Why you should make gorilla trekking the last activity on your Uganda or Rwanda safari
Why you should make gorilla trekking the last activity on your Uganda or Rwanda safari
Going gorilla trekking in Africa, either Uganda or Rwanda, is a dream come true holiday. You may decide to arrange your gorilla tracking safari itinerary according to your wish but with the help of a professionals safari consultant, you can tailor the best itinerary that fits in your holiday timing.
Most Popular Safaris
3 day chimp habituation in Kibale
3 day fly in gorilla habituation
5 days chimp and gorilla habituation
3 days Rwanda gorilla tracking
4 days gorillas and golden monkeys
5 day Uganda gorillas and wildlife
5 day gorilla habituation and chimps
5 days gorillas and game safari
5 days gorilla trekking Rwanda
You may do gorilla trekking either at the start or end of your Uganda safari holiday according to the following of your itinerary, but the most preferred by many is at the end of the safari. This arrangement aims at making you enjoy your gorilla trekking safari with no worries about proceeding for a long journey.
In Rwanda gorilla trekking is done in Volcanoes National park which is one of the tree homes of the only mountain gorillas in the world. At the moment, Rwanda has 12 mountain gorillas families open for tourism. Some of them include Karisimbi family, Amahoro family, Susa family, Sabyinyo family and others
Uganda’s gorilla families live in Bwindi Impenetrable national park and Mgahinga National Park, At the moment about 19 gorilla families are open for tourism purposes with two others used for gorilla habituation adventure.
To make an African safari inclusive of Gorilla trekking, it is best to place the gorilla trekking tour at the end because of the below.
Highlights
- Gorilla trekking is tiring
- It is an exciting experience
- In case you have to alter your itinerary because there are no permits for your preferred date.
- The location of Gorilla Trekking Destinations
- Can easily cross from Uganda to Rwanda after gorilla trekking
Gorilla trekking is tiring
By doing gorilla trekking, you may get tired from the search to locate the mountain gorillas. If you need to proceed to another destination, you may be too tired to carry on.
The nature of the mountain gorilla destinations is ragged, with lots of highlands that result from the volcanic action in this area.
In parks like Volcanoes National park Rwanda, there are highlands where the mountain gorillas love feeding or lounging. This park has mountains Karisimbi, mountain Gahinga, Mountain Bisoke, Mountain Sabyinyo and mountain Muhabura. Also Mgahinga National Park is located on the southern slopes of three mountains that is Mountain Sabyinyo, Mountain Muhavura and Mountain Gahinga.
All these highlands are often visited by these mountain gorillas, so in case you’re booked to trek with mountain gorilla families close to them, you need to have some level of fitness to prepare for this. After the trek, you may get too tired to continue with another activity even the next day. This is one reason you need to use the last segment of your safari itinerary for gorilla trekking.
It is an exciting experience
Gorilla trekking is one of the highlights of any African safari. You save the best for the last by taking gorilla trekking last. The moments you take before the mountain gorillas is cryptic. It is a magical moment knowing that you are standing just a few meters from the only left over mountain gorillas in the world.
This exciting moment may not be felt with other African safari destinations. Most people who watch films or animations about mountain gorillas, they are portrayed as aggressive, but getting to actually meet them and realize how serene and shy they are, is exceptional. You can set exciting gorilla trekking as your last destination before returning home.
In case you have to alter your itinerary because there are no permits for your preferred date.
When you select the date when you wish to do gorilla trekking in Uganda or Rwanda and then enquire from Encounter Africa Safari, we check for availability from Uganda wildlife Authority or Rwanda Development Board listing.
If this date has no availability, an alternative would be to alter the itinerary selected to soot the date with gorilla trekking permits. In case it is at the end, then we work with your help to plan your gorilla trekking adventure for the end of the safari
The location of Gorilla Trekking Destinations
The position of Both Bwindi Impenetrable national park and Mgahinga National park place them in the southwestern part of Uganda after all other parks located in the western part of Uganda. Some of the parks located in the western part of Uganda include Lake Mburo National Park, Kibale National park, Semuliki National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park. All these come before the two Uganda gorilla trekking destinations.
These national parks can act as journey stopovers for the long drive to Bwindi or Mgahinga National Park which are about 8 hours to 9 hours from Entebbe Airport or Kampala City. The distance from Entebbe Airport or Kampala city is about 530 kilometers from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and about 540 kilometers from Mgahinga National Park.
In Rwanda, Volcanoes National Park, Volcanoes National park is in the Northwestern Part which is about 3 hours from the Kigali Airport so you can do gorilla trekking last and proceed to the Airport later if you wish instead of driving from Nyungwe National Park chimpanzee habitat, which is about 5 hours from Kigali Airport.
Can easily cross from Uganda to Rwanda after gorilla trekking
In case you take a Uganda safari through Rwanda, it is best to conclude with gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga National Park. You may do the game drives in Uganda at Murchison Falls National park, or Queen Elizabeth National park or chimpanzee trekking in Kibale National park and conclude with gorilla trekking.
The drive from the Gorilla trekking destination in Uganda to Kigali Airport is about 6 hour to 7 hours excluding border crossing procedures.
