What to know about Ruhija gorilla tracking sector

What to know about Ruhija gorilla tracking sector – Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

What to know about Ruhija gorilla tracking sector – Bwindi impenetrable forest national park was designated as a national park in 1991 and in 1994, it was listed as a UNESCO world heritage site because of its ecological importance and a 10 square kilometer area was incorporated into the park. Bwindi forest became famous to the world because of mountain gorilla trekking. The forest is habitat for more than half the world population of mountain gorillas. These great apes are highly endangered and the forest possesses more than 620 individuals. They are highly endangered because of poaching, habitat loss and disease.

The Ruhija sector is situated in the Eastern side of Bwindi Impenetrable national park and it harbors four gorilla families namely; the Bitukura Gorilla family, Oruzogo family Mukiza and Kyaguriro family though the Kyaguriro family was habituated, it’s there for research purposes and only 6 visitors are allowed to visit this group in a day but the family can be trekked if the visitor has asked for permission from the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

Only 8 healthy right aged trekkers with valid permits are allowed to trek a particular family in a day with 24 permits available every day. Ruhija is not as busy as Buhoma and so trekking here will give the visitors ample time to do other activities like bird watching. The Bitukura gorilla family is believed to be the friendliest family and it took the shortest time to habituate.

Though Ruhija is not as developed and has fewer gorilla families than Buhoma, the region offers more ecotourism experience due to its location. Ruhija is positioned between Buhoma sector to the north and Kibale to the east making it easily accessible from parts of north and south and connects 218km to reach Queen Elizabeth national park

By road, Ruhija can be accessed from Entebbe/ Kampala via Kabale or from Kampala via Rukungiri, Kihihi, and Butogota then to Ruhija. A 4×4 vehicle is required for the journey due to bumpy and muddy nature of roads in Uganda.

By air, there is no direct flight to Ruhija but you can board via kihihi and then drive two hours to Ruhija. What to know about Ruhija gorilla tracking sector, contact Great Adventure Safaris for details and booking safari to see gorillas in Ruhija.