Four of the five great ape species live on the African continent. In the alberine rift and Congo basin.
In contrast to the six billion human beings living on this crowed planet earth, there are only seven hundred mountain Gorillas left. They live in the Virunga volcanoes on the boarders of Uganda, Rwanda and Congo and also in the Bwindi impenetrable forest in Uganda. Eco Nest Tim safaris LTD organize tracking in Bwindi and Mgahinga in Uganda as well as in Parc National des Volcano in Rwanda. Bwindi has six habituated gorilla families. Mgahinga has one habituated transient gorilla family.
Parc de Volcano in Rwanda currently has seven habituated gorilla groups.
Tracking the mountain gorillas through the misty forest requires patience and stamina often walking for hours in the mud and wet. Finally meeting them in the undergrowth is an inspiring moment. Quietly chewing away at their vegetarian delicacies, they seem like a marooned human family.
Gorilla Permits
Uganda is also home to man’s closet relative, the chimpanzee, a delightful ape whose evocative pant-hoot call is a definitive sound of the African rain forest. Chimpanzee communities have been habituated for tourism at Kabale Forest, Budongo Forest and Queen Elizabeth National Park’s Kyambura Gorge.
A community of orphaned chimps, most of which were confiscated from poachers, can be visited on Ngamba Island, which lies on Lake Victoria 45 minutes by motorboat from Entebbe
Monkeys are exceptionally well represented in Uganda. Indeed, Kibale Forest boasts the greatest primate variety and density in East Africa, with five or six species likely to be observed over the course of one afternoon walk. Elsewhere, Mgahinga National Park hosts habituated troops of the rare golden monkey, while Murchison Falls is one of the few East Africa strongholds for the spindly, plain-dwelling patas monkey. The fossilized 20-million-year bones of Morotopithecus, the earliest-known ancestor of modern apes and humans, were unearthed in the 1960s near Moroto in Eastern Uganda, and are now housed in the National Museum in Kampala.
The gorilla permits cost USD 500, It s valid for one day and for one person. There is high demand for the permits because of the high number of people who track the gorillas. So you are strongly advised to secure your permit in advance (at least two months).
These permits can be bought at the Uganda wild Life Authority (UWA) headquarters or its offices. For more information concerning gorilla permits, please contact us