Chances of seeing gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park are high since the Park boost over 21 gorilla families hence making it the best place to visit for gorilla trekking. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is nestled in southwest of Uganda in Kabale district which covers an area of about 331 square kilometres bordered by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on the western side and Rwanda in south. It approximately 460 km from Kampala the capital of Uganda about 8 hour drive. BOOK NOW
The chances of seeing gorillas in Bwindi National Park is among the most asked question for gorilla trekking in Bwindi National Park. Since from the start of gorilla trekking experience in 1990, no visitors have failed to see these apes in their natural environment in Bwindi National Park. There’s no guarantee by anyone about the chances of the mountain Gorillas because gorillas are wild animals that are not kept in one place but keep moving to different parts of the forest in search of food. This often makes their location uncertain each day because of this movement of these primates.
Park rangers use radio calls to link up with each other. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is divided into four different sectors where gorilla trekking takes place including Rushaga, Ruhija, Buhoma, and Nkuringo with several gorilla families, hence making it easier for tourists to track groups from specific sectors. Uganda Wildlife Authority has put ways to know the location of these creatures in the forest and this has always made finding gorillas easy in the forest.
Some of the measures put in place to ensure that visitors see the gorillas in Uganda include the following;
Trackers always confirm the location of a gorilla family. A team of trackers has to go into the forest before the visitors begin their journey to find the exact location of a particular gorilla family. Their pre-tracking activity is done basing on the last location where the gorillas nested the previous night. This is normally done to reduce the time spent by visitors in tracking, instead, the first team of trackers communicates to the team of trackers with visitors on the location of the gorilla family.
Allocation of gorilla families according to the trackers’ capacity.
Different gorilla families live in different sections of Bwindi National Park, some are near and others are far from the starting point. The trackers’ ability to hike in the forest and move will determine which gorilla family to visit. The sickly and elderly people are given an opportunity to track gorillas in lowland areas. Travelers make a choice of which gorilla family to visit and are always encouraged to be open to the park organizing team that help them book gorilla permits to ease allocation of gorilla tracking.
In conclusion, Uganda particularly in Bwindi National Park is the best place for gorilla trekking because there are 98.9% chances of seeing gorillas in Bwindi National Park since the Park boost over 150 gorilla permits are sold every day. You can, therefore, be assured of a chance to see the gorillas on your gorilla trekking safari to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. In case you are unable to see them, the park management reschedules your gorilla trekking to have the experience. Besides Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Mgahinga National Park is another gorilla National Park that found in Uganda with one gorilla family that can be tracked every day.
Best time to see gorillas in Uganda.
Uganda is known as all year round travel destination in East Africa to any tourist planning to do gorilla trekking in Uganda, being Equatorial pleasant warm and tropical climate with insignificant seasonal variations, making it best time to visit gorillas in Bwindi and Mgahinga National Park all year round. During the drier season of June, July, August, and early September and then December up to February are the most preferred since the Gorillas they are nesting, the trail are dry making it easier for gorilla trekking in Uganda and this also increases your chances of seeing gorillas in Bwindi National Park. Besides dry season, visiting gorillas in Uganda during the rainy season makes trekking gorillas possible, thou it difficult and the grounds become slippery and muddy, together with the showers and droplets, and can make for an uncomfortable or interesting experience for less experienced walkers especially in month of October to November and from mid-March to the end of May, there is heavy rains make the trails too slippery making it harder to hike and trek mountain gorillas. To bird lovers, these are the best month for bird watching because there are migratory birds in the park during this time.