Sabinyo Gorilla Family
Sabinyo Gorilla Family
Sabinyo Gorilla Family : Named after Mount Sabyinyo, a piece of the great Virunga Volcanoes that translates to “old man’s teeth” in Kinyarwanda, Sabyinyo gorilla family stays in Volcanoes National Park and comprises of 9 members that are frequently found in the gentle foothills of Mt. Sabyinyo and Mt Mgahinga. Sabyinyo group is one of the closest groups normally found at the edges of the park therefore easily accessed and allocated by the trackers for visitors to trek. On a good day, it could even take you less than 2 hours to access this group.
This gorilla family was previously known as Amavubi, a word that means “wasps” in native “Kinyarwanda”. This family also turned out to be the hardest to habituate.
Its formation was a mystery. The sudden death of a dominant Silverback that led group thirteen in 1992 caused some group 13 females to be taken and later on join other group 11 females and 2 Silverbacks to form a new group that later had its name changed to Sabyinyo.
Sabyinyo group is led by the dominant silver back which was oldest, biggest and obviously stronger compared to the other two silver backs and other gorillas in the group. The group is very common for its giant silver back called Guhonda which is the largest silver back in the park weighing about 220 kg and it has kept its main challenger, Ryango away from the family to remain as a dominant Silverback.
It has got 3 female mountain gorillas with 2 youthful mountain gorillas and a young mountain gorilla. Sabyinyo group of gorilla is such an impressive family that everybody would wish to visit. First of all it involves interesting activities like hiking in the dense vegetation and forested slopes of Mt Sabyinyo and Gahinga that gave us an incredible experience about gorillas that I personally will live to remember.
This family doesn’t stay so far away from one of the best lodges in Volcanoes National Park – Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge hence, if you need a true luxury experience of a gorilla trek then you should reserve this lodge for your accommodation if only you can afford the price.
Secure your permits with other of our recommended tour operators and see some of the living works of Dian Fossey, a maestro who was so passionate about Mountain Gorillas.
