Where To See And Support Mountain Gorillas In Uganda
July 15, 2021
Where To See And Support Mountain Gorillas In Uganda
Are you looking for where to see and support mountain gorillas in Uganda? The last remaining mountain gorillas, a little above 1060 individuals, live in the mountainous rainforests of central Africa. Uganda protects more than half the gorillas and offers excellent gorilla trekking excursions to see mountain gorillas in their natural habitat.
Mountain gorillas roam in a network of protected reserves crossing Uganda, Rwanda, and the DRC. The three countries’ governments, collaborating with various international conservation programs, are like marshals conserving the gorilla habitats and protecting the mountain gorillas who depend on them.
The primates highly depend on conservation programs financed by tourism revenue to flourish within their territories. Therefore, mountain gorillas’ continued survival depends on tourists’ support for gorilla tourism by mainly going to see them in their natural habitat.
Where To See Mountain Gorillas in Uganda
Uganda’s southwestern mountainous region is the only place to see mountain gorillas on safari in the country. You can tell from their name that they live high in the mountains, at 2400 to 3900-meter elevations, where temperatures often drop below freezing.
Rich rainforest occurs at these high altitudes supporting a healthy number of plants and fruits that support the survival of gorilla troops in these harsh temperatures. Tourists come to Uganda to see the mountain gorillas and drive 10 hours from the international airport into the mountainous terrain, usually in deep, steep-sided valleys and gorges.
Uganda Wildlife Authority conserves two mountain gorilla populations; one found in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and another found in the Virunga Volcanoes. The Virunga conservation site straddles the three countries’ borders, and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park forms the Ugandan portion of the site.
Tourists can see mountain gorillas in the famous Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which protects almost half of the world’s gorilla population, and in the lesser-known Mgahinga National Park. Both provide excellent gorilla viewing excursions, but Bwindi offers better accommodation facilities for the gorilla safari in Uganda.
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
Sitting on the southwestern border with DRC (in the west) and Rwanda (in the south), Mgahinga National Park is Uganda’s conservation side of the Virunga Mountains shared between the three countries.
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is the smallest of all Uganda’s national parks yet fortunate to host the precious endangered mountain gorillas. As part of the Virungas, Mgahinga shares approximately 700 mountain gorillas roaming between Virunga National Park of the DRC, Volcanoes National Park of Rwanda, and itself.
Out of all the gorilla troops protected within Magahinga park, only one is habituated and available for tourism. Tourists can buy one of the eight available permits each day to see the mountain gorillas.
The main attraction in Mgahinga National Park is Nyakagezi Gorilla Family—the only habituated gorilla group in the 34 square kilometer gorilla sanctuary. Daily gorilla trekking excursions head out from the park headquarters to see the mountain gorillas in a group of eight tourists escorted by two armed rangers and an expert guide.
Even though the park is hugely famous for gorillas, Mgahinga National Park is the only park in Uganda to see the golden monkeys—a great supplement to gorilla trekking when you have an extra day to spare. A habituated golden monkey family of about 30 individuals lives in Mgahinga’s bamboo forest and is available for tourism.
From the Mgahinga trailhead at the foot of the mountain park, visitors can also hike three dramatic dormant volcanoes that straddle the park’s boundaries. The most challenging is Muhavura’s peak, with a small crater lake at 4,157 meters elevation and the park’s highest point. Mount Sabinyo peak, the oldest of the Virunga range, sits at 3,669 m, and Gahinga peak, the smallest of these three at 3,474 meters, lies between Muhabura and Sabyinyo. These three attract many tourists that want to combine gorilla trekking with mountain climbing in Uganda.
The area around the summit itself is characterized by wort, bamboo, and dwarf shrub heath vegetation, contrasting heavily with the dense rainforest of the lower slopes. Nature walks around Mgahinga after seeing the mountain gorillas can be highly rewarding, as can the 115 recorded bird species in the area.
The best accommodation to see mountain gorillas in Mgahinga is at the luxury Gahinga Lodge, which is a bit pricy for a budget traveler. However, just an hour’s drive from Kisoro Town can provide a wide option of accommodation choices for a gorilla safari.
Mgahinga National Park is not a popular choice among gorilla trekkers, especially if gorilla permits in the famous Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, about three hours drive from Mgahinga, are still available. Bwindi is more developed and promises better accommodation facilities for seeing mountain gorillas than Mgahinga. However, Mgahinga promises more privacy with small tourist crowds to bump into.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Bwindi is a 331 sq km primeval rainforest at the edge of the Albertine Rift, protecting about half of the world’s mountain gorillas. Bwindi is the most popular park to see mountain gorillas in Uganda and has 19 habituated gorilla families available for tourism.
