated gorilla family getting familiar with human presence without altering their nature. In addition, you get to accompany a team of researchers and habituators.
It would be best to have a valid gorilla habituation permit to qualify for this activity.
What is gorilla habituation permit?
The gorilla habituation permit is a card issued by the Uganda wildlife authority to allow one to participate in getting a semi-habituated gorilla family used to human presence. It is best to purchase the gorilla habituation permit in advance because they are highly demanded yet limited to only four permits per day per family.
What is the cost of gorilla habituation permits?
Gorilla habituation permits cost $1500 per person per trek for foreign nonresidents, $1000 for foreign residents, and 750000shs for East African residents.
The gorilla habituation permit cost includes park entrance fees for the day, ranger guide fee, security, 4 hours with the mountain gorillas, a certificate after gorilla habituation, gorilla conservation support, and local community support.
Exclusions for the cost of the gorilla habituation permit: TIPPING, porter fee, energy bites, packed lunch, and so much more.
Is the gorilla habituation permit refundable?
Booking a gorilla habituation safari is like winning a lottery, and not attending is like losing the lottery ticket.
You may request for gorilla habituation permit refund in case you qualify based on the refund policy of the Uganda Wildlife Authority. If you notice that you may not be able to show up for gorilla habituation on the date booked, advise the booking agent or Uganda Wildlife Authority in advance.
You are advised on what to do next if you are still within the window for a refund. Some patience is necessary because money must go through bureaucracy before it is retrieved.
Can I Reschedule The Gorilla Habituation Permits?
Rescheduling the gorilla habituation permit is allowed if you address the matter to Uganda Wildlife Authority.
Write to Uganda Wildlife Authority requesting to reschedule your gorilla habituation permit to an upfront date.
Upon approval, your gorilla habituation permit is moved to a date requested in case there is still an opening.
Uganda allows free gorilla habituation permit rescheduling twice for the same permit, but the third time, the executive director has to approve. In addition, a surcharge of 25% of the total gorilla habituation permit cost is given.
How Safe Is Gorilla Habituation Adventure?
Although gorilla habituation is a safari in the wilderness, it is safe. Each gorilla habituation group is escorted by an armed ranger guide, with another carrying a machete to cut some creepers and make a way where necessary.
Bwindi impenetrable national park security management works with other Uganda security agencies to maintain law and order within and around the park.
You must pay attention to personal security by not eating street food that would cause you stomach disorder. This may lead to you getting disqualified from going gorilla habituating.
If you wish to taste local cuisines, ask your driver’s guide for help. The guide knows the safest food points.
Only enter the forest with an escorting ranger guide. This is because the forest has wild animals not habituated to human presence that may be dangerous to you. Even to avoid getting lost in a vast forest like Bwindi.
What Happens During Gorilla Habituation Adventure?
Early morning, you head to the ranger station with your gorilla habituation gear, including at least two clean masks and sanitizer. Remember the packed lunch because the return time is unknown.
The park warden and ranger guides take you through the rules and regulations of gorilla habituation together with a team of habituators and researchers. On the way, you take breaks, and in case you have some energy snacks, you may re-energize but do not litter the forest.
In the company of a team of researchers and habituation, you sanitize your safari boots and take the track to where the mountain gorillas were seen the previous day. You may find the mountain gorillas just out of their nesting area or just beginning to pick breakfast.
What Do You Do When You Locate The Mountain Gorillas?
Before approaching the mountain gorillas, the rangers and researchers have to establish the mood around them. The wild mountain gorillas are susceptible to intruders in their vicinity. In case of a fight amongst the gorilla family, the situation must first calm for you to be allowed access to the gorilla family.
Throughout the time you are in the company of the gorilla family under habituation, you are requested to take notes, observe, and try to relate with the mountain gorillas according to the rules of gorilla habituation. Sometimes the dominant silverback may want to show off his majestic power over the gorilla family, so you need to pay allegiance to him not to seem suspicious.
Expect the gorillas to go into hiding sometimes, as this is one of their natural traits. They have yet to be used to human presence. When this happens, follow the instructions given by the researchers and habituation because, by now, they may know how to deal with it. Only force your way to where the mountain gorillas have retreated with advice.
As a rule for gorilla habituation, try to keep a distance of about 8 meters from the mountain gorillas. When they move closer, they stealthily move back. Take photos during the habituation hours as memories to turn to later.
You are allowed 4 hours in the company of the mountain gorillas and slowly depart later to return to your lodge and relax.
How dangerous are mountain gorillas during habituation?
Although the mountain gorilla is semi-habituated during this adventure, they are not violent. Instead, mountain gorillas are shy and serene despite their sheer size and scary body structure.
