Thinking about gorilla trekking but wondering about where to go. Many visitors experience a problem in choosing to either go to Uganda or Rwanda for gorilla trekking! Today, experts answer this question by clearly giving a true picture about gorilla trekking in both countries.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GORILLA TRACKING IN UGANDA AND RWANDA.
Due to the terrain and altitude of the two parks, gorilla tracking in Bwindi National park is more strenuous due to the thick forest cover and high elevation of the park. Gorilla tracking in Bwindi National park involves deep penetration through shrubs.
On the other hand, gorilla tracking in Volcanoes National park Rwanda is less strenuous due to lesser elevation of the park’s nature and the vegetation which is largely bamboo covered.
In Uganda, the park is divided into three parts, Ruhiija, Rushaga, Buhoma and Nkuringo sectors with each sector having its own habituated gorilla groups, with each gorilla group having its own difficulty in tracking. On the other hand, in Rwanda, the park is central on one area with the same park headquarters where pre-gorilla tracking is done before ascending the forest for the allocated gorilla family tracking.
Gorilla tracking requires one to secure the gorilla tracking permit which costs USD800 currently with the months of April to June discounted to USD700 for foreign non residents. On the other hand, gorilla tracking in Rwanda requires securing gorilla tracking permit as well but it costs USD1500 currently and this price is throughout the year with no discounted rates for foreign non residents.
Gorilla trekking in Uganda and Rwanda both require some level of fitness and the trek takes one to nine hours depending on the movement of the gorillas in their natural wild. However, the fitness level required for gorilla trekking in Uganda is more emphasized as there are no gorilla families with high chances of getting to the gorillas so easily unlike in Rwanda where there are gorilla families which are referred to low level, medium and high level trekking fitness because of the location of the gorilla families.
There are more gorillas in Uganda with the population of the gorillas in Bwindi and Mgahinga National park estimated to be over 490 gorillas now, which is almost half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas. There are currently thirteen habituated gorilla families in Uganda with twelve groups in Bwindi National park and one in Mgahinga National park. On the other hand, Rwanda has an estimated total population at 360 with ten habituated gorilla families which implies.
Because of more number of gorillas in Bwindi national Park and being divided in different groups, the habituated gorillas still do not get exposed to human beings everyday and this has resulted to them being a bit shy than those in Rwanda which are visited by human beings which has made them more used to human beings. In addition, a gorilla safari in Uganda has been referred to most adventurous tourists to offer more adventure because of the process gone through during gorilla tracking which offers a great experience of searching for the beautiful apes in the thick forest cover which overwhelms them with joy after seeing the gorillas. On the other hand, in Rwanda gorilla tracking has been referred to more of gorilla viewing because of the little effort and energy spent on searching for these amazing animals.
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