Gorilla Trekking Reality vs. Myths
Here are 5-Things You Never Knew About Gorilla Trekking
The 5-Things You Never Knew About Gorilla Trekking. Things you do not know about Gorilla Trekking. We compare the Reality versus the perceptions that tourists and visitors have. Perceptions can cost you Thousands of Dollars above what you should be paying.
What you read on the internet, in Travel Magazine, on TripAdvisor Posts, and in forums such as Fodors or Lonely Planet’s Thorntree Forum are biased and prejudicial opinions that do not reflect the Reality of gorilla trekking.
As we say in Uganda, the authors of such posts are spewing Buffaloes (Uglish -Ugandan English Phrase). They do not know what they are talking about.
Do we know Gorilla Trekking? We must—Gorilla Trekking is our business as well as our Passion.
Here are five things you never knew about Gorilla Trekking.
5-Things You Never Knew About Gorilla Trekking
1. Gorilla Trekking is not better in Rwanda:
Some say, “Gorilla Trekking is better in Rwanda.” Rwandan Tourism, Travel Agents, and International Tour Operators propagated that that is a myth sympathetic to Rwanda.
Even Ellen DeGeneres and Arsenal Football are part of the choir proclaiming Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda. Gorilla trekking to us is an encounter with the Mountain Gorillas, and it is the encounter that is important and not the country where the meeting takes place.
Those that claim that Rwanda is better for Gorilla Trekking than Uganda most often have never trekked Gorillas in Uganda. They merely pass on anecdotal diatribes from others or armchair Besserwissers clueless about traveling in Uganda.
Uganda, unlike Rwanda, offers two distinct terrains and habitats to trekkers. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Mgahinga Gorilla Park. Only in Uganda can you track Mountain Gorillas in an ancient rainforest and the shadows of the brooding volcanoes.
Since the time in 2017, when Rwanda chose to market itself as a high-end Gorilla Destination, doubling its Gorilla Permits to $1,500, thousands have chosen affordable Uganda as their Gorilla tracking Destination and have preferred to trek in cheap Uganda, making it the premier Gorilla Destination.
Ask gorilla tourists whether they had a lesser experience trekking Gorillas in Uganda. The bottom line is that a three-day gorilla safari is twice the price in Rwanda without compromising the quality of the experience.
2. I want interaction with the Gorillas on my Trek
Gorilla Trekking is unlike other Tourism offerings in Africa, such as walking with Lions, petting Lion Cubs, riding on the back of Elephants, feeding, and spending time with Chimpanzees.
Forget Dian Fossey and the movie “Gorillas in the Mist.” You will not be cuddling with Gorillas as she did, nor will you feed any Gorillas.
Yes, we all have seen John King II’s photos being groomed by a gorilla, but that is not the norm. That was a gorilla group visiting a lodge in the Buhoma area in Bwindi Forest. What he experienced was a one-time encounter not to be replicated.
Since the COVID-19 new protocols have been implemented, there is now the ten-meter distance rule and the wearing of surgical masks.
The Gorillas are in control of what happens. There is no interaction, no Koko the Gorilla sign language. It is the Wild. You are entering the living room of a Gorilla family, their place in the Wild. What happens, for the most part, is up to them. You, the Trekker, are an observer. If you choose the Gorilla Habituation Experience, you actively participate in the Habituation Process. Gorilla Trekking is unpredictable, except you will be with a gorilla family.
3. Gorilla Tourism Funds Gorilla Conservation:
I am a conservationist and am against Gorilla Tourism. Dian Fossey, a pioneer in Gorilla Conservation in her day, would agree with you.
Today, seeing what has been done by Conservation Wise for the Gorilla, the Forests’ conservation would be in harmony with Gorilla Tourism as it exists, and her namesake foundation now is. Without Gorilla Tourism, the Gorilla habitats would have long been turned into farms, plantations, and Villages.
