Where to go for gorilla trekking
Where to go for gorilla trekking highly depends on budget, time, travel style among other factors. Gorilla Trekking is a once-in-a-lifetime journey to see the incredible apes of central Africa’s rainforests. Safari goers that have done this activity highly rate it. Many that say no other wildlife encounter compares with getting face-to-face time with the mountain gorillas. There are 4 main places to go gorilla trekking as below.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Bwindi Forest is a world heritage site and lies in south western Uganda on the border of Congo. This forest is home to more than half of the world’s mountain gorillas. It is divided into four sectors; Ruhija, Buhoma, Nkuringo and Rushaga. You should know which sector your gorilla permit indicates so as to not miss out on this wonderful adventure. Tourists normally travel to the respective sectors just a day before their gorilla trekking experience. The gorilla experince has always been a high for Uganda safari goers.
Mgahinga Gorilla Park.
This park also lies in South Western Uganda in the Virunga mountains. The Virunga mountains/volcanoes are in the center of three countries. These are; Uganda, Rwanda and Congo. Mgahinga gorilla park has more to offer such as golden monkey trekking, bird watching, Batwa cultural experience. You can also hike the three volcanoes, I.e. Gahinga, Sabinyo and Muhabura.
Volcanoes National park
This is Rwanda’s ultimate gorilla destination. It is just 2 hours drive from Kigali airport thus making it ideal for short trips. This is where Dian Fossey did her amazing work about protecting mountain gorillas. The high price tag of the gorilla permit in Rwanda makes it a destination for high end travelers. A USD 1500 per person gorilla permit attracts high end lodges in the area and hence high end tourists. Worry not, Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is just 4 hours drive away. So you can easily fly into Rwanda and trek gorillas in Uganda. In order to do this, it is advisable to secure an East African Tourist Visa which gives you multiple entries to member countries for a period of 90 days.
Virunga National Park
The other destination to trek mountain gorillas is Virunga National Park. It is in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This park has the cheapest gorilla permits. Permits go for USD 400 Per person. This is way lower than Uganda and Rwanda’s permits which cost USD 700 and USD 1500 respectively. However, the insecurity in Congo has discouraged many travelers from trekking gorillas this side.
Mountain gorillas cannot survive outside their natural habitat. Certainly not in any zoo. This simply means that all gorillas you see in zoos are not mountain gorillas but lowland gorillas.