There are two Trekking Gorilla Destinations in Uganda; Bwindi impentrable national Park & Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.
Bwindi is by far the most popular choice as the park has large population of Gorillas suitable for fly in Safarus & has a great number of Accommodations.
Whichever Park you visit depends on your travel plans and the Time you have during your vacation. There are no difference in permits prices or chance of sighting across these two national parks.
As you notice from the map, both national parks are in the deep South Western part of Uganda near boarder with Rwanda in South & Congo in West.
Many of ugandas Safari Destinations are in the south which makes it easier to combine safari adventure trips with Gorilla trekking Experience. Uganda may be a small country but packs lots of adventure.
GORILLA TREKKING IN BWINDI NATIONAL PARK.
Bwindi is uganda's main Gorilla trekking destination, habituated Gorillas families can be accessed from four trails heads: Buhoma, Nkuringo, Rushaga & Ruhija.
Each trail has it's own characteristics & families & level of difficulty.
Departing from one of the four trails , you join a group of trekkers maximum group of 8 people for a guided walk into the forest in search of the mountain Gorillas.
Led by Uganda wildlife Authority experienced rangers, you will be introduced to the history & ecology of the forest & changing landscape as you trek the Gorillas. Your rangers are in communication with a team of trackers who locate the direction of the Gorillas.
THE GORILLA TREKS.
Two treks run daily from the base of the Gorilla trekking base Camp. These usually start at 8:00am or 14:15 & are limited to group of 8 tourists every day.
The limit on the group size is to keep Gorillas safe from airborne diseases & chances of sighting as larger groups often distrurb the peace of these Gorilla Primates.
From the onest, the southwestern sloped hills offers a great view as you descend to these Gorilla highlands, the drive to the Gorillas offers really a great view of landscape though the high altitude & terrains make the journey tiresome but rewards are all magical.
Once the eye contact with the gorillas is made, there's usually silent wait as the excitement is getting real. You have to spend one hour with the Gorillas but if you want to spend more hours with the Gorillas, you can go for habituation Experience which lasts up to 4 hours.
Habituated Gorilla families can be accessed from the four Gorilla trekking location & sectors of Rushaga, Nkuringo Ruhija & Buhoma. These sectors serve As launch points for 11 habituated Gorilla families. The standard treks depart in the morning and observing the Gorillas lasts for only 1 hour.
These treks can be quite challenging & need to be prepared for the trek.
GORILLA TREKKING IN MGAHINGA.
Closer to the boarder with Rwanda, Mgahinga is a popular option for cross over itineraries with Rwanda volcanoes National Park. It's also the only place in Uganda you can go for golden monkey trekking.
Mgahinga is more secluded than Bwindi & the treks are not as challenging. There are few permits available here . Although Gorilla families constantly cross the border from Rwanda to Uganda, there's only one habituated Gorilla family to trek here called the Nyakagazi group with five silverbacks, two adult females & three young Gorillas.
Traditionally, mgahinga was used As an over flow Gorilla trekking destination for Bwindi but that changed for two reasons. The first is the increase of Gorillas permits in Rwanda $1500 pp has prompted visitors to explore Rwanda & then cross the border to mgahinga where a permit is at $800pp
The second is mgahinga being a wonderful place to visit. Situated so closely to lakes mutanda & Bunyonyi, you can find a relaxing environment for relaxing. You can also climb the volcanoes at mgahinga all superb hikes surpassing 4000m with 8-9 hours hiking but a very rewarding adventure.
Mgahinga accounts for only 10% of Gorilla treks while the rest are done at Bwindi impentrable national Park
