The Democratic Republic of Congo is another home to Mountain Gorillas in Africa. The country has both Lowland and Mountain Gorillas. Gorilla trekking safaris in Congo are becoming popular worldwide! The country is safe and open to all International visitors. The critically endangered mountain gorillas are found in Virunga National Park accessed from Kisoro town in south western Uganda. Kisoro town (Nearby town to the Boarder) is 2-3 hour drive from Kigali in Rwanda, and 6-8 hours from Kampala (Uganda’s Capital).
While on your tracking journey, be sure to hike further into the impenetrable jungles to watch the gorilla families in the wild. The guides and parks rangers will lead you for they can without doubt determine the common area where these gorilla families will be. These are experts in tracking and they keep records of the gorillas for purposes of conservation and protection from poachers.
At the break of day, a drive to Bukima- a warden’s post in the elevation of the Virunga National Park which is a gorilla tracking starting point slightly out of the Goma City will mark the beginning your gorilla tracking quest. Along the way be certain to see natives from the small agrarian villages waving tirelessly at any signs of modernization that they may see. This will most likely give you a glance at the different ways of life nearby.
The length of the trek is wholly dependent on the gorillas which hardly follow a clear path. You will get to understand that they wander a lot and that these itinerant gorillas voyage the jungle in families, only staying in an area long enough to clear it of food. Guides will sometimes be able to track them down in less than two hours but during other times it might take much longer.
Your first sighting might be that of mother apes holding their babies or the juvenile gorillas getting playful or even better the dominant silver backs keeping an eye out for their family! The guides are sure to do more explaining on their range of behaviours.
Mountain gorillas are very social, highly intelligent and great animals to observe and they live in families, the Mountain gorilla also known as the Gorilla beringei beringei exists in two population where by one population of these gorillas is found in the three parks that lie in the Virunga Volcanoes, such as the Virunga national park in the east of DR Congo, Volcanoes national park in North western Rwanda and the Mgahinga national park in south western Uganda, and another population is found in Bwindi Impenetrable National park in the South West of Uganda.
Having a gorilla trekking safari in DR Congo is something one wouldn’t want to miss in a lifetime, watching the Gorillas in the Virunga National Park. The fact that these primates live in families, each family requires a leader where by each family group is headed by a dominant silver back, there are also female gorillas that are in charge of care taking especially to the young gorillas, also there is nothing as amazing as watching the playful juvenile gorillas in the trees. Trekking starts at Bukima Patrol post, so all trekkers are supposed to be there early enough to go through the briefing and also meet their guides.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is still not yet so much explored by various people and if one is adventures this is the way to go since it doesn’t provide the mountain gorillas only, but there is also an opportunity of hiking the Nyiragongo Mountain. So the time to take the safari is now!
