What to consider while booking a gorilla habituation experience in Uganda?
For travelers who are interested in spending more time with the endangered mountain gorillas of Bwindi impenetrable forest national park, there are a few things they have to consider while planning to book a gorilla habituation tour. The Uganda Wildlife Authority has introduced a gorilla habituation experience in 2014 for tourists who wish to spend more time with a mountain gorilla. This activity is carried out in the southern part of Bwindi Forest which is known as Rushaga sector. There are different gorilla families in the Rushaga sector which are habituated and already for tracking each day but when it comes to gorilla habituation, it has two gorilla families which are still undergoing the process of habituation every day so that they get familiar with the presence of human being and these groups are Bushaho gorilla family and Bikingi gorilla family. On your vacation plan a gorilla habituation experience in Uganda and enjoy one of the amazing experiences in the wild.
Gorilla Habituation Experience
On tour in Africa, go to Bwindi impenetrable forest national park of Uganda and one of the greatest safaris in the wild which is known as gorilla habituation experience. The habituation process is where a team of researchers, trekkers, and park rangers follow a group of mountain gorillas in order to make them familiar with the presence of humans in their natural habitats. The gorilla habituation process can take like 2-3 years to make gorillas used to humans and this process started, the park rangers, trekkers, and researchers have to follow that chosen gorilla group every day. Following a gorilla family help them to learn more about their behaviors and nest at the end of the day. After a gorilla group gets used with researchers, trekkers, and park rangers then every member in a group is given a name, and once they confirm that they can be visited they introduce a mock exercise whereby a small group of tourists including the park rangers and researchers to start trekking them.
What to consider while booking a gorilla habituation experience in Uganda?
If this gorilla group has done with the habituation process, then they will be put on the list of gorilla families visited every day. Only 4 travelers are accepted to do gorilla habituation experience per day. What to Consider while planning a gorilla habituation process is permits, you have to book your Permit in advance since there are two gorilla families used for this process and only 4 people are allowed to participate, which means there are only 8 permits every day. Another thing why you should book earlier is that many tourists are visiting Uganda to do this activity. After done with your gorilla habituation experience in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park, you will be given a certificate which appreciates you for completing the activity as well as contributing to protecting mountain gorillas.
In southwestern Uganda is where the impenetrable forest of Bwindi national park is found and also in the district of Kanungu and Kisoro on the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Bwindi forest is among the oldest rain tropical forests in Africa 25, 000 years ago. In 1991 is when the impenetrable forest of Bwindi was turned into a National Park and in 1994 it was declared as a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site. This amazing forest is a natural habitat to more than 350 bird species, 400 plant species, 300 species of trees which are more than 25000 years old, 120 mammal species, and among them are the primates including mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, baboons, antelopes, forest elephants, and others. In wild, gorilla trekking was started in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park of Uganda and the forest is home to almost half of the few remaining endangered mountain gorillas on earth. Currently, Bwindi Forest has 18 habituated families which can be visited every day. Apart from Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo are also offering gorilla trekking experiences.
What to consider while booking a gorilla habituation experience in Uganda?
When to do gorilla habituation experience in Bwindi Forest.
This activity can be done all year. But it is good during the dry season which is from December-March and June-October when the hiking trails are not too slippery and muddy which makes the hiking experience excellent. You can also do gorilla habituation during the wet season because at such time there are more food in the forest and primates are no longer moving long distances. Even in this season, primates look healthier and more beautiful. However, all hiking trails are used to be slippery and muddy, as it can rain for the whole day. Please note, the wet season is good for the budget tourists since there is no high demand for gorilla habituation experience permits.
Price for gorilla habituation experience in Bwindi Forest.
A gorilla habituation permit in Bwindi Forest goes at $1500 for foreign nonresidents while for foreign residents is $1000 and 750,000 Ugandan shillings for East African citizens. This permit allows you to spend 4 fours in the presence of the endangered mountain gorillas while observing their behaviors and only 4 travelers are accepted. A permit for spending 4 hours with the mountain gorillas is the same as the Rwanda gorilla permit for one-hour interaction with mountain gorillas. contact Trots and Safaris to help you to book and secure the gorilla permit until your arrival in Uganda for an unforgettable experience in wild.
Book with Trots and Safaris . What we need is to tell us the date you wish and confirm the availability of permits, you will proceed to do your payments for the gorilla permits.Trots and Safaris will be back to you with an invoice that shows you that you should proceed and make the payments so that we can confirm you are ready and we make bookings for your gorilla permit. As we do book for you the permits, We allow credit card payments and bank transfers and if you can, we accept cash too. If you decide to use a credit card, you will be charged 4% for each and every transaction that you will make. After making your payments, Trots and Safaris will send you a scanned copy of the receipts of payments and when it reaches time for your travel, we will pick for you the permits and one of our guides will present to you the original copy that you will have to show on the day of gorilla trekking. Remember that the fee for permits includes only the fee for entrance for Bwindi Gorilla National Park and the services of the guide who takes you through the forest and also the four hours you spend with the gorillas. However, the permit does not include meals and accommodation and also transport varies on the days you spend from and to the park.
