Trekking With Gorillas at Bwindi National Park

Trekking the scarce mountain gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is well worth a

mountainous trek. There are many myths surrounding the Mountain Gorilla from traditional African to nineteenth-century European beliefs. Speke (1861) heard that, ‘more formidable were monsters that could not converse with men. Others believed that gorillas could light fires, build huts, defeat elephants in single combat, catch and throw spears back at attackers. These features look interesting but mountain gorillas re proved to be peaceful primates.

Gorilla tracking safaris were few in the early 80s due to the poor perception travellers had against mountain gorillas. As a result they were hunted almost to extinction by white game hunters. It wasn’t until the 1970s that they were accurately and scientifically described as harmless vegetarians by George Schaller and the controversial Dian Fossey.

There are now believed to be 782 individuals surviving in two populations in Rwanda, Uganda and the Dr Congo. The first is found on the Virunga Mountains of the three countries and the second in Bwindi Impenetrable national Park, Uganda. These peaceful mountain gorillas have attracted many gorilla trekking safaris to these three countries.

The two populations differ slightly in type, behaviour and diet, reflecting different environments and altitudes. The Virunga gorillas are heavier and darker, but have never been recorded eating insects or any meat. In contrast Bwindi gorillas can be found around rotting logs helping themselves to teeming insects, buffet style.

They generally form groups of 10-20 individuals led by a silverback (their hair goes grey after 12 years) and include a few younger blackbacks, females, juveniles and infants. Sometimes unattached males form transient groups of up to thirty individuals. Troops are not territorial; they travel several kilometres a day in search of lush vegetation, sleeping in a different location every night.

The general procedure to trek the gorillas is to arrive at the trailhead at 7am, walk to the troop between one to three hours spend one hour with them and return. As the rain forest terrain is hilly, and often steep, a reasonable degree of fitness and sensible clothing particularly shoes is required.

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