#mountain_gorillas

[adyeri]

Epic Gorilla Trekking experience and Fascinating Masai Mara Game Drives

After an epic gorilla trekking trip to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, we set off for a 6 day fascinating Masai Mara experience.

https://www.adyeri.co/7-days-gorilla-tour-and-masai-mara-experience

[wigmund]

From NatHab/WWF Wildlife Photo of the Day; January 18, 2018:

Silverback Gorilla in Africa Benjamin Thomas

Species: Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) | Location: Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

This photo was taken in Rwanda at Volcanoes National Park. After trekking for over nine hours through thick mud, dense brush, bamboo forests and stinging nettles we located a family of gorillas and this magnificent silverback seemed to strike a pose — as if he did it every day. He was within arms reach as I took this photo. Shortly after this photo he decided he had enough and, pounding his chest, scrambled right past us and back into the forest. It was an amazing encounter.

[africanjan]

More Gorillaz

I'm going to track Gorillas again! In comparison to the struggles in Uganda, it has been ridiculously easy to secure a permit. Went directly to ORTPN (Office Rwandais du Tourisme et des Parc Nationaux), chose the date, payed 300 US$ (Tanzanian Residence Permit FTW!) and that's it. Next Tuesday is Gorillaz Day 2. Yes!

[adyeri]

How to survive freak accidents on holiday

They're highly unlikely eventualities, but freak accidents do happen. Your strategy in dealing with a dangerous encounter will depend entirely on the species of beast - a lion, for example, you should back away slowly from but never turn and run  

While the vast majority of safari expeditions are safe, no drive is ever risk-free when it comes to wild animals. 

Your strategy in dealing with a dangerous encounter will depend entirely on the species of beast.

Find yourself face-to-face with a lion, for example, and you'll need to make direct eye contact and back away very slowly. Never turn your back, never run.

If you endure a stand-off with a leopard, the reverse is true. Here, you'll need to avoid eye-contact at all costs and hope they lose interest.

Elephants may look slow and peaceful, but they can be highly aggressive and very capable of harm. The trick here is to stand your ground and pretend to be brave. You're be hoping they'll make one or two mock charges, then saunter off when unchallenged.

As for a buffalo, there'll be no such warning. You'll never outrun one, nor survive them in combat, so your only option is to get a head start and climb a tree. 

[adyeri]

Africa's best national parks

More and more visitors flock each year to the continents' parks and reserves, bearing witness to nature on a grand scale and playing a vital role in generating tourism income.

Here are some of the top picks on the continent.

Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

Maasai Mara National Reserve, which has been honored by the World Travel Awards, is named after its ancestral inhabitants, the Maasai people, and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in southwest Kenya.

In addition to an impressive population of big cats, rhinos and elephants, it plays host from July through to October each year to one of the world's more spectacular movements of wildebeest known as the Great Migration, the phenomenon involves more than 1 million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of gazelles, zebras and other animals, which migrate from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Serengeti National Park was established in 1951, making it Tanzania's oldest national park. The park is arguably one of the most famous in the world and covers 5,700 square miles of grassland, riverine forest, woodlands and savannah.

It is famed for its spectacular scenery, diverse wildlife and its part in the impressive annual migration of more than a million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of other animals.

Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo

Established in 1925, Virunga National Park is Africa's oldest national park and is often considered the crown jewel of parks on the continent. It lies in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The park is known for being the "continent's most biologically diverse protected area" and is home to endangered species, such as the mountain gorilla and the okapi.

In the 1970s, Virunga welcomed an average of 6,500 visitors every year, but it has suffered terribly from armed conflict and poaching. The park is slowly re-establishing itself through international donations.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda

The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is located in southwestern Uganda and is home to a multitude of birds, butterflies and endangered species, including the mountain gorilla. Some 300 wild gorillas live in the park, accounting for nearly half the world's population The park also boasts more than 160 species of trees. The main tourist attraction is gorilla tracking, which generates a steady stream of revenue for the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

Kruger National Park, South Africa

Kruger National Park was established as a game reserve in 1898 and is home to a vast number of species, including more than 500 types of bird and more than 100 reptiles. It also boasts a huge diversity of trees and flowers.

