It’s very clear that Uganda is the prime destination for mountain gorilla safaris with its two gorilla national parks – Bwindi and Mgahinga residing over 60% of the total population of mountain gorillas in the world. However, the activity of trekking these amazing creatures is not only joyous and memorable but also strenuous. There are a lot of challenges you will meet on your gorilla trekking safari in Uganda, and below are some of them:
Trekking for so long;
One of the challenges you will come across while on your gorilla safari in Uganda includes trekking the gorillas for a longer period than you would expect. Mountain gorillas usually keep on moving from place to place all over the jungle and this makes trekking them a very difficult task. Therefore, there isn’t an exact allocated period of time that you will spend trekking for a gorilla as today you can be lucky enough and see gorillas quickly, taking less than 30 minutes, and surprisingly the following day it takes you over 3 hours to trek the same gorilla family.
Meanwhile, you always need an assistance of a Park ranger as rangers always know where these creatures would have spent their previous night, thus easing on the trek for you.
Rain fall;
At times, especially in the wet months of March to May and November, rains become a major hurdle for gorilla safaris. On a bad day you may find that it will rain from morning till evening thus intimidating the activity and if you don’t have many days you may end up missing the activity. Still even when it rains and stops, the rainfalls will leave roads and tracks slippery/unnavigable as well as wetting the forests, hence making the activity difficult for you. If you are allergic to rainfall and coldness, it will also make you miss the activity.
The thick vegetation;
Especially in Bwindi, some of its vegetation cover is too thick which at times makes it difficult for you to find the gorillas as they (gorillas) will be hiding in the thick vegetation. The thick vegetation won’t also allow you to see the gorillas clearly as some of them will be hiding – which will also intimidate your photographing. Meanwhile, it’s not that most of or the entire Park’s vegetation cover is too thick as they are only few areas, and you should not have to worry because you will be able to see these mesmerizing creatures clearly.
Trekking an annoying gorilla family;
When going for a gorilla safari you should know that there are gorilla families like it is in humans. Bwindi comprises of 20 habituated gorilla families whereas Mgahinga has 2 – making a total of 22 habituated gorilla families in Uganda, as of current. Each gorilla family however has its own behaviors; there are some families which are too stubborn, others are too playful, others are too shy, others are great wanderers, and many other behaviors.
Therefore, you may be given to trek a very stubborn, shy or playful gorilla family that can make the activity very difficult for you.
Conclusion;
Meanwhile, you should not get scared of the activity just because of the aforementioned challenges as everything usually comes with challenges. Only you should do is being very prepared before you go for the gorilla trekking activity/safari.
Don’t ever risk going for a gorilla safari if you are having any illness because gorilla trekking is a very strenuous activity. If you are allergic to rain and coldness, the best thing to do is packing many heavy clothes like sweater, jackets and rain coats or you can opt to go for the activity in the dry months of June to August and January to February. Finally, gorilla trekking needs much determination and physicality. It’s however an immensely interesting and memorable activity to trek and spend an hour with the endangered mountain gorillas in their natural habitats.