Things to Consider Before Booking a Gorilla Habituation Tour : Booking a gorilla habituation tour needs you to be observant following the recent vicissitudes made by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) on the gorilla trekking and mountain gorilla habituation permits. Gorilla habituation involvement is certainly a unique wildlife safari experience and there is a lot more to be learnt before your actual travel. Uganda safari is glad to keep you up-to-date and also provide responses to most questions travelers ask about mountain gorilla habituation experience throughout the entire tour in Uganda.
Before bearing in mind booking a gorilla habituation tour, you need to understand what mountain gorilla habituation experience is. Well, gorilla habituation doesn’t have the actual definition but generally, it is a process in which wild/semi-habituated mountain gorillas are made adapted to visitors before they are opened for actual gorilla trekking.
It is a exclusive primate tour experience and it is usually lead by researchers, scientists, conservationists, trackers involving a daily observation or following of wild mountain gorillas in their habitat. The process may take between 2 and 3 years or less although this varies conditional on how fast these great apes can get used to human presence.
Trackers/researchers explore their daily behaviors from morning till they make new nests to retire. Once they are sure that they can be tracked, they will be subjected into a bogus exercise involving few travelers/visitors and guides to kick start trekking a particular gorilla family that has been undergoing habituation.
Mountain gorilla habituation experience is a sole and first of its kind primate adventure in Uganda. When gorillas finally become accustomed to human presence, they are opened for actual gorilla trekking. Unlike the normal gorilla trek, gorilla habituation is limited to only 4 trekkers. Visitors who engage in this adventure are issued with certificates once they return from the long day search for mountain gorillas.
Where to go for gorilla habituation tour
Gorilla habituation tour is carried out only in Rushaga sector in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This gorilla safari park lies in Southwestern Uganda and it is reachable about 9 to 10 hours’ drive beginning from Entebbe or Kampala capital city however, it is also possible to access the park from Kigali about 3 to 4 hours’ drive, Things to Consider Before Booking a Gorilla Habituation Tour
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is one of the 4 gorilla parks where mountain gorillas live in the world. It lies at the extreme side of Uganda and it is surrounded by Kanungu, Kabale and Kisoro districts just at the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This park was established in 1991 primarily to host a section of mountain gorillas which presently account for 1063 individuals worldwide, 459 of which are inhabited in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park was designated as a UNESCO Site in 1994 and hosts not only mountain gorillas but also chimpanzees, baboons, antelopes, elephants, an estimate of 350 bird species and many more. Presently, it boasts of 20 habituated gorilla families set for gorilla trekking.
How to book a gorilla habituation permit
Uganda Gorilla safaris make it easier for you to book your gorilla habituation permit and also gorilla habituation tour in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The places to find gorilla habituation permits in Uganda include Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, the reservation office at Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) headquarters, Kampala. The fees for gorilla habituation permits differ depending on the category of visitors. The foreign non-residents pay about $1500, foreign residents require about $1000 and the East African Community citizens will need about $750000 to book gorilla habituation permit in Uganda. This covers park ranger guide service and park entrance fees, Things to Consider Before Booking a Gorilla Habituation Tour
Only 4 gorilla habituation permits are available to be booked by visitors on gorilla habituation tour. This primate adventure is limited to 4 visitors per gorilla family and presently Kutu group is the only gorilla family still undergoing habituation exercise. Due to high demand, it is important that you secure your permit early enough before the actual day of travel.
Dos and don’ts for a successful gorilla habituation tour
Gorilla habituation experience is limited to only 4 trekkers per day per gorilla family
Once you come across mountain gorillas on gorilla habituation tour, expect to spend 4 hours face to face with them, take photos and have an in-depth learning on their daily behaviors.
Don’t go for habituation experience if you are sick, ill
In case you need to sneeze make sure you cover your nose or mouth in case of cough.
Flashlight cameras are prohibited for photo taking during gorilla habituation experience.
Gorilla habituation experience like gorilla trekking is limited to persons above 15 years.
Maintain a distance of 7 meters at all times from gorillas while on gorilla habituation experience.
Leave the habitat of mountain gorillas as clean as possible or in a better state than you found it when you embarked on gorilla habituation.
Keep your voices low while on gorilla habituation experience however; raise any questions for clarification without fear.
What to pack for a gorilla habituation tour
A proper packing list as well matter for the habituation tour in Uganda due to the unpredicted weather changes now days, and we believe these are some of the things you should consider to carry along with you for the tour:
Waterproof daypack
Camera without flashlight
Long sleeved shirt
Insect repellents
Energy giving snacks
Plenty of bottled drinking water
First aid kit
Gardening gloves
Valid passport and visa
Sun glasses
Hat
Sweater
Gorilla habituation is an excellent experience that every tourist in Uganda should at least consider to carry out because of its lovely give outs that it offers to the visitors.
Most of the need to know guideline about the gorilla habituation have has been mentioned above and with those plus Uganda safari guidance be sure to have the best experience ever in Uganda. The weather conditions are currently cool and very favorable for the habituation experience in Uganda, so one can make a booking for the gorilla habituation this season and have the best experience of your life in Uganda through Uganda Gorilla trekking safaris