The park is also known for big game, as well as more than 255 recorded archeological sites. Several rivers traverse the park from west to east, including the Sabie, Olifants, Crocodile, Letaba, Luvuvhu and Limpopo.

[adyeri]

3 Days Gorilla Tour in Volcanoes National Park- Rwanda

Kigali - Volcanoes National Park

With a distance of approximately 80 Kilometers from Kigali International Airport to Volcanoes National Park, this drive at most takes 2.5 hours making this safari package ideal for short stay and business travelers to Rwanda. Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda is not only a fun and thrilling adventure but also a noble cause because a huge sum of the funds collected from the sale of Gorilla permits goes into conservation.

If you want to keep the magic alive a little longer you can add a few days in Masai Mara to your holiday agenda. Masai Mara is one of the most spectacular safari destinatins in the world, Huge herds, big adventures. Once you’ve been on Safari in the Masai Mara National Reserve everywhere else will feel tame by comparison.

DAY 1

Kigali – Volcanoes National Park

Arrival of your international flight. Met by our representative.

Your safari guide will take you around for a tour of Kigali City. Highlights of the Kigali city tour include a visit to the Kigali Memorial Center which is a memorial center in remembrance to the over 800,000 people who lost their lives in the 1994 genocide.

Arrive and check-in.

Dinner and overnight at the selected/available lodge or tented camp.

DAY 2

Volcanoes National Park

06h30: Early morning breakfast at the hotel/lodge then depart for the ORTPN offices for briefing prior to departing into the forest to start trekking the mountain gorillas.

Visit the local community in the afternoon after your lunch and close off the day by visiting the iby’iwacu cultural village for local musical performances by a cultural troupe

Dinner and overnight at the selected/available lodge or tented camp.

DAY 3

Volcanoes National Park – Kigali

06h30: Set off for an early morning mountain gorilla tracking adventure at the Volcanoes National Park

Tracking ideally will last anywhere between 30 minutes to 3 hours depending on your tour guide of the day Depart for your homebound international flight at Kigali International Airport.

[adyeri]

Wildlife encounters you will never forget

LION FEEDING FRENZY, KENYA          

 THE ENCOUNTER

In Africa, everyone is a cat person. Giraffe are endearing, elephants are imposing, hippos can bellow like no one's business, but it is the big cats that are really mesmerizing, both for their beauty and for their ability to eviscerate you should the mood take them.

Of all the cats, the lions put on the best show. Leopards and cheetahs are shy, solitary creatures; lions, by contrast, let it all hang out. They seem remarkably unperturbed by spectators, whether they are engaged in marathon mating sessions or just lounging around on a tree branch.

The most spectacular moment for a lion encounter is, of course, feeding time, and since lions spend several days feasting off a kill, plenty of safari-goers get the chance to gatecrash a meal.

It is not a sight for the squeamish; if its good manners you want, stay at home. Safari is life unedited and when animals feed, there is plenty of blood and guts involved – literally. However, it is fascinating to see a wild animal eat. Turns out that lions' tongues are as rough as sandpaper, more than a match for the tender underbellies of their prey.

One of the most impressive things about life on the African plains is how many animals a single kill can sustain. Once the lions have taken their share of the carcass, other animals get a go. None will make a move while the lions surround the carcass, alternately dining and dozing, but a few metres away, a hungry horde eagerly positions itself, its members squabbling among themselves over who gets priority. The burly hyenas are top of the pecking order, followed by the slender jackals and finally the vultures. There will be enough for everyone, even if the poor old vultures have to make do with the least tempting morsels. 

NEED TO KNOW

Kenyan safari camps offer twice-daily game drives under the supervision of expert guides. The best wildlife viewing happens between the months of July and October. Leave the littlies at home; safari requires the ability to sit quietly for long periods of time

ESSENTIALS

Mara Ngenche Safari Camp, an intimate tented camp overlooking a hippo pool, offers spectacular wildlife encounters. Room and board rates start from $US807 ($1075).  

