Uganda is among the best places for mountain gorilla trekking. The country is known for hosting the majority of the few remaining mountain gorillas in the world. Mountain Gorillas are among the endangered species but Uganda through the Uganda Wildlife Authority is fighting tooth and nail to preserve and protect Gorillas and their natural habitats.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Here are a few things to expect on a gorilla safari to Uganda:
Seven To Nine Hours Drive To The Gorilla Trekking Destination
Gorilla trekking in Uganda is done in two major locations. These are Bwindi impenetrable national park and Mgahing gorilla national park. These two parks are all located within a 7 to 9 hours drive from Entebbe international airport; the main international gateway into Uganda.
The transfer is often your first experience with the gorilla safari in Uganda. Sometimes, this long transfer is cut short by considering a one-day stop at Lake Mburo national park.
In order to reduce the driving distance, other travelers opt to connect to the gorilla national parks in Uganda through Kigali Rwanda. It is roughly four hour drive from Kigali international airport to the gorilla trekking parks.
Expect A 30 Minutes to An Hour Briefing
Briefing takes place from 7:45am – 8: 30am. During the briefing, trekkers are equipped with the Dos and Don’ts governing Mountain Gorilla Trekking. It is also during this briefing that you are often given the community history and the conservation success stories in that particular sector.
In some instances, there are cultural performance that are done before the gorilla trek.
Expect A Group Of 10 to 15 people to Trek
Officially, a maximum of eight tourists are allowed to spend a maximum of one hour with the mountain gorillas in any of the Uganda national parks. However, in total, you might be 12 people including the rangers.
In other instances, the group even goes beyond 15 people in case each tourist opts to have a porter or two. But unlike the tourist, the porters are not allowed to meet the gorillas. They remain a few meters behind before meeting the gorilla family.
However, what is important to note is, the gorilla trek does not always involve large groups beyond ten people apart from in the peak months of July, August, December, and January. In the none peak months, a gorilla family can be trekked by a maximum of 4 tourists. And if you do not hire the services of a porter, your gorilla trekking group will not exceed ten people.
It is also important to note that even in the peak months, there are also a few days that are underbooked thus having relatively a few people trekking on that given day.
Expect 3 to 5 hours of Trekking
In most cases; during your briefing, the rangers will ask you whether you are interested in a long trek or a short one. If the option of a short trek is available for that day, you can expect to walk for about one hour to meet the gorillas, then spend one hour with the gorilla then return to the park offices.
In the case of the long gorilla treks, you are likely to walk for two hours. Then spend one hour with the mountain gorillas before setting off to return to the park offices on another journey that is likely to take two hours.
It is not quite common for a gorilla safari to go beyond six hours. The longest trek may take a full day and this is partly because the mountain gorillas are always on the move. But part of this problem is solved by simply beginning your trek early enough by following the direction of the trackers who go a few hours earlier to find the gorillas.
Expect To Tip Rangers During Or After The Trek
There are two groups of rangers that are involved in your gorilla safari. The ones that walk alongside you during the trek. Actually these do not know where the mountain gorillas are. And those who found or are tracking the gorillas while updating the your tour guides.
Once you meet the gorillas, you are expected to tip the rangers who tracked the gorillas for you. These are left behind once your one hour with the mountain gorillas elapses. You will not see them again.
The other group of ranger can be tipped once you return to the park offices
Expect To Get A Gorilla Trekking Certificate
At the end of your gorilla trek, Uganda wildlife Authority issues you a gorilla trekking certificate appreciating your conservation effort towards the mountain gorillas.
The above are the major things to expect on your gorilla safari to Uganda. You can contact your tour operator to help you plan accordingly in order to address some of the challenges such as the long transfer of Entebbe to the gorilla trekking locations.