Gorilla Trekking in Uganda Vs Rwanda

Trekking with mountain gorillas in Uganda differs from the experience gorilla trekking in Rwanda but both adventures guarantee see gorillas in the wild. The differences in the two countries are mostly defined of terrain and nature of the forests.

The cry has always been those bumpy dusty roads long hour drives of all the way from Kampala to Bwindi impenetrable national park making a push for many tourists to opt for a much higher USD1500 price for a two hour drive to the Volcanoes national park for gorilla trekking. With Uganda now devising an easy access to its Gorilla trek sites, the Mgahinga and Bwindi national parks with many now opting for flights with Kisoro and Kihihi Airstrips serving chattered flights of Aerolink and Fly Uganda a flight you can catch straight from Entebbe or Kajjansi Flying School along the Entebbe Kampala express highway for approximately two hour flight. The accesses to these sites have even been made easier on a four to five hour drive through Rwanda.

With just USD600 to pay for a Gorilla safari, offering a variety of 13 groups to choose from for sectors of Bwinfdi forest including the Ruhija sector, Nkuringo, Buhoma and Rushaga in Bwindi and Nyakagezi group in the Mgahinga, what else can be more rewarding than spending the 9 hour drive through the beautiful scenery stretch of the Kisoro and Kigezi hills which suddenly sees you off to the pride of the Ankole culture, the Igongo to a flashy camera lights spot at the famous Cycle where the Equator line passes.

In here is where you get to experience the tropical weather balance across the two hemispheres, as well as undertaking the thrilling water flow experience, a pure fact revealing in which if poured, water runs the straight route exactly on the Equator line, and to the clockwise direction when poured in a funnel to the northern hemisphere and to the anti clockwise in the southern hemisphere. The true wonders lie ahead in the 95 mammal species filled Queen Elizabeth National Park with over 600 birds, which can be a wonderful start up for that adventurous tourists who want to get the maximum feel of Uganda.

It’s plain truth on how Rwanda has triggered push ahead of Uganda and DR Congo through massive fund injection towards marketing strategies, among which are; Open air crusades, air waves marketing through Radios and Televisions, World travel Markets, supplementing the fantastic luxury and up class accommodation facilities, good road infrastructures and the assured security following the reconciliation by the Nationals never to live to see the past dark history of the 100 days repeat itself again.

Not stopping at these, Rwanda has gone a make it an obligation for their international embassies as well as time to time invitation of journalist to put across to the world the hidden treasures especially for the 10 Gorilla families, which stands as one of their core tourists attractions, likewise the Trails and primate watch at the Nyungwe and Akagera National Parks. Uganda meanwhile on the other hand, is proud to say she’s one of the most diversified countries when it comes to tourism.

Mention of the numerous National Parks with a countless number of wildlife and bird species, over 10 tribes of warm welcoming full of life citizens uniquely defined by their way of life, the dances, dances, foods, with the clustered villages of the culturally rich Karamojong, a tribe nearly compared to the popular Masai in the Kenja from their way of dressing, up to the skies jumping dance strokes, with the belief that every herds in the world are meant for them from creation and so do they have the “right” to their possession, a true myth to them. A lot other activities can you get to find; White water rafting in the Bujjagali in Jinja, hikes to the snow and mist covered Mountains of the Moon, canoe riding in the “place of little birds”, Lake Bunyonji, a trail to “down town” Kampala, just least mentioned.

So at sunset, the decision of whether to trek Gorillas in the hikes of Bwindi or bamboo forests of Mgahinga at the “Pearl of Africa” or the relatively flat terrain bamboo hills of the Volcanoes at the “land of a thousand hills”, the pioneers of Gorilla Conservation, a legacy left by Dian Fossey, still becomes a food for your thoughts. But with all cards laid on the table, would you rather fall for a one hour Gorilla trek in Rwanda which comes handy in a more expensive bill or rather rush for a gorilla habituation experience in Uganda for the same price as Rwanda Gorilla trekking experience which supplements the much cheaper Gorilla trekking with both offering high chances of Gorilla encounter and satisfaction.

Gorilla habituation Experience
Exclusive to Uganda, Gorilla habituation experience is simply a “Gorilla trek”, this time a four hour trek chance given to four lucky tourists of the day to an interesting Gorilla family identified to undergo a taming process to become a regularly visited group by tourism after passing the mock test by a group of experts and researchers accompanied by game guides and rangers. This experience, also with the Chimpanzees, and coming at a cost, USD1500 per permit, is simply extraordinary setting a “Catch me if you can” gap with Gorilla trekking experience which is just an hour. Tourists are given the whole day with the Gorillas and are given an in depth information about Gorillas, form their ways of social lives, feeding, growth trends, family background and history and also take part in the naming of each individual members of the family in a process that takes roughly 2 to 3 years depending on the cop up rate of the Gorilla family. Other Gorilla families take much less time to get used to human presence and visits with Bitukura Gorilla family in the Ruhija sector of Bwindi taking just 15 months to get through with the process. This group is also regarded the most peaceful of all gorillas in the jungle, both wild and habituated.

Uganda has currently has 12 groups with Rushaga sector having 5 Gorilla families more than any other sector within Bwindi. The Buhoma and Ruhija having 3 habituated groups to their possession and the Nkuringo having a single group open to tourism. The Uganda Wildlife Authority has set aside two Gorilla groups, the Bikyinji in the Rushaga region of Bwindi and the Bahati founded group, the Bushaho family that parted ways with the Nkuringo family

Gorilla habituation experience, a new addition to remove the burden off the Gorilla trekking activity, is just another wholesome activity you have to try out, and trust me you wont regret every cent you put up for it