The gorilla habituation process in Uganda

Gorilla habituation is an intriguing safari activity that only takes place in Uganda, this is the process where the wild gorillas are trained to be used with the human presence in the forests of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. Gorilla habituation experience is an interesting and very stunning safari activity that only allows tourists that are above 15 years of age to participate in the habituation process for four hours and habituation itself takes about two to three years.

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On your safari to Africa; Gorilla habituation in Uganda is a massive safari experience that takes place in the Rushaga sector that is located in the Southern part of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a protected area majorly for mountain gorillas are over 468 mountain gorillas in number, the park is well known as a home to half of the remaining mountain gorillas on the planet. Bwindi impenetrable forest national park is home to over 23 habituated gorilla families which are found in the four sectors that is Rushaga sector which has various gorilla families including Mishaya, Kahugye, Bweza, Mucunguzi, Rwigi and many others.

The northern sector is the Buhoma sector which has gorilla families like Rushegura, Katwe, Mubare, Habinyanja. Then Nkuringo sector in the southern part of the park has gorilla families like Nkuringo, Christmas, and Bushaho and among others, and the last sector is Ruhija sector which has gorilla families such as Bitukura, Kyaguriro, Mukiza and others. Although Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is the sole safari destination where gorilla habituation; this makes Uganda and in the entire Africa where gorilla habituation process takes place which makes Uganda a stunning gorilla destination that offers fascinating experiences on your safari as you take part in the gorilla habituation process, as well as gorilla trekking. Get in touch with us for more information.

Gorilla habituation process in Bwindi habituation in Bwindi Impenetrable national park.

Gorilla habituation experiences were first introduced by the Uganda Wildlife Authority for the tourists to participate in the habituation process and today the experience takes place in the Rushaga sector in the southern part of Bwindi impenetrable national park. There is one gorilla family under habituation which is called Kutu family in the Rushaga sector, the Kutu family has several individuals with one dominant silverback as the head of the family. Gorilla habituation process in Bwindi impenetrable national park takes a period of 2 to 3 years and the experience involves a team of trackers, conservationists, researchers, experienced guides, rangers and many others. Gorilla habituation only allows a maximum of 4 tourists to join the researchers, conservationists and the rest of the team in the habituation process, compared to gorilla trekking which allows a maximum of 8 visitors in diverse groups and the gorilla trekking takes about one hour experience.

Gorilla habituation process starts very early in the morning at 7:00 am with a briefing about the rules and regulations to follow during gorilla habituation at the park headquarters at Rushaga where you will be given more information about the expectations, safety measures to follow during the experience in the presence of the gorillas. After the briefing, you will start your gorilla habituation through moving in the forest to the gorilla family where you will get the opportunity to participate in gorilla habituation through observing the gorillas, making calls, monitoring the gorilla behaviors, naming of the gorilla individuals and among many others.

During gorilla habituation, the researchers keep on visiting the gorilla group on a daily basis and if time passes the gorillas will develop a trustful relationship with the researchers or get used to them in their natural habitats. Once the researchers are sure or certain that the gorillas can trek they will introduce the gorilla group to a mock exercise to test it and the mock exercise involves some people such as scientists, journalists, and many others to start visiting the gorilla family and when it passes the mock exercise it will open for trekking, therefore, added on the number of the habituated gorilla families in Bwindi impenetrable national park.

Gorilla habituation process in Bwindi impenetrable national park allows a maximum of 4 visitors who are allowed to spend 4 hours with the gorilla family that is being habituated unlike gorilla trekking in other gorilla trekking sectors of the park which allows visitors to spend one hour in the presence of the habituated gorilla families. During the four hours in the gorilla habituation, you will participate in various activities including observing the gorillas, monitoring their behaviors, taking plenty of photos with the fleshless cameras because the flush disrupts the gorillas and as well as recording all the moments which gives you the exceptional experiences on your safari in Uganda.

The cost of a gorilla habituation permit in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Before carrying out gorilla habituation, you are requested to first acquire a gorilla habituation permit, that is foreign nonresidents it is 1500 USD per person per trek, for foreign residents it is 1000 USD per person per trek and then East African Citizens it is 750,000 UGX per person per trek in order to carry out your gorilla habituation experience.

 How to book for a gorilla habitation permit.

A gorilla habituation permit on a Uganda safari in Bwindi Impenetrable national park is booked in two different ways and that is the permit can be booked directly through Uganda Wildlife Authority offices the government body in Uganda that is in charge of tourism where you will contact the offices through the email or the telephone calls or you can book through a reputable trusted tour operator like Encounter Africa Safaris when booking with Encounter Africa safaris you will contact us with the date, month and year when you want to participate in the gorilla habituation safari experience in Bwindi Impenetrable national park. We will then check the availability of the gorilla habituation and then get back to you; you will then be requested to send your scanned copies of the passport which will be used to acquire the permit and an invoice to make deposit payments of the gorilla habituation permit. And once the payments have been made we will secure and reserve your gorilla habituation permit and then send you the scanned copies as a confirmation.

