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Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park Uganda Gorilla Trekking – Uganda Gorilla Tours And Gorilla Safaris

How to spend more time with the mountain gorillas of Mgahinga national park?

spend more time with the mountain gorillas of Mgahinga: It's always a dream come true for many tourists who get a chance to meet these Great Apes

How to spend more time with the mountain gorillas of Mgahinga national park?

How to spend more time with the mountain gorillas of Mgahinga national park?: Mountain gorillas are among the most loved animals in the world because scientists did discover that they share 98% DNA with human beings. It’s always a dream come true for many tourists who get a chance to meet these mountain gorillas. Not everyone is able to visit the mountain gorillas in their natural habitats because of the high cost of the gorilla permit.

Are you a tourist who would love to have more time with mountain gorillas? This blog post will give you all you need to know about how to spend more time with mountain gorillas. Mountain gorillas in Uganda are found in two places which are Mgahinga national park and Bwindi impenetrable national park.

spend more time with the mountain gorillas of Mgahinga

The only mountain gorilla trekking activity carried out in Mgahinga national park is trekking therefore tourists should not think of habituation in this park because the only family found there is fully habituated. Mountain gorilla habituation in the world is only possible in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park where tourists get to spend 4 hours with the apes.

Tourists who are liking for how to spend more time with mountain gorillas have only one option and this is carrying out double gorilla trekking. Double gorilla trekking in Mgahinga national park would mean visiting Nyakagezi mountain gorillas twice. Nyakagezi family is visited for 1 hour on a single trek and therefore for trekkers to spend more hours with the family they should know that they need to visit the same family twice on different days.

Visiting Nyakagezi mountain gorilla twice gives tours enough time to be around the mountain gorillas, and notice what they had not seen before. Double gorilla trekking means 2 hours with the fully habituated mountain gorilla family of Mgahinga national park. First trekking comes with 1 hour around mountain gorillas and so does the send trekking.

Trekking mountain gorillas twice in Mgahinga national park is the only solution to spending more hours with the mountain gorillas. Uganda Wildlife Authority does allow a person to buy two gorilla permits but for different days if they want to spend more time with the gorillas or if they want to trek twice. Unlike chimpanzee trekking, a mountain gorilla family is trekked once a day therefore a gorilla permit works for one day and you will need another for the second trek.

Two gorilla trekking permits.

As we said earlier a traveler needs two gorilla trekking permits to spend more time with the mountain gorillas. A traveler can even buy more gorilla permits but since the trekking activity needs a lot of energy and enough physical exercise only two treks are enough. Two gorilla trekking permits are required for one to have two hours around mountain gorillas and each day is one hour.

A gorilla trekking permit from Uganda Wildlife Authority does cost $700 for foreign non-residents, $600 for foreign residents, and UGX250,000 citizens of East African member states. A gorilla permit can be bought directly from UWA or from a licensed local tour operator at the same price.

Tourists that want to spend more time with mountain gorillas must know that a few gorilla trekking permits are available for Mgahinga national park. Only 8 gorilla permits are in Mgahinga national park on a daily basis therefore tourists must do early bookings to secure their spots. Tourists need to book the gorilla permits 3 to 4 months or more in advance to avoid last-minute booking disappointments.

The gorilla trekking exercise

The day of gorilla trekking is always a dream come true for so many travelers. Not every person does get an opportunity to see mountain gorillas in their natural habitats. Trekkers for the day are always excited to encounter mountain gorillas in their natural habitats. The activity does start with a briefing at the sector offices where trekkers do get taught about the rules and regulations of the activity.

An armed ranger guide does lead trekkers not exceeding 8 into the jungle where they look for mountain gorillas. Trekkers and armed ranger guides go through different trails searching for where animals might have passed or slept the previous night. The search for mountain gorillas does take 2 to 7 hours and tourists are able to meet different wildlife along the way.

When the trekkers do meet the mountain gorilla family which is Nyakagezi, they are given 1 hour to be around the members and this is enough for them to learn about their habits, take photos, and watch them carry out daily activities among which include nesting, hunting, coupling, breastfeeding and much more.

After the second trek, tourists who want to spend more time with the mountain gorillas will wait for their next time of trekking and will go through the same procedures. The second gorilla trekking will give the trekkers enough time to carry study the behaviors of the apes, take more pictures, and still see them do daily activities.

Best time to go gorilla trekking in Mgahinga national park

Gorilla trekking in Mgahinga national park can be done at any time of the year however some months are better than the rest.  The most recommended time for gorilla trekking is the dry season which does occur from June to September and December to February because it has little or no rainfall received. The trekking trails are dry and passable, the vegetation is short and scattered with good views of wildlife, and the roads to the park are in a good state.

However much the dry season is the best for gorilla trekking, the rainy season can also be used to trek mountain gorillas in Mgahinga national park. Here budget travelers benefit because the lodges and tour packages are a bit cheaper.  Those coming for gorilla trekking in Mgahinga during the rainy seasons should know that the trekking trails are muddy and slippery, vegetation is too tall and roads to the park are in poor states.

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