GORILLA HABITUATION EXPERIENCE
Ever wished to spend more time with mountain gorillas and you do not how best you can it? If this is what you plan to have this coming holiday then the best option is for you to embark on gorilla habituation experience a unique adventure that is only conducted within Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, southwestern Uganda. This experience entirely takes a process and mainly involves making the wild gorillas get used to human presence. It is one of the rarest primate adventures and unlike the usual treks, with habituation experience, you will embark on the trek with trackers, conservationists, researchers, scientists and you will visit mainly the semi habituated groups.
This adventure may take about 2 or more years or even less depending on how fast the gorillas can become familiar to human presence in the wild. This is a new primate experience that is only attainable nowhere else in the world except Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park in southwestern Uganda.
It is a new tourism product so far that is offered by Uganda Wildlife Authority. Compared to the normal treks, with gorilla habituation experience, only 4 visitors are allowed to take part. Also, there are only groups set aside for this particular experience and they are only in Bwindi National Park.
The cost of gorilla habituation experience permits
If you have any plans to take part in gorilla habituation experience, you need $1500 for you to secure a permit. However, the price is worth it as you have all the entire day and 4 hour hours of magical encounter with these most fascinating creatures while in their natural habitat. The fact that this experience is limited to only 4 visitors per day, you are encouraged to book your permit is advance at least 6 months earlier before the actual habituation day mostly during December all through March and July-October.
How to book a permit for gorilla habituation experience
Permits for this primate adventure can be booked through a trust worthy ground tour operator or through reservationist at Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). To take part in this extra-ordinary adventure, you must be above 15 years just like it is a case with the usual gorilla treks. It is conducted within Rushaga sector of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. Besides securing a permit, you also need a passport and you need a scanned copy too just it is done in gorilla trekking. The cost of permit covers the park entry fees.
This is a rare adventure and it is never available in Rwanda or even in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Therefore, you can only take part in it while on safari in Uganda and only in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. This park also features 4 main trailheads where the usual treks are always conducted and each of them has its habituated gorilla families for visitors to track. They include Buhoma sector north of Bwindi National Park with Mubare, Rushegura and Kahungye, Mishaya families; Nkuringo sector where you can track Nkuringo group and then in Ruhija trailhead in the eastern side of Bwindi National Park has Kyaguliro, Oruzogo, Bitukura and others.
This primate adventure is always conducted within the 2 groups of Bushaho and Bikingi. While on this experience, you get opportunity to understand in depth more about mountain gorillas and their behaviors. This exercise usually involves researchers, park rangers, conservationists, scientists, journalists, trackers and others.
Like gorilla trekking, habituation experience equally is guided by a number of set rules and regulations. Most of them are similar besides the 4 hours of magical encounter and semi-habituated group which is not a case with gorilla trekking where you only an hour of face to face encounter with these creatures, take their photos, learn their behaviors and body gestures. The other important thing to take note is you may need at least 2 bottles of drinking as this experience takes you the whole day while following the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat.
What makes this primate experience vary from the usual treks is that it is limited to only 4 visitors unlike the usual treks where you are assigned to one group to track in a group of 8 visitors. Looking at the cost of permits, habituation experience permits cost $1500 and gorilla trekking costs $600 per person.
In conclusion, gorilla habituation experience is undoubtedly the most extra-ordinary primate experience that you shouldn’t miss to undertake while on safari in Africa. You still incorporate it with the usual trek or other activities within the park.