It is surely a killer, chiller and thriller moment when the tourists’ eyes dazzle over the magnificent gigantic gorillas that are not seen from usual spots but one of a few mother natures, Mgahinga. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is a small sleek natural forest found in Kisoro district straddling the Virungas. The park hosts about 50 gorilla individuals however only one gorilla family stay in the thick emerald green forest of Mgahinga.

Gorilla families in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park has only one habituated gorilla family, Nyakagezi which can be visited by 8 people on a daily basis. Humans share about 98% of DNA with gorillas and this explains why they live within  families just like humans do.

Nyakagezi gorilla Family

This family is an eponym of a place in the park called Nyakagazi as that is where they were first sighted. This family has been known for its exploratory nature as they always drifted from Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda for a long time before they chose to settle in Uganda’s Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.

Habituated in 1991 after the Mgahinga was gazetted as a national park, this beautiful gorilla family was first available for gorilla trekking activities in 1994. History has it that the silverback Bugingo was the leader of this amazing group during the times it was habituated and open for trekking and later smoothly handed over power to his successor Mark. The knowledgable Bugingo was titled Mzee meaning elder.

Silverback Bugingo died a happy gorilla at the age of 54 as it never became a loner throughout its life time even when he stepped down of power. The family has a total of 5 members that include 5 silverbacks, 2 female adults and three youngsters. The silverbacks include Mafia, Mark, Ndugutse, Bugingo and Rukundo. The female adults are Nyiramwiza and Nshuti. The infants include Mutagamba, Fred and Nshuti.

Trekking this family is quite easy as they prefer living in the lowlands compared to the steep slopes. It is very vital not to miss this gorilla family due to its highest level of ubuntu portrayed by not sending Bugingo away after stepping down of power.

Gorilla trekking

This extraordinary memorable gorilla trekking activity kick starts with a briefing to the tourists about the rules and regulations that should be followed strictly while hunting for the gorillas. The tourists are divided into small groups of 8 and each group should risk sighting a gorilla family after the long or short hike depending on where the gorilla are feeding from that ranges from 2 to 7 hours of manoeuvring into the lush green forest.

Tourists are permitted a full hour without cheating them any seconds to enjoy the unforgettable views of our forest cousins in their natural habitant. The epic hikes to and from the gorilla visit reveals a lot of nature like birds, other primates,butterflies to mention but a few.

Cost of gorilla trekking in Uganda

Tourists interested in gorilla trekkihg should indeed break the bank if need be so that they can afford paying for the gorilla permits and enjoy the black sleek enormous gorillas of Mgahinga. The gorilla trekking permits for Mgahinga cost USD 800 for foreign non-resident, USD 600 for foreign residents and UGX 300,000 for East African citizens.

Booking of gorilla trekking permits

Tourists interested in visiting the park for this huge memorable activity should book their permits 3 to 6 months before the actual date of trekking due to the high demand of the activity to avoid being disappointed. Booking can be made through a local trusted and registered tour operator like Standard Safaris.

Best time to trek the gorillas in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.

Gorilla trekking can be done by tourists year in and out however the best among the best is the dry season that falls between the months of June to September and December throughout February.

Other activities visitors can engage in besides gorilla trekking in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.

Batwa cultural experience.

Tourists get to discover the hidden insights that highlight the lives of the Batwa pygmies  when they choose to walk in the surroundings of the forest to the Batwa homesteads. This group was the original occupants of these forests before it was gazetted into a national park. While on this excursion, tourists enjoy the history of the batwa and tour around the Garama gave. The history that the cave holds to the people of Batwa is so deep as the area was a sacred place and used to hide away during invasions from its neighbours.

Golden monkey tracking

These monkeys are as glittering as gold hence named the golden monkeys. Those who treasure hunting to glimpse at the beauty given off by these small tree jumping creatures should surely engage in this hiking spot as they are not usually found in every national park.

Visitors who miss walking through the bamboo forest with either a binocular or a camera are at loss because the unusual joy brought by the monkeys jumping from one tree to another should be kept fresh in the mind of the tourists with photographic evidence. Tourist are granted  2 to 4 hours of enjoyment when  they chance them.

Mountain climbing

Mountain climbing basically means hiking the volcanoes as these are the only mountain that are present in the park. The park has three on the virunga mountains based in its premises hence hikers were naturally well thought of while in this park. The park has Gahinga the pile of stones, Muhavura the guide and Sabinyo meaning the old man’s tooth.

Greater views are given off by Muhavura as it’s the highest among them all and Sabyinyo gives tourists a chance to be in all the three countries that is Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic Congo as it straddles among all of them.

Birding

The park as small as it is has everything a tourist would be interested in and birds were not left out while the park  was naturally being crafted.birders should be informed that the park has over 115 bird species 14 of these being endemic to only the Albertine rift, some being migratory birds and others being afro tropical highland biomes.

Some of the birds one can enjoy include the amazing handsome francolin, fire finch stonechat, blue fly catcher, blue breasted bee eater, the ruwenzori turaco among others making the smallest park in the country offer the biggest birding experience in Uganda.