Adventure Consults is always happy to share the good news from the jungles of Uganda! The latest is the additional Mountain Gorilla families to the lot of habituated groups currently available for our tourists to visit.
In a statement released by the Uganda wildlife Authority, the number of gorilla families available for tracking has been increased from fifteen (15) to seventeen (17). This was after the successful habituation of two new groups named Katwe and Christmas. The Katwe mountain gorilla family is located in the southern sector of Bwindi National Park while Christmas is on the Northern side in the busy and more popular Buhoma section of the impenetrable forest.
Two additional Gorilla families means sixteen extra permits every day which is good for Adventure Consults’ wonderful clients and partners planning trips to Bwindi. The gorilla tracking rules limit the number of people visiting each Gorilla family to eight per day. Gorilla tracking starts early in the morning and a permit allows one to access the Gorillas only once.
Located in Uganda, spanning the stunningly undulating Southwestern hills of this part of the country (also called the ‘Switzerland of Africa’), Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to the biggest population of mountain gorillas and is one in two places in Uganda where tourists can see the few surviving gentle giants while on an Awesome apes Uganda trip.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is split into 4 sectors each with at least 3 habituated mountain gorilla families for visitor access. These include;
- Rushegura, Habinyanja, Mubare and Katwe in the Buhoma sector.
- Oruzogo, Bitukura, Kyaguriro and Mukiza in Ruhija region.
- Bweza, Nshonji, Kahungye, Busingye, Mishaya and Bikingi in the Rushaga sector.
- Nkuringo, Bishabo and Christmas in the southern sector of Nkuringo.
Following constant follow-up, we can also say that the Nyakagezi mountain gorilla group in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is very stable. Nyakagezi has been a migrant family for a while and would journey between the volcanoes of Rwanda and Uganda, but for more than a year now it is observed to be settled and to enjoy more of the Ugandan side. Could the vegetation be more delicious on the Ugandan side? You can only know after getting on board to one of Adventure Consults’ Tailor made trips.
Sharing time with mountain gorillas in the wilds of Africa’s rainforests is totally dreamlike. Tracking them on foot through the thick rainforest of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park climaxes in an extraordinary encounter that lasts up to one full hour.
Our guests on Gorilla and wildlife safaris get to take plenty of photos (& selfies too!), watch the playful juveniles, see the mothers breastfeeding; and perhaps the cutest thing is looking into the soulful brown eyes of the gorilla babies, while the muscular silverback surveils the family. Utterly magical!
About Mountain Gorillas.
The recent 2016 census of mountain gorillas by the Greater Virunga Transboundary Cooperation (GVTC), put the estimates to a total population of about 1,000 individuals. This includes Gorillas living in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Volcanoes National Park, Virunga National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.
Gorillas live at relatively high forested altitudes (thus their name) and they weigh between 135 to 220 kilograms (approximately 300 to 485 pounds). They range between 1 to 2 meters (4 to 6 feet) in size and have a known lifespan of 40 – 50 years.
There are no recorded figures for the “Gorilla beringei beringei” (the scientific name of the mountain gorilla species) living in captivity, because they are not known to survive in any zoo or any form of human built environment in any part of the world.