SPOTTING GORILLAS, UGANDA

  THE ENCOUNTER

Gorillas have always driven humans a bit nutty. How else to explain their roles in Tarzan, and King Kong, and Planet of the Apes – how else to explain the likes of Dian Fossey going almost insane when gorillas emerged from the mist.

And yet, for an animal that has dominated our thoughts for so long, mountain gorillas are now so rare as to be just a human war or serious disease away from permanent annihilation. They are five times rarer than tigers, three times rarer than giant pandas, and you absolutely don't come across them by accident.

Instead, in a very few places, including Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, tourists can go on expensive, organized treks to reach the dwindling world of the mountain gorilla.

The rules and regulations are extensive – a maximum of 24 people a day are permitted to see the apes, with interactions limited to an hour, so as not to over-familiarize the gorillas with people, and to cut down on the chances of tourists doing something stupid.

Although they're completely wild, gorilla trekking in Bwindi comes with a virtual guarantee of success and a little hardship too.

"It seems really very unfair that man should have chosen them to symbolize everything that is aggressive and violent, when that is the one thing that the gorilla is not, and that we are."

NEED TO KNOW

You're not allowed to get closer than seven meters from mountain gorillas, but that doesn't mean they won't get closer to you. When they approach, don't stare into their eyes too long and try not to bare your teeth – even if all you want to do is smile. 

THE ESSENTIALS                                                               

You can track gorillas year-round, although the height of the rainy seasons can make the conditions heavy going. The best times are in the drier months from about June to mid-September or December to February.

[wigmund]

From EarthShots.Org Photo of the Day; January 31, 2017:

Curiosity Prelena Soma Owen

One of the most humbling and emotional experiences I've had was coming to within touching distance of a family of Mountain Gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda. Here a baby gorilla is just as curious of us as we were of him.

[wigmund]

From NatHab/WWF Wildlife Photo of the Day; April 21, 2018:

A Very Close Encounter Judith Lee

Species: Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) | Location: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda

“This beautiful female mountain gorilla chose to sit next to me in the jungle on a volcano in Uganda! It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. It took nine hours of hiking before we came across them!”

[adyeri]

Uganda Safari

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

About

At the extreme south western tip of Uganda on the borders with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo lies Uganda’s smallest national park covering 33.7 square kilometers.

The Mgahinga Gorilla National Park established in 1991 is also one of Uganda’s newest national parks. It is an integral part of the Virunga Conservation Area and is contiguous with Parc National Des Volcans in Rwanda and Parc National Des Virunga in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Three extinct volcanoes lie within the park: Mount Muhabura, at 4,127 meters; Mount Gahinga at 3,475 meters; and Mount Sanbinyo at 3,645 whose peak lies along Uganda’s border with Rwanda. Mgahinga is afro montane tropical rainforest, and the vegetation is typical of this terrain, with a montane forest belt, a bamboo zone, an ericaceous belt, and an alpine zone.  The park is surrounded by the terraced fields of the Batwa and Bafumbira people. The Batwa lived in the forest as hunters and gatherers but have since resorted to farming.

Most of the lower forest in the park has been lost as a result of human pressure over the last five decades. Bamboo and alpine habitat are largely all that remain. The local people benefit from the park with a portion of gorilla permit fees going to local development and conservation.

Getting there

Kisoro where Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is located is 496 kilometers from Kampala, 213 kilometers from Mbarara and 66 kilometers from Kabale.

When to go

As a rainforest the park is always wet even more so during the rainy seasons of April – May and October – November. But as Gorilla permits are hard to come by for only a limited number of people per day, it’s advisable to track the Gorillas when you can. It’s important to note that Gorilla permits are discounted during the months of March-May and September – November with visitors only paying 450 USD as opposed to the 600 USD paid during the peak seasons of June- August and December – February. Do the Math and compare that with a Rwanda Gorilla Permit that costs 1,500 USD all year round and you will notice that you will be saving a whooping 1,050 USD.