Tourists can see mountain gorillas in four sectors spread in the four corners of the park’s boundaries.
Buhoma Sector
In the north of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is Buhoma Sector, with four gorilla groups available for trekking. Buhoma sector is trendy on budget gorilla safaris for its wide selection of budget lodges and camps spread along the main entrance to the park.
Buhoma has a good selection of accommodation choices where tourists can base to see the mountain gorillas and connects well with Queen Elizabeth National Park for wildlife safaris. One can also connect to Buhoma Sector via Kihihi Airstrip, located up north of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and below Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Nkuringo Sector
Nkuringo Sector sits at the southern boundary of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, at Nteko Ridge, with three gorilla families available for trekking. Nkuringo is famous for its entertaining gorilla families, and it’s the home of the fallen Rafiki Silverback—gorilla killed during COVID-19 lockdown of 2020.
Hiking between Buhoma and Nkuringo Sectors is very popular with trekkers after or before seeing the mountain gorillas in either section. Nkuringo is also very popular with luxury trekkers that want to see gorillas in Rushaga, which has very few high-end lodging properties and is about an hour’s drive from Nkuringo.
One can access Nkuringo via Kisoro Airstrip (3 hours drive to Nkuringo) or by taking the 10-hour drive from Entebbe via Kisoro Town.
Rushaga Sector
On the southeastern border is Rushaga Sector, with eight gorilla groups available for trekking—more than any other Bwindi sector. Rushaga is popular for its high number of habituated gorillas and exclusive availability of the Habituation Experience: the Habituation Experience allows trekkers to spend more hours (four hours) with a gorilla family that is still under habituation process.
Rushaga offers great forest camping and birding opportunities than the other sectors. Rushaga also easily connects to Rwanda for a flight through Kigali, a shorter route (four hours) if you have an East African Visa than the 10-hour drive from Entebbe International Airport.
Trekkers can access Rushaga via Kisoro Airstrip (3 hours drive to Nkuringo) or by taking the 10-hour drive from Entebbe via Kisoro Town.
Ruhija Sector
Ruhija Sector is one of the lesser popular sections of Bwindi, with four gorilla groups available for trekking and a meager selection of accommodation facilities. However, Ruhija has favorable access routes between Buhoma and Kabale, although on unpaved dirt roads.
Ruhija is very popular with budget trekkers with a favorable section of where to stay around the sector.
Which of the four sectors of Bwindi is great for seeing mountain gorillas?
Well, that depends on which one will have trekking permits available for your selected date of travel and your choice of accommodation. All the sectors offer the same gorilla trekking experience for the same price of a permit ($800 per person), except Rushaga Sector, the only one to offer the Habituation Experience for a permit price of $1,500 per person.
How To Support Mountain Gorillas Conservation In Uganda
The main threat to mountain gorilla conservation is habitat loss and poaching. Park boundaries are heavily populated with human settlements leaving a thin buffer boundary between villages and the gorilla sanctuaries. The villagers heavily depend on gorilla tourism and farming on the slopes of the highlands.
Gorilla tourism in Uganda has recently gained attention, bringing so many tourists to see mountain gorillas. Tourists can get involved in many programs available to give back to these communities when they visit.
One of the most popular programs is hiring a porter. Porters are young individuals who come from the surrounding communities to help tourists navigate the treacherous gorilla trekking terrain. Some of them are reformed porches. Hiring a porter is like taking these young men off the poaching list and giving directly to their communities.
Community-led cultural initiatives, like Batwa Cultural Tours, contribute directly to the surrounding communities. The Batwa tribe used to occupy the jungles before they were ousted to conserve the sanctuary for wildlife. Although they get help from the governments, they still look to the jungles for a living. Leaving a dollar to their cultural initiatives is a great step in preserving the natural forests where gorillas flourish.
Reach out to international organizations like Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS, wcs.org), The International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP, igcp.org), and The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (gorillafund.org) to find out how you can volunteers and help. These organizations lead the world in protecting and studying gorillas while helping communities build their conservation capabilities.
How To See Mountain Gorillas in Uganda
Book a gorilla safari with Encounter Africa Safari. Choose one of our trips below, send us a message with your selected dates, and we’ll process your gorilla permit, accommodation, and transportation.
Encounter Africa has operated successful Uganda safaris to see mountain gorillas since 3003 and would like to do the same for you. We have the reviews to show and the expertise to help you put together a memorable trip to Africa.
Send us an email at info@gorilla-tracking-uganda.com now, and our gorilla trekking consultants will reach out to you with relevant recommendations.
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