How to see East African mountain gorillas in Rwanda – The global population of mountain gorillas is really so small with limited area habitat recorded in Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo with an estimated population of 1080 mountain gorilla individuals in the whole World.
Many traveller always wonder how can see this endangered mountain gorillas in Rwanda, we at Great adventure safaris say don’t you be worried we are your premier Rwanda gorilla safari company we specialise in booking Rwanda gorilla permits from Rwanda development board, booking safari lodges, arranging the best tour guides for you safari and arranging many other safari related services.
Our team of experts in East Africa will ensure that your trip is a trip of lifetime, apart from gorilla tracking we arrange safaris to Kenya’s Masai Mara to witness the wildebeest migration, Tanzania’s Serengeti to see the Great wildebeest migration, to Botswana to see the famous large herds of elephants in the Okavango delta and to Namibia’s Etosha national park.
As the name states mountain gorillas in the mountains of East Africa and a bit of West Africa so there is no other way you can see the mountain gorillas in Rwanda except by trekking in to East Africa’s dense tropical rainforest.
Gorilla trekking is an activity that involves tourist to walk on foot to look for the habituated mountain gorillas in their natural Habitat in Rwanda’s Volcanoes national park.
Gorilla tracking in Rwanda starts with beautiful breakfast as the sun comes out before dressing in full tracking gear before meeting your safari guide for a transfer to the park headquarters in kinigi where your guide will register your gorilla tracking permit as you enjoy a cup of coffee , after you will be shown to your gorilla group as you meet your guide who will lead you to the forest ,after you will enter your jeeps to drive to the starting point where will meet your porters and escorts then you will start your trek with your guide he will then start communicating to the trackers who leave early at 7 am to go and find the mountain gorilla before you start your day, they look for the gorillas using the previous nest, broken scrubs ,fresh dropping and other related signs.
-Gorilla tracking activities at volcanoes national park starts at 7 am Rwandan time at the park headquarters in Volcanoes national park.
-Clients intending to go for gorilla tracking must have booked there gorilla permits in advance as there is no guarantee of buying gorilla permit in the morning.
-Gorilla tracking activity can take from 2 hours to 8 hours from the time you start working in to the forest so travellers must be prepared for the worst case which is strenuous walk in the forest to find the gorillas.
-It’s important to have the correct gear for the trek as the tropical rain forest can be challenging for what to wear for gorilla tracking click this Link Great adventure safaris list of what to wear for gorilla tracking.
-Gorilla tracking experience is strictly one hour from the time you find the mountain gorillas.
-Porters are highly recommended –they help you carry your bag, give you a push and a pull as the terrain can be challenging however it’s one way of supporting the local communities near volcanoes national park.
-Minimum of one person will go and trek the gorilla family and a maximum of 8 people is allowed to trek the mountain gorillas.
-Flash photography is strictly not allowed as the mountain gorillas translate it as fire and this can force them to charge at you and being 10 times much stronger than a normal human being they can be dangerous.
-Gorilla tracking takes places in volcanoes national park only in Rwanda.
-Rwanda safaris all starts from Kigali and ends in Kigali.
Rwanda is open for tourism all year round but the better months are they dry months June-September and December-February but the other months of March-May and October- November are perfect because there are few tourists and enough food for the mountain gorillas.