Tips When Planning a Gorilla Trekking Safari

Overview

Tips When Planning a Gorilla Trekking Safari. As you Plan for a gorilla safari to Volcanoes National Park Rwanda, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Mgahinga National in Uganda Park and Virunga National Park in D.R.Congo, purchase the gorilla permits first. Some beat of doubt about who to trust with and when to plan the gorilla safari. Below are some guidelines you can follow when planning the gorilla tour in Uganda, Rwanda or D.R.Congo.

Choose to Do Gorilla trekking or gorilla Gorilla Habituation Experience.

Make a choice to do Gorilla trekking on Rwanda, Uganda or D.R.Congo or gorilla habituation experience in Uganda. During gorilla trekking maximum 8 tourists are allowed to spend one hour with a full habituation gorilla family. For gorilla habituation experience which is currently happening in Uganda, maximum four tourists accompany a team of researchers to have four hours with a semi-habituated gorilla family.

Plan for the gorilla safari in advance.

Whether destined to do gorilla habituation experience or Gorilla trekking in Uganda, Rwanda or D.R.Congo advance planning is necessary. The demand for gorilla safaris over the years has become increasingly high knowing that the mountain gorillas are the only ones there is in the world. Note that gorilla safaris are on the top tire of the best tourist activities in Africa. For better and memorable African safari experience, you need to plan it in advance. It is safer to start planning at least six months in advance to even make other necessary reservations.

Choose which country to do a Gorilla safari from.

Rwanda or Uganda or D.R.Congo are the only mountain gorilla homes in the world so you need to choose where to go. Alternatively, there are chances of choosing to do gorilla tours in atleast two of these countries especiallyif you want to find the difference. To cross from Rwanda gorilla trekking into Uganda may take about 5 to 6 hours drive including border crossing.

Note that the insecurity in DR. Congo is still a barriers to gorilla trekking safaris in this country. even the conservation and habitaution of the gorilla families of Virunga National Park is still a hindrance. For gorilla safaris in Uganda Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park are the only destinations to go to. Volcanoes National Park stands out as the only habitat for mountain gorillas in Rwanda. Uganda, at the moment has about 20 gorilla families open to the public with Mgahinga forest having one gorilla family called Nyakagezi.

Currently Bwindi forest has about 19 gorilla families living four areas of the park that is Buhoma in the north, Ruhija in the East, Nkuringo and Rushaga in the southern part. When reserving the gorilla trekking permits for Bwindi, they are booked according to these four areas. Rwanda currently has 12 gorilla trekking families open to the public

There are chances to do gorilla safaris in Rwanda and Uganda but donot forget to clear all necessary formalities. At Encounter Africa safaris, we can assist with you with information about  gorilla safaris in Uganda and Rwanda which we have mastered in over 10 years of our existence. We have a team of professional safari consultants who have been in operation for almost the same time as our existence.

Booking The gorilla permit

The only confirmation of a gorilla safari whether in Uganda, Rwanda or D.R.Congo is the permit. Choose a date, the people travelling with before finding availability of the gorilla permits. You must have a gorilla permit for the date of your choice before travelling to the national park in either Rwanda or Uganda. The gorilla permit is what you present as a ticket to the ranger guide for verification donot forget the personal documents as these are checked for confirmation before the mountain gorilla search. You can also contact a reliable Uganda tour operator to get you a gorilla permit.

At Encounter Africa Safaris, we can assist lift off your shoulder the burden of having to search for the funds and the gorilla permits of Uganda and Rwanda. We are ground handlers who can assist with finding the appropriate gorilla permits on behalf of our clients and other arrangements. Contact our safari consults for more information. We are a registered safari company with Uganda Registrations    servive Bureau. We are part of the Association of Uganda tour operators (AUTO) an umbrella body that units safari companies in Uganda. When we find gorilla permit availability, we advise our clients to book the permit in the shorted time possible because there status changes any time without warning.

Note that no gorilla permit in Uganda or Rwanda is reserved without payment yet first come first served basis is used. Rwanda gorilla permits are  sold and regulated by Rwanda development Board while in Uganda, the Uganda Wildlife Authority. The demand for gorilla permits especially high season gorilla permits gets high in the peak season leaving no room for last minute bookings. To save yourself from shortage of gorilla permits, plan up front..

Forward some personal details to be added to the gorilla permit including full names as presented on the passport, Nationality, date of birth and others.

In Uganda especially Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, the area where the gorilla permit is booked will determine where the accommodation to use during gorilla safari is reserved. This is because spending the night before the gorilla trek or habituation experience in another area away from where the permit is booked interferes with the time of reaching the briefing point. From one area of gorilla trekking in Bwindi to another, there are several obstacles.  

Going on a gorilla trek necessitates reporting to the ranger station for briefing where rules of this adventure are communicated and other necessary details. After briefing, tourists are allocated gorilla families to trek but the criteria used is hard to determine. It is also quite challenging to determine the best gorilla family to trek in Uganda or Rwanda. This is because every gorilla family has unique traits and even finding the gorillas depends on forest conditions.