You are requested and advised that the gorilla habituation permit should be booked in advance at least 6 months in advance before the gorilla habituation process date as in because the gorilla habituation permits are always few and very competitive especially during the peak season during the months of June, July, August, December, January and February, so booking early enough in advance avoids the disappointments on the last minute, that may disrupt your gorilla habituation experience.

Best time to go gorilla habituation experience in Uganda.

Bwindi impenetrable national park can be visited any time throughout the year for the gorilla habituation experience though the best time is during the dry season which is also known as the peak season in the months of June to August and December to February. This is the best time to do gorilla habituation experience because during the dry season that’s when the forest receives fewer amounts of rainfall and the trails to the gorilla under the habituation process will not be muddy or slippery that is it will be very possible for the group to do gorilla habituation to easily passable hence making habituation experience successful and exceptional. However, due to the fact that Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a tropical rainforest, you will be expecting rainfall at any time regardless of the season and then since the visitors will be spending a lot of time in the forest, the tourists are advised to pack different safari items like the waterproof rain jacket, strong hiking shoes, garden gloves, long sleeved shirt, insect repellent, backpack, snacks, some energy drinks and among essential items.

On your gorilla habituation experience in Bwindi's impenetrable national park, the dry or peak season is the perfect time for the safari experience though the permits will be on high demand and very competitive hence making the tourists to book in advance before the habituation date such as to avoid disappointments. Contact us here.

Difference between gorilla habituation from the gorilla trekking.

Gorilla habituation experience is the process where the wild gorillas are trained to get used to the human presence for trekking and the experience only takes place in Rushaga sector in Bwindi impenetrable national park while gorilla trekking is a safari activity where the visitors move in the forests in search of the habituated gorilla families in various safari destinations that takes place in Bwindi Impenetrable national park and Mgahinga gorilla national park in Uganda, Volcanoes national park in Rwanda and then finally Virunga national park in Democratic Republic of Congo.

Goirlla habituation experience allows a maximum of 4 visitors per day to participate in the habituation process whereas gorilla trekking allows a maximum of 8 visitors to carry out the experience and each habituated gorilla family in any of the destinations.

Goirlla habituation experience allows the visitors to spend a maximum of 4 hours with the gorillas in their natural habitats as the visitors monitor their behaviours, taking photos, naming each individual, and many more while gorilla trekking allows the visitors to spend only one hour with the habituated gorilla family learning more about the gorillas for example watching the gorillas feed, play, female gorillas grooming their young ones and taking photos and recording their videos.

Goirlla habituation safari experience costs tourists 1500 USD per person while the gorilla trekking safari activity costs 800 USD per person.

During gorilla habituation process the visitors will move with a team of rangers, scientists, conservationists and many more to the gorilla family under habituation while gorilla trekking the visitors will only move with the guides and the park rangers to the habituated gorilla family.

How to get to Bwindi impenetrable national park for gorilla habitation.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is located in the southwestern part of Uganda, in Kanungu forest and its Rushaga sector where the gorilla habituation process takes place in the southern part of the park, and to access the park to do gorilla habituation, that is two ways both air and road transport.

Air transport; Bwindi impenetrable national park is easily reached through using air transport which is the fastest way to get to the Rushaga sector. You will book domestic flights like Aero Link airline from Kajjansi airfield or from Uganda’s main airport that is Entebbe International Airport then to Kisoro Airstrip approximately takes you one hour and from Kisoro airstrip and then from the airstrip your Encounter African Safari guide will pick you and then connect by road to the Rushaga headquarters. The domestic flights to Rushaga sector in Bwindi impenetrable national park can be booked through Encounter Africa Safaris.

Road transport; Rushaga sector in Bwindi impenetrable national park where gorilla habituation takes place, this is where you will drive from Kampala city through Masaka, Mbarara, Kabale and then connecting to the Rushaga park headquarters which takes about 8 to 9 hours’ drive. Alternatively, when you want to go to Rushaga sector in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for gorilla habituation you can also use public means of transport where you will board a bus from Kampala to Kabale and then hire a private vehicle to the Rushaga.

 If you are coming from Rwanda, Rushaga sector can be well accessed from Kigali where you will fly to Kigali International Airport and then connect to the sector by road which takes about 3 to 4hours drive. This is however the best alternative to use in all as this will save you from the long drive distance of Kampala to Rushaga sector which takes you 8 to 9 hours’ drive.

Gorilla habituation process in Rushaga sector Bwindi Impenetrable National Park will offer you the long-lasting safari memories in your entire life where you will have the opportunity to be in the presence of the gorillas for longer hours on a Uganda safari.

Contact our team of experts for more information.