WHY GO GORILLA TREKKING IN AFRICA
Gorilla trekking safari is the most magical experience in Africa, watch a family of gorillas led by a watchful but kind silverback male, glossy black against the tropical rainforest’s luminous green. Your gorilla trekking efforts vanish in a split second, but for the one magical hour you spend with them, a strange familiarity settles over you. Young gorillas wrestle each other like wrestlers, maternal females congregate in grooming groups and occasionally chastise the young, and the patriarchal silverback keeps a watchful eye on the environment.
Gorilla trekking in Africa offers one of the most profound wildlife experiences. The gorilla population in protected areas is counted in the hundreds rather than thousands, which makes mountain gorillas a rare species. Gorilla trackers can give them individual names and identify them by faces and personalities easily.
The last protected areas of the central tropical rainforests and gorilla parks on the continent are where Africa’s giant apes are surviving in their natural habitat. Gorilla populations are slowly growing as a result of the money made from gorilla trekking tourism, and scouts who may have once killed gorillas and other primates for their fur are now their protectors and make a living by preserving what they once killed. It is a success story for conservation, and the survival of the species depends on continued gorilla trekking tourism.
Gorilla trekking is the most life-changing and intimate wildlife encounter in Africa without a doubt, spending time with the mountain gorillas in the wild. You will leave the gorilla parks in Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo with soul-stunning memories that will last a lifetime. Here is our helpful guide on everything you need to know if you’re thinking about going on a gorilla trekking adventure and would like to know what to expect.
Mountain gorillas in Africa can only be found in the wild. Trekking to see gorillas in their natural habitat is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park in Uganda and Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda are the two best destinations to see mountain gorillas. The mountain gorilla population is estimated to be 900 individuals, who are desperately clinging to life in these two remote sanctuaries. They are critically endangered due to deforestation and hunting.
The likelihood of the survival of the western lowland gorilla has been negatively impacted by bush meat hunting and timber harvesting in Congo. Lowland swamplands, primary and secondary forests are home to lowland gorillas, the smaller and less shaggy cousins of mountain gorillas. Lowland gorillas are critically endangered. People who live close to the Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have begun to value conservation more as a result of research on primates and gorilla trekking tourism. Communities are collaborating with research and tourism projects for a brighter future for the Congo Basin and all of its residents thanks to investments and job creation in the region. Odzala-Kokoua National Park is home to one of Africa’s most diverse primate populations and about 100 different mammal species.
Gorilla trekking is one of the most cathartic and personal wildlife encounters you can have in Africa, if not the entire world. It involves sitting a few meters away from a family of gorillas and witnessing your humanity reflected in their social rituals and warm brown eyes.
About Gorilla Trekking
Trekking for gorillas in the mountainous tropical rainforest often means hiking for hours on steep, narrow footpaths and moving through the dense African jungle behind the slashes of path via the foliage with a machete. You need to be fit. Your tour guide ensures that you take plenty of breaks and that you are properly equipped for the tough African environment. We advise wearing well-worn hiking boots that cover your ankles, thick outer socks made of cotton, and knee-high gaiters. You will not be permitted to go on a gorilla trek if you have a cold or any other contagious illness, because gorillas are very susceptible to human illnesses.