Which are the gorilla safari areas of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda?

As mentioned earlier, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park has four administrative areas under which gorilla permits are booked. Bwindi forest was partitioned into four areas for better administrative purposes. The four areas of Bwindi forest include Buhoma, Ruhija, Nkuringo and Rushaga.

In Buhoma region which is located in the north of Bwindi forest is home to gorilla families such as Mubare, Rushegura and Habinyanja. The eastern part of Bwindi forest has Ruhija region with gorilla families such as Kyaguriro Oruzongo, Bitukura. The southern part of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park has Rushaga and Nkuringo areas.  A few of the gorilla families of Rushaga sector include Nshongi, Mishaya, Bweza, Busingye, Kahungwe, and others. For Nkuringo area, it has Nkuringo gorilla family. More gorilla families are expected in Bwindi forest as the habituation process is still happening.

Reserve Accommodation and Transport To Use During Gorilla Safari

Reserve accommodation to use during the gorilla safari because you need to spend the night before the gorilla safari within or closer to the gorilla safari destination. This enables you to report to the ranger station in time for all formalities to be performed. Accommodations for Bwindi forest are booked according to the area where the gorilla permit is booked.  When you decide on which side of Bwindi to trek.

Booking transport to and from the gorilla safari destinations is vital and needs to be done in advance before the best options run out. Road transport is the main means used to get to the gorilla safari destinations but you need a 4x4 wheel drive vehicle in good condition.

Air transport is also used to get to the gorilla safari destinations in Uganda or Rwanda. In Uganda, there are scheduled domestic flights to Bwindi and Mgahinga National park. Charter flights from Kajjansi airstrip or Entebbe are open for booking and these land in Kihihi or Kisoro. In Rwanda, charter flights from Akagera Aviation are open to book. Donot forget to reserve a transfer vehicle to the gorilla safari destination.

Have clues and respect gorilla safari rules and regulations.

The rules and regulations of gorilla safaris need to be treated with respect and carefully followed. The gorilla safari rules are in place to protect the highly endangered mountain gorillas and allow the progress of gorilla tours to go as planned. Mountain gorillas are very sensitive primates whose existence still needs to be carefully dealt with because of there vulnerability.

According to the last census, about 1000 mountain gorillas are living in the world a thumbs up to the conservations bodies but more needs to be done. In order to protect the mountain gorillas yet create chance for them to get accustomed to human presence, rule of gorilla safaris are in place.

Pack The Right Your Gorilla Trekking Gears.

When travelling for a gorilla safari, you need to pack the right gears that will help you traverse the forest with less difficulty. The Mountain gorillas in Uganda and Rwanda live steepy places that were affected by volcanic actions that ended in the formation of several landforms. Before travelling for the gorilla safari, carry the necessary gears that is long sleeved shirt and trousers, rainproof gears, garden gloves, safari hat and others.

Choose Convenient Time for the Gorillas Safari

As the plan to do the gorilla safari is taking momentum, choose safari time that is most convenient for you and you may ask for advise from a professional tour company that has stood a taste of time like Encounter Africa Safaris.

Even though gorilla safaris in Uganda, Rwanda and D. R.Congo are open all year, the best time for this adventure is the dry season. During this time, the mountain gorillas and other forest dwellers are full of life and there is visibility of inhabitants of the forests. The trails used by tourists to explore the forest are drier and rivers or streams network flows within normal course. The drier months are June, July, August, September, December, January and February. The wet season should not scare you to book a gorilla safari that is April, May and November because these primates can be spotted any time of the year.

Hire a Walking sticks and porters.

The gorilla trekking adventures in are challenging but fir extra support, hire a walking stick or porter to assist with carrying your bags. At this the ground gets sticky when the soil is logged with water from the streams and river that flow within the park so you may need extra support. 

What to expect on  gorilla trekking adventure

Gorilla trekking begins very early morning with briefing and presenting the necessary documents. Before proceeding to find the mountain gorillas, donot forget to carry the necessary gears and pack lunch because you are not sure of your return time.  Cross check with the contents is your backpack so that you donot forget the essential of gorilla trekking experience.  .

Request to hire some of the items you may have forgotten that are available for hire while at the ranger station. Takes breakfast earlier so that you can get to the ranger station in time for document verification. At times you have to drive to the briefing point or it is within walking distance from where your overnight accommodation is situated. Having some level of fitness is necessary during the gorilla trekking safaris so that you can withstand the challenges in the forest.

After briefing, you are allocated a gorilla family to trek but maximum eight people per gorilla family are given to each of the groups. With the company of a professional ranger guide, tourism police officer with a riffle you follow the trail leading where the mountain gorilla were last spotted.  The ranger guide follows the pace of the slowest trekker so that no one is forgotten in the wilderness.  .

During the search for the mountain gorillas in Bwindi you may come across other forest inhabitants including chimpanzees, black and white colobus, olive baboons, grey cheeked mangabey, blue monkey and others. Over 350 bird species have been recorded as members of Bwindi forest including about 6 species on the red list of IUCN.

Contact us for more information and bookings.