Gorilla Trekking Review
Gorilla Trekking Review
Gorilla Trekking Review : Gorilla tracking is one of the most fascinating activities while on a safari in Uganda, Rwanda or the DRC. Most people who come to this land of the primates will have gorilla tracking high on their to do list along with other activities.
One would wonder what that that people fancy about the gorillas. Gorillas are endangered species and they are only found in these three countries. There are just about 900 of them left in the world shared just in these three countries.
Though you have all these options to track gorillas/ do gorilla trekking, Uganda has proved to be the best destination to track the primates.
Considering all factors like Price, variety, Distance and terrain Uganda is by far the best for your gorilla trekking safari. A gorilla tracking permit in Uganda costs just USD 600 compared to the USD1500 in Rwanda and USD 400 of the DRC. The permit in DRC is cheaper but other costs that go with it is what makes it expensive for example you can’t have a direct flight to Virunga National park where the gorillas in DRC reside.
Queen Elizabeth National park is not very far from Bwindi Gorilla Park and this gives you chance to explore the beauty in this other park. The bird concentration in Bwindi is second to none.
Uganda has more gorillas groups to track compared it’s other counterparts. Uganda has more tracking points, four in Bwindi and one in Mgahinga which makes it less congested compared to the one point in Rwanda and the DRC.
That said one would wonder the cost of a gorilla trekking safari? Its quiet simple, you need a gorilla permit, transportation and accommodation, the rest is just complementary.
The price of a gorilla permit in each of the three countries is listed above; accommodation can be between USD 100 to USD300 for full board arrangement per day.
You can choose to get public means but at times this can be disturbing, its better you contact a tour operator because they will get you a car, driver/guide and fuel for less than USD 150 per day.
When you choose to work with a tour operator when organizing your gorilla safari, it’s important to choose one that is credible, price is not key in this, cheap can be good but it can also be trouble in the end.
A good tour operator usually should be a member of a local tour operator’s forum and make sure you check your operator out. When they are members most of the things are catered for, you can even contact the secretariat of the association to confirm this.
When most people think of coming to Africa they think they make not get the accommodation that fits their standard but this is because they have not made an effort to find out.
Every point of gorilla tracking has all sorts of accommodation from budget to luxury. It is usually good that your operator gives you options of the operators they partner with such that you check them out and choose accordingly.
The key think you should you must have is a gorilla permit before you think of anything but most people wonder how they get this permit.
When you book through a tour operator, they will do for you the entire process but when you want to do it by yourself you will contact the body concerned for example Uganda Wild life Authority In Uganda and RDB in Rwanda and they will book you a permit and later you will be asked to make a payment, permits are sold on first come basis.
While you plan to go gorilla tracking of course you will need to prepare physically and mentally. You will need things like hiking boots and then gardening gloves to protect you from the thrones and insects.
You need to put on thin layers of clothes that you can remove when its gets hot. You can hire porters in case you feel you bag may be heavy such that you are not tired by the time you encounter with the gorillas.
With all these in mind and many others as may be advised by travel advisories and your tour operator, we wish you a good gorilla safari in Africa.
