Gorilla Trekking in Mgahinga National Park

Gorilla Trekking in Mgahinga National Park is the main activity done in the park since it harbors the endangered gorilla species. Mgahinga national park is overshadowed by Bwindi impenetrable National Park when it comes to gorilla trekking in Uganda because of the fact that it has more habituated gorilla families as compared to Mgahinga National Park. However, there is a lot the hidden gem has to offer when you visit Uganda and opt for gorilla trekking in Mgahinga National Park because it will ensure that you have the most amazing Uganda gorilla trekking tours.

Virunga Mountains

Gorilla trekking in Mgahinga National Park involves hiking the different virunga mountains like Mount Sabyinyo, Mount Muhabura, and Mount Gahinga. On the different slopes of the Virunga Mountains, you will get the chance to see the Nyakagezi gorilla family and the newly migrated Hirwa gorilla family that migrated from Volcanoes National Park.

Gorilla trekking in Mgahinga national park

Gorilla trekking in Mgahinga national park will involve first going for a briefing session where you will be briefed by your gorilla trekking guide who will help you go through your entire gorilla trekking experience in the park. The guide will give you the guidelines you’re supposed to follow during your contact with the gorillas, the rules and regulations to follow during your gorilla trekking experience.

After the briefing session at the reception area by a trained guide, you will then embark on your journey to hike the different Virunga mountains where you will find the gorilla families. While hiking the mountains, you will come in contact with a number of bird species, monkey species, mammal species within the park and so on but as you get to the different gorilla families in the park, you will spend an hour with the gorilla families observing and understanding their behavior in the park and in case of any questions concerning the gentle giants, you will have to ask a guide who will answer all your queries.

Gorilla permit

A gorilla trekking permit in Uganda can be obtained from a trusted tour operator or a trusted tour company at only 600USD But come January 1st 2020, tourists interested in participating in gorilla trekking in either Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga National Park, they will pay a fee of 700USD. Therefore you should book for your gorilla trekking permit before July in order to participate in the activity before the price is increased.

Guidelines to follow during gorilla trekking

Avoid unnecessary movements while in contact with the gorillas because it will trigger them as a threat to the gorillas.
Avoid offering food to the gorillas to avoid contraction of diseases from humans to the gorillas
Tourists should keep a distance of about 7 meters from the gorillas to avoid contracting diseases
While taking pictures of the gorillas, you should avoid using flash mode which will scare off the gorillas.
You should follow the lead of the guide in order to have a safe and amazing time in the park.

ADDED BENEFITS OF GORILLA TREKKING IN THE PARK

Golden monkeys: The park is also home to the endangered golden monkey species that can only be found in the Virunga massif where you can find Mgahinga National Park because it has 3 of the Virunga Mountains where you can find the golden monkeys. If you are lucky enough during gorilla trekking as you hike the Virunga Mountains in the park, you can see the primates in the bamboo trees of the mountains and if you are interested in getting to know more about the golden monkeys, you can participate in golden monkey trekking during your stay at the park. With golden monkey trekking, tourists will spend time with the shy primates while observing their behavior in the wild.

Bird species: In the vegetation along the slopes of the mountains you will be able to see a number of bird species that you will find fascinating. This is because the park is a home to over 300 bird species, during gorilla trekking, you will come across different bird species like the Rwenzori Turaco, Crowned hornbill, Black Kite, dusk turtle dove, Moorland chat, blue flycatcher, lagden’s Bush-Shrike among other bird species which will add on you experience during gorilla trekking.

Monkey species: During gorilla trekking as you hike the Virunga Mountains, you will have the opportunity of seeing a number of monkey species like the Mona Monkey, the Vervet monkey, Red tailed monkey, Black and white colobus monkeys that can also be seen in the bamboo trees that they use as a source of food. While tracking the gorillas you will see the different monkey species as you take pictures to make your experience memorable while in the park.

Virunga Mountains: While gorilla trekking in Mgahinga National Park, it involves hiking the virunga mountains where you will have the chance of seeing a number of attractions like bird species for example; the Rwenzori Turaco, Crowned hornbill, Black Kite, dusk turtle dove, Moorland chat, blue flycatcher, lagden’s Bush-Shrike, monkey species like Mona Monkey, the Vervet monkey, Red tailed monkey, Black and white colobus monkeys among other interesting features in the park. At the summits of the mountains, you will also see the neighbouring mountains like Mount Karisimbi and Mount Bisoke where you can find Dian Fossey’s grave when you’re in Volcanoes National Park Rwanda.

Easy Mobility: The vegetation of Mgahinga National Park is mostly bamboo which makes mobility in the park easy which will enable you to reach the different gorilla families in the shortest time as compared to Bwindi impenetrable national park that is characterized with tropical rain forests which make the park hard for tourists to hike in order to access the different Uganda gorilla families in Bwindi impenetrable national park.

Batwa trail experience: During your gorilla trekking experience in Mgahinga national park, you can go on the Batwa trail experience where you will have a chance to visit the forest people with their interesting culture and beliefs. The Batwa is a group of forest people who depend on the forest products like honey, bark cloth which they use to cloth themselves. They also feed on small creatures of the forests like the squirrel’s ants, grasshoppers among other products which makes them an interesting group once visited.