Likelihood of seeing mountain gorillas in Rwanda

Likelihood of seeing mountain gorillas in Rwanda – Volcanoes National Park

Likelihood of seeing mountain gorillas in Rwanda – Surprisingly this is the most asked question when travellers are travelling to Rwanda for gorilla tracking being wild animals and leaving in the edge of the Africa great rift valley and one of the few protected forest covers left on the planet.

Other popular national parks include Gishwati mukura national park which is a home to chimpanzee and the endangered mountain gorillas, Nyungwe for chimpanzee tracking and canopy walk and Akagera national park for wildlife safaris.

Where does Mountain gorilla tracking take place in Rwanda?

Mountain gorilla tracking takes place in Volcanoes national park which covers 160 sq kms of rain forest cover in the hilly and higher altitudes of the greater Virunga massif which is comprised of 3 countries of Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic republic of Congo.

The national park is a home to 11 habituated mountain gorilla families which are open for tourism in volcanoes national park Rwanda.

What is gorilla tracking?

Gorilla tracking is the process by which tourists trek on foot in to the African dense forest cover to search for the endangered mountain gorillas with a guide and trackers, after finding the mountain gorillas they will spend one hour with the gorillas in their natural habitat.

How is Gorilla tracking done?

Likelihood of seeing mountain gorillas in Rwanda – t all starts with securing a Rwanda gorilla permit before packing what you need for the trek and boarding the aircraft from your home country before touching down in Rwanda the country of a thousand hills.

Usually after morning breakfast clients will pack food, water, rain jackets, spear batteries, Cameras, cape and dress in long sleeved shirts, long pants, Long stocking, Good hiking boots before driving to the park headquarters in Kinigi where your Guide will do the registration for you as you enjoy a great cup of coffee before the gorilla briefing by the Guide about the rules and regulations to follow while in the forest on a trek.

After the gorilla briefing you will transfer by car to the starting point for your gorilla group which may take anything from 20 minutes to 2 hours as the gorilla habitat is spread throughout the entire forest, after arriving you will meet your borders and the escorts who usually carry the famous AK 47 as a protection weapon to protect you from Animal attacks and porters who will help you in carrying your bag that is full of items and then you will start your trek depending on the location of the mountain gorilla group you can take anything from 2 hours to 7 hours before you return to the starting point.

The lead guide will always keep in touch with the trackers to find out if they have found the mountain gorillas using a walk talky after locating the gorillas you will spend 1 hour with them and return back.

What is the Likelihood of seeing the mountain Gorillas in Rwanda?

In a honest option the likelihood of seeing the mountain gorillas in Volcanoes national park is 99% as the gorilla families are habituated and followed up by trackers who always know their final habitat the day before.

What Determines the Movement of Mountain Gorillas?

It’s important to know that mountain gorillas covers a radius of 1 km if all factors remain constant and the following reasons will explain what determines the movement of the mountain gorillas passed the normal 1 km radius area coverage.

-Availability of food.

Gorilla movements are largely determined by the availability of food meaning during the off fruit and shrub season the mountain gorillas move a lot as they are searching for food they will cover more than 1 km since gorillas walk on four limps they can move faster on the hilly areas of the park which may make the trek a lot more tough.

-Interaction with fellow gorillas and other wild animals.

Gorillas are natural territorial so if two families meet the dominant silverbacks can fight or the weak one will run away meaning the day of the trek the gorilla may be very far so that means the trackers will take long to find the gorillas making the trek strenuous and other animals like elephants can also disturb the mountain gorillas making them to move away and very far.