GORILLA TREKKING

Gorilla trekking starts every morning, all year round. It starts with briefing which is conducted by the ranger guides at the headquarters. In Rwanda, gorilla briefing is done at kinigi headquarters at around 7am and end at around 7:30am while in Uganda, briefing is done at Bwindi National park headquarters and Mgahinga National park headquarters.

Trekkers are advised to carry tracking gears like rain jackets, mosquito repellent, hiking shoes, walking sticks and so on. The trekking gears help trekkers enjoy their activity.

Due to the fact that, gorilla trekking duration is unpredictable, trekkers are advised to carry packed lunch and bottled water for refreshment. In the forest, you can have picnic lunch after meeting or before meeting gorillas in their natural habitat. In some seasons, gorillas move far distances to look for food which increases the distance to meet them- for this case, gorilla trekking may take a full day.

In some countries like Rwanda, gorilla group allocation is done basing on the trekkers’ age, physical fitness, health status and so on.

Porters are always available for hire. Each porter is paid approximately 10 -15 US dollars depending on the size of the luggage.  Porters are also in position to carry weak and old people in case of failure to reach the gorilla group. The trekker is put on stretcher, carried to meet Gorillas.

The rangers move with the maximum of eight people to visit each group and once they meet gorillas, a maximum of one hour is given to view, photograph and critically observe how gorillas spend a day while in their natural habitat.

Rangers play a leading role of ensuring enjoyable and informative gorilla trek. They safe guard the clients, give advises and predict where the gorillas are depending on where they slept the previous night.

In amidst Gorillas, visitors are not allowed to move closer to the gorillas because they can charge and once they charge, trekking becomes impossible.