Gorilla and chimpanzee trekking ranked the best tourist activities in the world. Would you like to do something different this summer? Why not book a gorilla safari or chimpanzee watching tour in Africa?
Ape Watching in Uganda
In Uganda, gorilla trekking is done in two parks namely; Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National park.
Chimpanzees are found in Kibale National Park, Kyambura Gorge, Toro – Semliki game reserve and Budongo Forest. If you take a close look at Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale National Park, a maximum of 18 people do trek chimpanzees both in the morning and in the afternoon. It is arranged in such a way that each chimpanzee party is trekked by 6 people thus 3 parties for 18 people. The fact that chimpanzees keep on breaking into small parties and regrouping, at a given point, you might find yourselves trekking the same party (18 people) they can join together.
Ape Watching in Rwanda
In Rwanda, Gorilla trekking is done in Volcanoes National Park and chimpanzee trekking in Nyungwe National park. Alongside Chimpanzees, Nyungwe National Park hosts other primates like velvet monkeys, Colobus monkeys, Olive Baboom, Mona monkey, Grey Cheeked mangabey, Red Tailed Monkeys, L’Hoest Monkeys, Blue Monkeys, Angola colobus Monkeys, Owl-faced monkeys among others.
Ape Watching in DR Congo
In Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gorilla trekking takes place in Virunga National Park while chimpanzee trekking in Kahuzi-Biega National Park.
Gorilla and chimpanzee trekking starts with briefing through which trekkers are equipped with Dos and Don’ts while in the process of trekking Gorillas. It should be noted that Gorilla trekking is the number one primate trekking activity followed by Chimpanzee trekking.
What is So Unique with the Great Apes?
Gorilla and Chimpanzees are the most intelligent primates and they are capable of using tools like sticks, stones and so on.
Gorillas
Although there are several subspecies of gorillas, the mountain gorilla is the rarest and the most tracked. In the forested slopes of the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda and Uganda as well as Bwindi Impenetrable Forest there are several habituated family groups that tolerate the presence of humans. Accompanied by trained guides you will head up into the heights of the mountains where you will get to spend time with these most fascinating of primates, an experience that will stay with you for the rest of your life!
On the other hand, habituated gorillas are found in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park. According to the 2013 mountain gorilla census,it ws discovered that Bwindi Impenetrable National park has almost have the number of mountain gorillas in the whole world while the other population of gorillas are in the virunga Ranges shared between Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic republic of Congo.
Packing list for gorilla or chimp trekking:
Both gorilla and chimpanzee tracking requires one to have hiking boots, garden gloves, long sleeved trousers and shirts, rain jackets, sun glasses, huts, a hiking stick and some energy giving foods to give you that extra strength when needed. You might not need a porter for chimp trekking in Kibale but we highly recommend one for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for your gorilla trek.
In terms of costs, Chimpanzee trekking is much cheaper compared than Gorilla trekking. More so, chimpanzee trekking is less strenuous than Gorilla trekking. Gorilla search takes approximately 4 -7 hours compared to the time taken while trekking chimps.