Gorilla trekking in Uganda from Kigali
Gorilla trekking in Uganda from Kigali
Did you know that Uganda offers the best gorilla trekking experience among the three east African safaris with gorillas? Gorilla trekking in Uganda from Kigali
Uganda is an East African country bordered by countries of Kenya in the East, Tanzania and Rwanda in the South, Democratic Republic of Congo in the west and South Sudan in the North thus making it a landlocked country.
Uganda is a country of wonders with a lot of attractions including ten national parks, lakes and rivers, mountains and over 56 unique cultures all these attractions led to it being named the pearl of Africa by Winston Churchill in 1907 as He described Uganda as a country with endless landscapes, different vegetation and at the end, there is a new world.
Most travelers visit Uganda to explore and look at the lifestyle of the people and wildlife, especially the gorillas, Gorillas are great apes with developed brains but no tail and they are of two types; the mountain gorillas and lowland gorillas.
Take part in mountain gorilla trekking from Uganda in the national parks of Bwindi and Mgahinga which host half of the remaining population of mountain gorillas in the whole world. Though mountain gorillas can also be trekked from Rwanda to Volcanoes National Park and Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Mountain gorilla trekking starts with habituation which is a period when the mountain gorillas are trained to get used to human presence and then open to visitors to trek. While trekking gorillas, you will be allowed to trek only one gorilla family which is normally made up of 10 -40 members with one dominant male which is a silver back that leads them and its role is to take care of the other family members.
You are only allowed to spend one hour in their presence as you watch them playing with each other especially the children, grooming, communicating, and making tools that they use to hunt for honey or small insects from the ground and many more behaviors which are similar to those of human beings since they share 98% of their DNA.
In Uganda, you cannot trek the mountain gorillas without a gorilla permit which is a card that allows you to take part in the gorilla trekking while in the Park and can be got from the Park headquarters on that trekking day or you can book your gorilla permit through a tour company a month back for better preparations.
You can access these two gorilla destinations in Uganda from Kigali simply because Bwindi and Mgahinga National Parks are closer to Kigali in Rwanda than Kampala in Uganda and it only takes 3-4 hours to travel from Kigali to Bwindi in Uganda through the Katuna border. It will take you 9 hours to drive from Kampala to Bwindi impenetrable national Park which becomes a long journey and that’s why most visitors who come to trek the mountain gorillas in Uganda opt to pass through Rwanda to reduce the longevity of the journey.
Another reason why visitors prefer trekking gorillas in Uganda from Kigali to trekking them from Kampala is that you can save money on transport and accommodation because you can travel from Kigali in one day, come to Uganda for trekking and go back on that same day depart back to your home country the next day.
Uganda has a tropical type of climate with two seasons, including rainy season and sunny season and among these two seasons, the dry season becomes the best for travelers to take part in a gorilla trekking adventure since that’s when the trails in the forests are accessible and vegetation is short for a clear view. The dry season runs from June to September then December to February.
You can also opt to visit the mountain gorillas in the rainy season from March to May and October to November when the lodges have discounted and the gorilla permits are not competitive, though it may not be interesting like the one done in the sunny season because Bwindi will become thicker and trails slippery.
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