Safest Place to see gorillas in Africa
Safest Place to see gorillas in Africa, Is mountain gorilla trekking one of the activities on your bucket list? If yes then expect to take on an African safari either to Uganda, Rwanda, or the Democratic Republic of Congo. You can also opt to take on two of the countries at ago so that you can compare your mountain gorilla trekking experiences in two different countries.
The mountain gorillas of Africa are mainly found within the Virunga Conservation Area in Uganda’s Mgahinga national park, Rwanda’s Volcanoes national park, and DRC’s Virunga national park. Other than these areas, mountain gorillas can also be visited in the impenetrable forests of Bwindi national park.
Generally, all the gorilla national parks are well protected by the government of the different countries so as to both protect the gorillas from extinction as well as for the safety of the tourists.
Safest Place to see gorillas in Africa, This is done by employing game rangers to enforce the gorilla conservation laws and protect the gorillas from poachers and deploying the army around the national parks and at the borders to flush out any rebel attack occurrences.
Due to the political instabilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Virunga national park is closed for gorilla trekking at the moment thus leaving Uganda and Rwanda as the two gorilla trekking destinations to choose from. Both Rwanda and Uganda are safe for gorilla trekking at any time of the year however, the safest destination to see gorillas is Uganda that is; in either Bwindi Impenetrable national park or Mgahinga gorilla national park.
Bwindi Impenetrable national park
Safest Place to see gorillas in Africa, Bwindi Impenetrable national park is located in southwestern Uganda on the eastern rim of the Rift Valley. Just like the name Bwindi that means darkness, this national park is a mist-covered biologically diverse rainforest with a variety of plant species and covers the hillsides of the Kigezi highlands. Bwindi impenetrable national park is famous for being home to almost half the total population of the endangered mountain gorillas of Africa. These mountain gorilla groups are habituated and can be visited in the different sectors of Bwindi which are; Ruhija, Rushaga, Nkuringo, and Buhoma. The Rushaga sector also offers gorilla habituation whereby tourists get to take part in this 4-hour activity of getting the mountain gorillas used to human presence in preparation for gorilla trekking.
Mgahinga national park
Despite being a safe place for gorilla trekking, Bwindi is an impenetrable rainforest therefore the trek will involve hiking this magnificent forest while making your way through the thick bushes in search of these gentle creatures. One therefore needs to be realistically physically fit to take on this adventure more so if the treks are long.
Besides the mountain gorillas, Bwindi impenetrable national park is also home to about 350 bird species, 200 butterfly species, a number of wildlife species such as antelopes as well as 120 mammals such as the black and white colobus monkeys, baboons and these can be spotted during the trek.
Also famously referred to as “where silver meets gold”, Mgahinga national park is the smallest national park in Uganda covering an area of about 33.9km and is located in southwestern Uganda. This national park is one of the parks in the Virunga conservation areas that are home to the endangered mountain gorillas of Africa.
The name Mgahinga comes from a Kinyarwanda word Gahinga that means small lava stones and these stones can commonly be seen in this area. Being at a high altitude, the mountain gorillas in Mgahinga national park develop more fuzzy coats compared to those in Bwindi Impenetrable national park. Mgahinga national park has only one gorilla family, the Nyakagezi gorilla family with about 10 mountain gorillas and it can be trekked by a maximum of 8 individuals per day throughout the year
Safest Place to see gorillas in Africa, This national park shares a border with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda all together forming the Virunga Conservation Area. Since its part of this area, Mgahinga national park is also home to the beautiful golden monkeys which are endemic to this region.
A gorilla safari to Mgahinga national park can be combined with other activities such as hiking, guided nature walks, cultural encounters, visiting the Batwa community, bird watching, climbing the Volcanoes such as mount Gahinga, mount Muhabura, mount Gahinga, mount Sabinyo, among others.
Gorilla trekking in Uganda is open throughout the year to individuals from the age of 15 years and above in both Bwindi Impenetrable national park and Mgahinga national park. A gorilla permit to Uganda costs 800 USD per person for foreign non-residents, 700 USD per person for foreign residents, and 300,000 ugx per person for East African citizens.
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