How Much Is A Gorilla Trekking Safari In Uganda or Rwanda
The cost of the gorilla permits is the central cost-cutting across all budgets luxury, midrange, or modest plans.
In Rwanda, the gorilla permit costs are currently $1500 per person per trek
Uganda gorilla permit currently costs $700 per person per trek
Other factors that make up the gorilla trekking safari for Uganda or Rwanda include;
The timing for Booking The Gorilla Trekking Safari
When you book your gorilla safari in the peak season, the demand for other services is high. This high cost is because of the high demand for services elsewhere. This is also the peak safari season in Uganda and Rwanda.
When you book in the low season that is March to May or November, you have high chances of getting discounted prices from service providers like accommodation, vehicle hire and others.
The Number of Paying people going for Gorilla Trekking
The more people paying for the gorilla trekking safari, the lower the per person cost. This is because you get to share some costs like on vehicle hire, gas, driver guide fees and others. As a solo tourist on gorilla trekking safari, you cover all safari expenses alone.
The number of Days on Gorilla trekking safari
The more days you take on your Uganda safari or Rwanda safari, the higher the gross cost. This is because most service providers charge per days costs. As this is why the gross cost may be high.
The budget Plan you choose for your Uganda safari Or Rwanda safari
The Rwanda gorilla safari or Uganda gorilla tours are packaged according to Luxury, Mid-range or Budget. The more inclusions a package has the higher the cost and the more exclusions, the less the cost.
The Additional activities Combined with Gorilla Trekking
When you combine gorilla trekking with others activities like game drives, chimpanzee trekking, birding, white waters rafting , mountaineering and others, the higher the safari cost. All these activities are charged individually according to the bodies governing there operation.
What Not To Do During Gorilla Trekking Safari
- Do not spit on vegetation or soil because its food for the mountain gorillas. You may pass an infection to the mountain gorillas.
- In case you catch an infectious disease like cough, flu, cholera, volunteer to stay behind so that you do not pass this infection to the mountain gorillas that are highly susceptible to these infections. They have a DNA of about 96% to that of humans.
- Damping garbage in the wilderness is forbidden because you may alter the nature of the forest where the mountain gorillas pick food. They are vegetarian in nature so if there food doesn’t grow they may never have enough to support there sheer bodies through day and night.
- Do not cough or sneeze in the open because you may spread germs to the mountain gorillas. These infectious diseases may cause massive death of the mountain gorillas. To prevent such occurrences, cough or sneeze in a handkerchief or elbow away from the mountain gorillas.
- A child below age 15years is not allowed to do gorilla trekking because the time you may take top locate the mountain gorillas is not known. The nature of the terrain is at times slippery which requires you to have some level of fitness. A child below this age may not have this capability.
- Do not eat or smoke in 200 meters from the mountain gorillas because you may cause them to grab the eats from you. The mountain gorillas are wild animals that must search for there own food. Wild animals must not depend in humans for survival but nature.
- Do not use flash photography to take photos of the mountain gorillas because they are usually scared of unfamiliar occurrences in there presence.
- Never leave fecal material uncovered beyond recognition because the forest dwellers and mountain gorillas may exhume it and may get germs from them.
- Do not spit on vegetation as this is the only food for the mountain gorillas there entire life. You do not need to contaminate even the ground. The mountain gorillas are naturally vegetarian that feed on foliage for survival.
- Keep a distance of about 8 meters from the mountain gorillas so as to prevent them from acquiring any communicable infection that you may have.
- Stay with the mountain gorillas for just one hours. They are habituated to be in the presence of humans for just that time afterwards they can be left alone to carry on with there day today activities.
Which Country Is Best For Gorilla Trekking Safari
By taking a gorilla trekking safari to both Uganda and Rwanda, you can easily get the difference of where to do gorilla.
However, the moment you stand before the mountain gorillas are chilling, just know that you are before the only leftover mountain gorillas in the world. You may also forget the hurdles you may have gone through to prepare or on the way to do gorilla trekking.
The difference between Uganda and Rwanda gorilla trekking may be felt with;
The cost of a Rwanda gorilla permit is $1500 per person per trek, while the Uganda gorilla permit costs $700 per person per trek.
The amount of time taken to get to Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda from Kigali Airport is about 3 hours, while the time taken to get to the gorilla trekking destinations in Uganda that is Bwindi and Mgahinga National Park is about 8 hours to 9 hours.
Uganda has about 19 gorilla families open for tourism, while Rwanda has about 12 gorilla families open for tourism.
It is possible to do gorilla trekking in Uganda through Rwanda, which is about 6 hours to 7 hours drive, while the drive time from Entebbe Airport to Volcanoes National Park may take over 12 hours
The briefing point for Rwanda gorilla trekking is well-structured compared to the Uganda side.
Choices of other activities to combine with gorilla trekking are more available in Uganda where there activities like visit source of river Nile, chimpanzee trekking, birding, game drives, launch trips, white water rafting and others. Rwanda has more limited options to combine with gorilla trekking which include chimpanzee trekking, Kigali city tour, game drives, cultural tours and others.
Contact us for more information.
