Uganda, Rwanda Tourism Travel Info Guide, News: gorilla tracking experience

Showing posts with label gorilla tracking experience. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

My mountain Uganda gorilla tracking experience in Bwindi's Oruzogo gorilla family

Tracking Gorillas in Bwindi's Oruzogo Gorilla Family

Gorilla Trekking remains one of the most magical and rewarding wildlife experiences in the natural world, one that I know is high on the wish list of Uganda's tourists. An estimated 800 mountain gorillas are remaining on earth, approximately 480 of which reside in Bwindi National Park.

Some background information abour Oruzogo Gorilla Family

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Oruzogo mountain gorilla in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda

Oruzogo gorilla group is located in Ruhija together with Bitukura,and Kyaguriro (which is the gorilla family dedicated purely for research). This gorilla family can be trekked from Buhoma or Ruhija. The group consists of 16 individuals including 1 dominant silverback (named Tibirikwata) and two babies that were recently born. Although the sex of the two babies is yet to be established, the proud mothers are the cute adult females Birungi and Mutesi. The new babies join the posse of other infants Buchura and Kanywani who is Kakobe’s baby.
Naming all the 16 individuals save for the three infants who are currently known by their mothers’ identities like Mutesi baby or Birungi baby was completed before it was availed for tracking in 2012.
Other individuals in the group include Busungu(Meaning short tampered),Kashundwe, Nyakiina,Kaganga (the giant one),Otaka,Bwoba(the coward) Karimi (tongue) Kiromba, KLatooto (the small one) Kanywani(meaning friendly,Kakobe who looks like a monkey and Buchura referring to the youngest or last born before the two newest babies came forth.

My unforgettable experience tracking these gentle giants

I had a unique opportunity to join a UWA team visiting the newly habituated Oruzogo gorilla family.
On my big day, I was up at 6:30AM to join the UWA team into the forest. Bwindi is nicknamed the 'impenetrable forest', and I've got to say that it's easy to see why; at times it was literally impossible to make your way through the vegetation, even with the trackers carving a path for us with their machetes.

Black-and-white colobus monkeys,
one of the 10 primate species in Bwindi -

Heavy rains, and dying plants nourish this dense forest, but the benign gentleness of the morning and gently stirring grass and vines along the trails cunningly hide the never-ending dramas of the impenetrable forest. In this very small forest (330sqkm) over 350 bird species occur, as well as 120 mammal species (including 10 primates) and a staggering 1000 different plant species.
Occasionally we'd tromp through an ant colony; they'd march right up my shoes and socks, under my trousers, and make their way up to my boxer shorts before biting.

After about three hours of pushing through this thick vegetation on steep terrain, we still seemed to be nowhere near any gorillas. But finally we came to a flat, open area in the jungle, about 5m in diameter. "This is where the gorillas slept last night," the tracker told us. We all studied the area with a new interest and excitement. I noticed eight distinct impressions in the leaves - nests made by massive creatures.

A mountain gorilla resting in trees of Bwindi
- www.gorillasandwildlifesafaris.com

Then we came into a slight opening, suddenly I heard branches to my immediate right snap as if a tree was falling, and a very big rumbling noise beyond anything I had ever experienced! And then there was this smell, like a pungent body odor worse than that of a human who hasn't bathed in a month. It was then whispered that we were among the gorillas. I strained my eyes towards the shaking shrub as I held firmly onto my walking stick. There was nothing to see but the "raspberry bushes" in the gloom. Another glimpse, and then appeared a couple of square inches of black fur. It looked like being a big deal! This was it! Gradually things improved. We got a glimpse of a female with a baby balanced on her back. Finally we got ourselves near the silverback seated immersed in bushes pluck-eating branches of berries. Suddenly our luck dramatically changed, the silverback started moving further away, ignorantly exposing himself the more.

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The mountain gorilla - such a deserving name for this huge giant! In my whole life, I'd never seen this legendary species! Oh. This was a lifetime experience. No matter how much you watch mountain gorillas on television or even try hard to imagine what meeting them might actually be like, nothing can quite prepare you for this 1-on-1 encounter.

Then, all too soon, we were told it was time up (an hour being the limit for gorilla visits). We withdrew to make our way back. I was pretty content with what I'd seen.

Taken as a day it ranked strenuous, but one of those that make being born and living seem fully worthwhile.

Have you been to tracking the gorillas? What's your experience?
Are you planning to track the mountain gorillas and need assistance from a local tour operator based in Uganda and Rwanda? Please contact us or see some suggested packages below for a fast and efficient service.

