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Gorilla Trekking In Uganda
The Mountain gorilla is the most celebrated resident of the Virunga Mountains, distinguished (amongst other adaptations) by a longer and luxuriant coat as befits its high altitude home. Approximately 300 mountain gorillas live in the Ugandan mountains with their total range of some 420 sq km actually spread across Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC. Whilst most Ugandan mountain gorillas live in small groups of 5 to 15 animals there are two or three large groups of between 30 and 40 individuals. Oscar van Beringe shot two gorillas in the Virunga Mountains in 1902, before which the mountain gorilla was unknown to science.
A mountain gorilla safari or gorilla adventure in the Virungas is a peerless wildlife experience, one of Africa’s indisputable travel highlights. It is difficult to describe the simple exhilaration when first setting eyes on a wild mountain gorilla. With their bulk exaggerated by a shaggily luxuriant coat, the silverbacks are enormous animals weighing about three times as much as the average man. Yet, certainly by comparison with most primates and despite their fearsome size and appearance, gorillas are remarkably peaceful creatures. Gorilla tracking would be a considerably more dangerous pursuit if these gentle giants had the temperament of vervet monkeys, baboons or, for that matter, humans.
Differing greatly from any other wild animal, the gorilla’s unfathomable attitude to their daily human visitors is almost more impressive than their size and bearing. On our last visit one of the gorillas regularly broke off from chomping on bamboo to study us with soft brown eyes staring deeply into ours; it was as if he was seeking out some sort of connection and, whilst this may sound anthropomorphic, almost everybody who visits the gorillas experiences an almost mystical sense of recognition.
Often approaching them and occasionally touching one of the guides in apparent greeting as they walk past, the extent to which the gorillas try to interact with their visitors is equally fascinating. gorilla trekking in Uganda A photographic tripod raised considerable curiosity with several of the youngsters and a couple of the adults – one large female walked up to the tripod, stared ponderously into the lens then wandered back evidently satisfied. The gorillas seem to recognise their daily visitors, perhaps as a passive, non-threatening, troop of fellow mates. Sometimes, safe in the knowledge that we’d accept its dominance, a youngster would put on a chest-beating display as it walked past us; it would never do this to an adult gorilla! It should be said here that the guides try to keep the tourists at least five meters away from the gorillas as close contact with humans can expose gorillas to fatal diseases – however the reality is that there is little to be done to stop the gorillas flouting rules of which they are of course unaware.
When gorilla trekking just one magical hour is allowed with the animals . Far from a cheap exercise, one should be under no illusions about this and the fact that getting there can be hard work. Uganda safari Involving a combination of steep slopes, dense vegetation, high altitude and slippery underfoot conditions (especially after rain), the hike up to the mountain gorilla’s preferred habitat of bamboo forest can be a quite gruelling. luxury safari holidays However reasonably fit adults of any age can reach the closer gorilla groups on gorilla treks and we have yet to meet anybody, in over 20 years of African travel, who has regretted the financial expense or physical exertion when gorilla trekking in Uganda.
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