East Africa Combined Gorilla Safaris

The eastern region of Africa is the best place in the world to spot endangered mountain gorillas. The mountain gorillas are one of the key attractions in East Africa alongside the wildebeest migration. East Africa combined gorilla safari offers the best there is to see regarding mountain gorilla adventure experience. We shall be comparing the trekking experience such as terrain, permit prices, and number of gorillas in the best gorilla destinations of Bwindi Impenetrable and Mgahinga Gorilla National Parks of Uganda, Virunga and Kahuzi-Beiga National Parks of Congo and Volcanoes National Park of Rwanda below.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Gazette in the year 1992 in Uganda, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park harbors the largest number of mountain gorillas in the country. The nature of the park given its dense vegetation and high geographical altitude, makes Bwindi a perfect habitat for these endangered mountain gorillas. These primates live in groups known as gorilla families headed by a silverback. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is blessed with over 50 gorilla families that live across 331 square kilometers.

However, with all those many families only 18 families are habituated and available for trekking. The mountain gorillas in Bwindi are distributed across the entire park in four different sectors. These sectors include the Buhoma, Rushaga, Ruhija, and Nkuringo sectors.

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

With over 100 mountain gorillas in the park, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is surely among the best destinations for a combined gorilla safari in East Africa. The park is located on the border with Rwanda and it has only two recorded gorilla families but only one is habituated. Established in the same year as its sister park Bwindi and with only about 33 square kilometers, Mgahinga is the smallest protected area in the country.

Virunga National Park

Regardless of the political instability that has shocked the country for a long time, the Democratic Republic of Congo is a must-visit for adventure enthusiasts on East Africa combined gorilla safari. This is because the Virunga National Park is a natural 350 mountain gorillas. Visitors from all over the world visit the park for an opportunity to have a glimpse of the endangered mountain gorillas.

The park has over 8 habituated gorilla families among the 10 families in the entire park. Virunga National Park is among the oldest parks in Africa after being gazette in 1925 during the colonial days.

Kahuzi-Beiga National Park

If you are venturing on an East Africa combined gorilla safari, Kahuzi-Beiga National Park is the park you must include on your package. Kahuzi-Beiga is the only place in the whole of East Africa to find lowland gorillas. These species of gorillas, unlike their cousins the mountain gorillas prefer harboring in the lowland areas.

The lowland gorillas are also located in some of the West African countries like Gabon, and Angola to mention but a few. Stretching for a distance of about 6,000 square kilometers, Kahuzi-Beiga National Park in Congo is one of the largest parks in Africa.

Volcanoes National Park

Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park is the most common and popular tourism destination in the country. The park is famous for being home to the endangered mountain gorillas. Volcanoes National Park is the oldest park in the country with its establishment dating back to the 1925’s. The park being under the Virunga Conservation Area hosts five of the eight volcano mountains of this conservation area. The Karisoke Research Center in the park is always populated by visitors who come to pay their respects to a conservationist legend Dian Fossey while on their gorilla trekking safari.

Dian Fossey is recognized worldwide as a person who dedicated her life to the conservation efforts of mountain gorillas in East Africa. She had earlier begun her work in Virunga but fled to Rwanda after a civil war in Congo before meeting her death in 1985 in Rwanda. About 10 gorilla families are habituated and can be visited at any time of the year.

Comparison of the gorilla trekking experience in East African

East Africa has the most the number of mountain gorillas in the world, every gorilla destination in this region is different from the other and gives different trekking experiences. Just as we shall see shortly below, the terrain, prices for the gorilla permits, and the number of gorilla families all contributed to this distinct trekking experience.

Terrain

The terrain of the gorilla destination can be a decisive factor in making one’s trekking experience. Rugged, steep, and muddy terrain can pose a challenge to the trekkers and often limit their ability to fully exhaust their gorilla safari adventure. Though mountain gorillas live in mountainous areas accessing them could be very difficult unlike in different sectors and parks. For instance, Bwindi has four sectors and two sectors Nkuringo and Rushaga are a bit steep and require an extreme effort of fitness to explore. Other Bwindi, Mgahinga, and Virunga are also relatively steep compared to Volcanoes National Park of Rwanda.

Vegetation

Mountain gorillas are wild animals that prefer to live in very dense and thick vegetation far from the public eye. This is why the Virunga Conservation Area is the best and only habitat where they can flourish. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park as you hear its name “impenetrable” has very dense vegetation to the point inside the forest it appears very dark in broad daylight. Virunga and Kahuzi-Beiga National Parks of Congo have relatively thicker vegetation than the Mgahinga and Volcanoes National Parks.

Prices of Gorilla permits

The prices of gorilla permits in East Africa differ in each country. The Democratic Republic of Congo has cheaper permits compared to other East African nations. These permits go for as low as USD 400 per person for foreign non-residents and USD 200 per person for Congolese and East African citizens. Uganda also has relatively cheap permits at USD 800 per person for foreign non-residents, and USD 700 for foreign residents, with East African citizens and nationals paying UGX 300,000. Rwanda has the most expensive permits in the region at USD 1,500 per person for foreigners and USD 800 for citizens of East Africa.

Number of gorilla families

Uganda has the most and least number of gorilla families in the region with Bwindi Impenetrable National Park having over 50 families and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park with only two families. Rwanda comes second with 10 and Congo third with 8 gorilla families.