Because of Gorilla Tourism, the number of Mountain Gorillas has dramatically increased to over 1,000.
Sharing permits and entrance fees into the protected Gorilla Habitats and education has raised the surrounding communities’ awareness level and reduced poaching to a minimum.
Gorilla Permit money is used to conserve and keep the gorillas well. The health and well-being of Gorillas are on the up, and so are the surrounding communities’ health and well-being. Gorilla Tourism has directly contributed to hospitals’ funding, such as Bwindi Community Hospital, one of Uganda’s best rural hospitals.
Tracking for Cash – means Gorilla Conservation is funded.
4. I am not going to trek Gorillas in Uganda-it is too long of a Drive:
The official airport for Uganda is Entebbe International Airport, and yes, it is a 9-hour drive to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest from there. Most visitors do not realize this since most have not looked at a map, and still today, many Gorilla Tour Operators do not tell you that there is a closer airport to Gorilla Trekking than Entebbe. You can fly into Kigali, Rwanda, the unofficial Uganda Gorilla Trekking airport. Within three hours, you are in Mgahinga Gorilla Park and four hours in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest’s southern area. That is precisely what most of our clients do.
Plan B is to fly to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest or Mgahinga Gorilla Park with AeroLink Safari Airline, a short, scenic flight from Entebbe airport. Still, it comes with a price tag that can add 500 plus Dollars to your Safari price. Plan C- is to weave a safari together that includes Gorilla Trekking plus other parks.
Many start their Safari with us in Kigali, and 7-days later, at the end of their Gorilla Chimpanzee Wildlife Safari, they fly back home out of Entebbe International Airport.
The East African Tourism Visa is best suited for such Visitors and covers three countries, including Rwanda and Uganda.
5. There are Guerrillas in the Gorilla Tracking Areas:
Uganda is the only country that has been Guerrilla-Free in the last few years. You can safely visit only Gorillas on a Gorilla Trek escorted by rangers and the military.
The same cannot be said about DR Congo and Virunga National Park, which has been closed for most of 2018, and there is no evidence that it will open again soon. It closed because of insecurity in the volatile Eastern Region of the Congo and Guerilla Activity, which directly hampered Gorilla Tourists.
Every precaution is taken as you head out for a Trek that you are safe. That includes tight border control in Southwest Uganda and northwest Rwanda. The purchase of weapons is restricted in Uganda and Rwanda; all those crossing the border into Uganda and Rwanda are checked for contraband material.
Reports by people who do not know the local geography place events in one country and put them into another. The term Virunga – covers the Volcanoes that are in Rwanda, Uganda, and DR Congo. Virunga National Park, the oldest park in Africa, is in DR Congo, and at times events there get associated with Uganda when that is not the case.
Safe and Secure Gorilla Trekking is taking place in Uganda and Rwanda.
What you might not know about the Role of Gorilla Tour Operator:
Things You Never Knew About Gorilla Trekking -We see Kabiza Wilderness Safaris like a Gorilla Matchmaker. We set up the Date, the lodge, and the transportation and ensure you have everything you need for a successful trek. Then it is up to the Gorillas how your Date with them goes.
The Gorilla encounter in the Wild is unlike a visit to the Zoo. You are on the Turf of the Gorillas. Pre-Trackers, the trackers, rangers, and porters will all assist you, but the Gorillas are in control. Ninety-nine percent of the time, things go better than planned, better than you imagined, rarely. Your expectations and the Reality of the Trek may not match. That is why knowing all you can about Gorilla Trekking before you go is good.
The Best Advice we, as a Gorilla matchmaker and a Gorilla Tour operator, can give you, put aside your expectations based on other people’s input. Your experience will be better than you expect.
We cannot stress enough because of Gorilla Trekking. Your experience with the Gentle Giants of the Forest is unpredictable since you are in the Wild. For 99%, the experience is better than expected. One added thing: know as much as possible before going about Gorilla Trekking or Habituation.