Ivan

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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

My Day In Company with Rwanda’s endangered mountain gorillas

Hidden high among the forested volcanoes of central Africa, the mountain gorilla was unknown to science until 1902, when two were first encountered by a German explorer -- and promptly killed.

It set the tone for the relationship. For much of the time since, due to deforestation and poaching, it has seemed the mountain gorilla was swiftly destined to be lost to the world again. Not long after the species’ greatest champion, the American zoologist Dian Fossey, was killed in Rwanda in 1985, there were fewer than 300 of the giant primates left in the wild.

the endagered mountain gorilla in Rwanda's Virunga National Park

These days, however, while the species remains endangered, their numbers have grown to nearly 800. This is due to the efforts of conservationists such as those working in Volcanoes National Park, in northwest Rwanda, where Fossey established a research center which continues to run in her name today.

Efforts to change attitudes towards the mighty animals have seen them become an important source of income for the local economy through the tourists they bring, and turned poachers into vocal advocates for conservation.

The world’s largest mountain gorilla population, thought to number less than 500 animals, is found in a mountainous region known as the Virungas, incorporating Volcanoes, Uganda’s Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, and Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A second, smaller population can be found in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, in another region of Uganda.

The Karisoke Research Center, operated by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International and located in Volcanoes National Park, is the world’s most important facility for studying the mountain gorilla.
Veronica Vecellio, its gorilla programme coordinator, said she developed the desire to work in her field after seeing “Gorillas in the Mist,” the 1988 film which popularized Fossey’s story.

“Studying Dian Fossey, it’s really clear how one person can really make the difference,” said Vecellio. “It’s what inspired me.”

Staff at Karisoke, which have observed the animals for more than 40 years, study the behavior of 10 groups of gorillas -- including those initially named and studied by Fossey, and their offspring.

Vecellio said the center focused on new research topics every year -- it had been able to learn, for example, that the life expectancy of a mountain gorilla was 35 years, as the animals had been under observation for their entire lifespan.

Fossey had believed in preserving the gorillas’ isolation by keeping tourists away. But today the tourism generated by the gorillas is essential to the local economy, and the organization that carries Fossey’s name is in favor of the visitors.

“It’s thanks (to) gorilla tourism that the gorillas are so well protected here in Rwanda,” said Vecellio. “I’m sure that if she was still there now, she would just appreciate the fact that thanks to the tourists, the gorilla (gets) to be alive. Before it was her keeping the gorillas alive, and now it’s the tourism.”

Fossey was found murdered in her cabin in the Virunga Mountains in 1985, and is buried in the park. Her killer has never been found.

Mountain gorillas are not frequently hunted for their meat, but can be maimed or killed by poachers leaving traps or snares for other animals. They have also been killed for their body parts to be sold to collectors.
Francois Ndungutse grew up in the area and used to hunt in the park. The former poacher says the last animal he killed was about eight years ago -- these days he urges people to protect the park’s animals as part of their livelihood.

“We used to live near this volcanic park, depending on it,” he said. “At that time, we were very poor ... we were relying on the park to get the meat.”

He said he and fellow poachers were persuaded to change their ways due to education programs from government agencies.

“In order to stop all this ... poaching, deforestation or any other illegal activities, it was a combined effort of the former Rwanda National Parks and Tourism Office and the current Rwanda Development Board (RDB),” he said.

“The RDB met us and gave us a plan of action and showed us how we can live without poaching in the parks.”

Vecellio said one of the amazing things about studying mountain gorillas was how close the primates let observers come to them, compared to other species she had studied.

“I started with western lowland gorillas, and the top distance was 50 meters to have them doing their activities,” she said. “But here you can approach a gorilla very close, and they ignore your presence ... you can be there and just be a natural part of the forest and collect your data.”

CNN

Related articles:
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My mountain gorilla tracking experience in Bwindi's Oruzogo gorilla family
How To Book Gorilla tracking & Trek Permits in Uganda and Rwanda
Affordable Private Road Transfers to Bwindi

Uganda Cuts Gorilla Trek Permit Prices to $350

Mountain Gorillas Aside, Why Does Earth need Bwindi so badly?

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Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Uganda Mountain Gorilla family Visits Bwindi Lodge

A mountain Gorilla Family all of a sudden just decided to visit Bwindi Lodge, sending all visitors into scampers! Here are some of the photos we managed to take from the scene.

Just remember, Gorillas and Wildlife Safaris Uganda still beats anyone's record in offering the lowest cost gorilla tracking and wildlife safaris. Enjoy!!