Sightseeing

From Mbarara continue towards Kabale on the main tarmac road to the south west through the towns of Kinoni and Ndejja to Ntungamo, the headquarters of Ntungamo district a 66 kilometer drive from Mbrarara. There the main road heads more directly southern through Rubare, Rushenyi, and Bukinda to Kabale, which 86 kilometers past Ntungamo.

Kabale in southwestern Uganda is the unofficial capital of the Kigezi region and is a beautiful mountainous area with steep sided hilly slopes. It s an area crisscrossed by numerous tracks and paths making it a haven for hikers. One of the most beautiful attractive places is Lake Bunyonyi , which is situated over a ridge to the north west of Kabale Large and irregular Lake Bunyonyi features a number of islands and is surrounded by heavily cultivated hillsides.

From Kabale its about 66 Kilometers by road to Kisoro, the road offers spectacular views of the peaks of the Virunga mountain range. If you feel like exploring in Kisoro while waiting for the Gorilla tracking activities, you can visit lakes Mutanda and Muhele a few kilometers north of the town.

Getting to the Gorillas

Before tracking the Mountain Gorillas you have to make an advance payment for which a Gorilla permit shall be issued by the Uganda Wildlife Authority. The Uganda Wildlife Authority will also give you updated information regarding Gorilla Permit availability and current fees. The gorilla viewing situation is constantly changing so we avail you with updated information prior to travelling.

 Gorilla Tracking permits cost 600 USD for Foreign Non-Residents and 400 USD for Foreign East African Residents (You qualify to be an East African Resident if you reside in Uganda, Kenya, Rwandaand Tanzania)

On the day you intend to track the Gorillas you have to be at the Park headquarters at Ntebekko Camp at the mountain foothill by 0830. Once there be prepared for some strenuous walking and scrambling through thick undergrowth. You must be in good physical shape.  To protect the Gorillas from disease, children under the age of 15 and people who are ill are prohibited from entering the park. Keep in mind that Gorillas are primates and there DNA is closely linked by 97% with that of humans; so they can contract disease from humans like flu that’s why it’s advisable to stay clear when you’re ill. Follow you tour guide’s instructions because these animals are wild and capable of killing people.  There are less than 800 mountain gorillas in the world of which almost half live in the Virunga conservation area and the other half in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, about 25 kilometers north of Mgahinga.  If you’re taking photographs remember not to use the flash feature on your camera because the Gorillas are dark and their habitat is dark. Carry along a specialized camera or smart phone that won’t necessitate using flash.

Besides Mountain Gorilla Tracking, other activities on offer at the Mgahinga National Park include tracking the Golden Monkey and the park also supports uniquely adapted animals and plants. More than 185 bird species have been recorded in the area.

There are also a number of exciting hiking options to take while at the park which showcase Mgahinga’s dramatic views, lush vegetation and wildlife. Visitors may for instance attempt the full day challenging climbs to the tops of Mount Muhabura and Mount Gahinga, who summits offer great view of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. You’re bound to see lots of unique alpine vegetation and a small volcanic lake hidden away at the top of Mount Muhabura.  For safety reasons climbing the nearby Mount Sabinyo is not recommended but you can hike through the beautiful and dramatic Sabinyon Gorge.

Another outing can be arranged at the Garama Cave, where humans once sheltered during the late Iron Age.  The cave rumoured to cut through to Rwanda is about two kilometers from Ntebeko Camp. The visit last two to three hours and does not require any special hiking skills.

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park also features a 13 kilometer nature trail, providing the opportunity to learn about the ecology and wildlife of this park. During the walk you might see the Golden Monkeys, Duikers and Bushbucks.  For trekking to see the gorillas or going on any of the organized hikes, good hiking boots or gumboots (Wellingtons), good rainwear and warm clothing are recommended.