Tips for first gorilla trek adventure

Gorilla trekking offers one of Africa’s most profound wildlife encounters – their populations, even in protected reserves, are counted in hundreds rather than thousands. So rare are gorillas, that trackers are able to give them individual names and identify their faces and personalities easily.

The final protected areas of the continent’s central rainforests and gorilla parks are where Africa’s big apes survive in what remained of their native habitat. Populations are progressively increasing as a result of the cash generated by gorilla trekking tourism, and scouts, who may have formerly been poachers of gorillas and other primates, are now their protectors and earn their living protecting what they once killed. It’s a conservation success story, and gorilla trekking tourism is essential for the species’ survival.

Why Go Gorilla Trekking?

Mountain gorillas can only live in the wild; they cannot be seen in zoos, making hiking to view them in their natural habitat a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park in Uganda and Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda are the greatest spots to see mountain gorillas. Their population has decreased to an estimated 900 individuals as a result of deforestation and hunting, and they are clinging to survival in these two distant sanctuaries.

The western lowland gorilla’s chances of survival have been harmed by bush meat hunting and wood harvesting in Congo. Lowland gorillas, the smaller and less shaggy cousins of mountain gorillas, are severely endangered and reside in lowland swampland, primary and secondary forests. Those who live near Congo’s Odzala-Kokoua National Park have begun to place a higher emphasis on conservation as a result of primate research and gorilla trekking tourism. Communities are cooperating with research and tourism projects to build a stronger future for the Congo Basin and all of its residents, thanks to job development and investment in the area. Odzala-Kokoua National Park is home to over 100 animal species as well as one of Africa’s most diversified monkey populations.

When to Go Gorilla Trekking ?

Although gorilla trekking is considered a year-round pastime in Uganda and Rwanda, the optimum time to explore the rainforests is during one of the two dry seasons. The first lasts from mid-December to the end of February, while the second lasts from early June to late September. These are the most pleasant times to go trekking, but the weather is still hot and humid, with plenty of mud (bring your gaiters!).

Rain is an important aspect of the Congo Basin’s equatorial rainforest’s ecosystem, and its seasons are appropriately defined as wet, wetter, and wettest. The ‘low rainfall’ season, which goes from June to September, and the ‘gentle rainfall’ season, which runs from December to February, are the best times to go gorilla trekking in Congo. July and August are the driest and coolest months of the year.