Gorilla trekking is a wildlife activity which involves hiking through dense forests in search of the rare endangered mountain gorilla species. This activity involves walking through the steep hills, dense forests and rivers before you can encounter these gentle giants.
Gorilla trekking is one of the most sought-after tourist activities in the whole of Africa. Gorilla trekking can only be done in three countries in the whole world and these include Uganda, Rwanda and the democratic republic of Congo. This guide will give you a proper InSite of how gorilla trekking as an activity is conducted in both Uganda and Rwanda. It will help those planning on going to these countries for a gorilla trekking safari in east central Africa.
Gorilla trekking is an all-year-round activity and it can be conducted around any desirable month of the year in any of the above three mentioned countries. Gorilla trekking is done in four national parks in east central Africa and these include volcanoes national park of Rwanda, Maghinga and Bwindi gorilla parks of Uganda and in Virunga national park of Congo. Three of these parks are found on the large Virunga massif that is shared by these three countries. The gorillas are well habituated and used to human presence around them.
Gorilla trekking starts with booking a special permit which is charged differently in the mentioned countries but this is based on the country’s taxation, through the special permits a tourist is granted the opportunity to catch glimpse of these gentle giants. It is very important for a tourist to booking a gorilla trekking permit early enough before his travel because gorilla permits get sold out first because of their big demand on the tourism market.
Once a gorilla permit is secured in Uganda or Rwanda a tourist can then rest assured to enjoy the amazing adventure that awaits them deep in to the forest interior where gorilla families are ready to make them marvel. On a given trekking date , very early in the morning tourists leave there accommodation facility to embark on this tiresome but rewarding hike in the forest. At around 7:00 your supposed to head for a briefing at the park headquarters. At the park head quarters you are allocated to a gorilla family you are to trek as well as informed about the does and don’ts of your trek, in other wards giving you some knowledge on how to behave in the presence of the gorillas. Allocating you to which gorilla family to trek depends on your physical stamina, age and ability. Normally the park rangers or guides know the location of these gorilla families and this determines the length of your trek.
Tourists are advised to come with some parked lunch because you can not tell when the trek will end since the gorillas love to move in the forest interior in search of food. Once briefing is complete you will drive or walking to the starting point with your ranger guide and shall immediately start trekking to find the earths largest living primate. The exercise goes on like for a full hour until you can meet the gorillas in their natural habitat.
The scenery in the forest interior is ever green with huge tall trees which put up a stunning beautiful scenery, during the hike ensure to take plenty water since its easy to get dehydrated. When you get in range of your gorilla family, the ranger guide will not forget to give you some brief explanation about that family, their leader and very much more important information but your bags are left behind while you approach them. The moment the gorillas are found you are left for one full hour with them, you watch them play in the fruiting trees, breast feed, make their sleeping nests, mating or farting and they may munch on bamboo. All this experience is unique and you enjoy the whole experience.
You are still able to move with the gorillas when they are on a move and take good pictures of the gorillas, feel free to ask any questions about the gorillas and the rangers will answer any questions since they know each gorilla family, the names of each member and their personalities. Poters are very important during this exercise , for a small fee a poter can carry your back pack and help you get up and down the steep slopes when the going gets tough. There are a lot of youths ready aroung Bwindi and volcanao national park in Rwanda.