Try not to stare into the brown sunken eyes of the mountain gorillas that may cause them to see you as suspicious. When the silverback observes something odd about the intruders in their vicinity, he may order the rest of the family members to retreat into the deeper forest ends.
Avoid provoking the mountain gorillas because you may cause a stampede in the forest or cause them to rage.
When angry, the mountain gorillas hoot, thump hard their chests, pull grass around them, walk on one foot, and so much more.
In the history of gorilla habituation, no tourist has ever been a victim of a mountain gorilla attack.
What Is The History Of Gorilla Habituation Adventure?
The Uganda Wildlife Authority launched a gorilla habituation adventure in 2014; the rest is history. This allowed tourists more time with the mountain gorillas and to feel proud of being one of those who helped form a gorilla trekking family. Although you can still do gorilla trekking more than once, gorilla habituation gives you more time.
A few people have the opportunity to escort a team of researchers to spend 4 hours observing and noting about the mountain gorillas.
As Encounter Africa Safari, we pride ourselves on being the first company to make history, as we were the first company to book tourists for gorilla habituation safari in Uganda.
How Long Is Gorilla Habituation Adventure?
The time you take during gorilla habituation varies with the factors prevailing in the forest.
Sometimes you may locate the mountain gorillas about 2 hours after starting the trek or more, depending on where they may spend the day.
If the gorillas have a fight with another gorilla family or among the family members, they may move into hiding, prolonging the time to locate them.
Mountain gorillas feed from a particular area for some time. Then, when food is exhausted, they move—finding where the gorilla family under habituation may have moved to may take some time.
Even the pace of people doing gorilla habituation matters. When they are very slow, the time for gorilla habituation is prolonged.
During the severe rainy seasons, the trails may be slippery and the ground soggy, delaying your movement in the forest.
With all this present, the moment you meet the mountain gorillas brings mixed feelings of extreme excitement and fear. You may need to remember all you have passed through before locating the mountain gorillas.
Some patience is necessary during gorilla habituation because mountain gorillas are free primates just going about their life.
Is Gorilla Habituation Difficult?
The topography of the Virunga area is generally volcanic, so expect to hike some ridges and plateaus to where the mountain gorilla may spend the day.
You need to have some fitness level or hire a sedan chair in case of physical impairment.
You can successfully emerge from a gorilla habituation adventure by wearing the proper safari boots that withstand boggy ground and slippery slopes—request a walking stick to give you extra support through the search to locate the mountain gorillas.
You may hire a porter to carry your gorilla habituation gears just before starting your adventure. This gives you time to move freely and take the best photo shots with less disturbance.
Who Is A Porter During Gorilla Habituation Adventure?
A porter is a person who carries your gorilla trekking gear in the wilderness and gives you a push when you are tired of you to complete the adventure.
How Important Is A Porter During Gorilla Habituation?
The porter helps carry your gorilla habituation gears to energize you during your quest to find the mountain gorillas.
When you hire a porter, you directly contribute to the mountain gorilla conservation campaign, as porters are locals. As porters, they earn some money that they use to support their daily life other than looking at the forest supply.
WHAT ARE THE DOS AND DONOTS OF GORILLA HABITUATION ADVENTURE?
- Dumping garbage in the wilderness, especially indecomposable rubbish like plastic wraps, is forbidden because it alters the nature of the forest where mountain gorilla food grows.
- Spitting on the ground and vegetation is unacceptable as you contaminate the mountain gorillas’ food.
- Keep a distance of about 8 meters from the mountain gorillas when you locate them. They are highly susceptible to human infections.
- Only persons aged 15 years and above can do gorilla habituation because of the forest factors around this activity. A child below this age may not withstand the long hours of gorilla habituation. Even the ground is soggy, which may not be easy for a child to withstand.
- If you wish to eat or drink, do it away from the mountain gorillas, at least 200 meters away. This is to prevent them from grabbing human eats. They are wild animals that must search for their food.
- When you locate the mountain gorillas, you have only 4 hours of viewing them to leave them to do their day-to-day activities.
- When you have a communicable infection like a cough, covid19 volunteer to stay behind so as not to pass it to the highly susceptible mountain gorillas.
- Provoking the mountain gorillas is forbidden because they are susceptible to unfamiliar intruders.
- Never use flash photography during gorilla habituation to not scare the mountain gorillas.
- Stay in a tight group during gorilla habituation and do not scatter, as the mountain gorillas may feel ambushed.
- Wear a mask before approaching mountain gorillas as a measure adopted after the covid19 pandemic.
