Best Tip for an Unforgettable Mountain Gorilla Experience

Mountain gorilla are sub specie of the famous eastern mountain gorillas and they are divided into 2 population with one in the Uganda’s Bwindi impenetrable forest and the other in Virunga volcanic mountains shared among 3 countries which are Uganda in Mgahinga national park, Rwanda where they are found in Volcanoes national park and also in Congo’s Virunga national park. Gorilla tracking has been for years and still is all these countries’ most selling tourism activity and true be told, meeting them is an exceptional experience that no one can ever forget. However to be able to have a successful and amazing mountain gorilla trek, there are tips for you to consider.

You Should Be Realistic About Physical Fitness

Physical fitness is n important fact to consider because the hike you will take you search for these gorillas goes beyond 1500 meters to up to 3000metres in altitude. And the trails are at some points really steep therefore you should determine if you be able to handle such a challenge. Besides that, the hikes might take long hours just before you find that particular gorilla group that you are searching for. Hiking for 4-10 hours is not a simple task for the physically weak people like the old or the sick or even the pregnant ones.  Although you can be place in a group that is closest, there is no guarantee that you will find this group in an hour and with that uncertainty, you should be braced to endure the long hours of hike.  It is just so amazing to be way deep in the African rainforest, amidst the Hagenia trees and the thickets of ferns as well as the dense vegetation of all different shades of green.

You Can Do Some Research On the Different Gorilla Groups Prior

You can always ask for some material about the different groups and this ways you can learn the particulars of the different gorilla group. This might be very useful especially to those that have issues with physical fitness. You do this research on all the different gorilla groups so you can make a decision on which specific group you think you want to visit. For example there are times when there groups with lots of babies, there are groups that are near, so there is always a choice.

You Can Hire A Porter To Help You With Your Back Pack Before You Begin Tracking

At the entrance area of the park, you will find groups of porters. You can hire any of them to carry your back pack for you, you can get a walking stick if you need it and this will be very helpful at that time when you are walking along very slippery paths as you go up and sloping down, walking sticks also help you gain stamina along steep areas along the trail. It is very advisable to take a porter with you even when you are capable of carrying your bag because you never know when you might need their help for example, in case of an accident and you can’t walk, they can always carry you down. Besides that, many of these porters are ex-poachers and they now make a living through providing such activities to gorilla tourism business. You will have to pay just about $10 per a porter to escort you up in the jungle. Using these porters is one way of supporting the surrounding communities and the gorilla conservation agency at the same time.

What To Wear And Pack As You Get Ready To Get Into The Jungle.

You need to dress appropriately because the forest is filled with that unfriendly vegetation like the stinging nettles which may cause serious irritation on your skin. To be able to protect yourself well, you need the long sleeved shirts, pair of thick gloves for example the gardening gloves are perfect, hiking boots will be very good and relatively thick pants will be good for the job. You need to carry a rain coat because it can rain any time while you are in the jungle and you get wet.  Also, you can only take the essential in your small backpack and these include about two bottles of drinking water and probably some snacks because you might get hungry during the hiker, you need to carry cameras, you may need the hats and also the sunscreen.

What Sort Of Camera May Be Good For This Adventure

The best camera for this kind of adventure is that of the three camera bodies or with three different lenses. This is because you can zoom in and out as far. The powerful cameras are necessary because these gorillas keep moving around making it really tricky change lenses and take pictures quickly.

Aside from taking pictures you can opt for a short video of you in the jungle with these giant mountain gorillas. This option is actually easier than taking picture when you are that close to gorilla. At the end of the day, you will be glad you chose to shot a video rather than pictures.

You Might Want To Do Practice Of the Gorilla Manners

This is important since you will be meeting these gorillas in their own natural habitat and not in a zoo where they may be forces to adapt to your behavior. In this case, you have to respect them since they are in their environment and respect their behavior too as you are the guest in that world of theirs. If you learn just a few tricks of theirs, then you don’t have to worry about them attacking you. It is very true that gorillas are not aggressive in nature as the media make it seem. In fact, even the giant silver backs much as they are powerful, they are also very gentle and very shy too. According to reports, habituated gorillas don’t attack tourists or researcher or any other people who come in contact with them. This is probably because the habituated gorilla groups get to see tourists every day of their life therefore they are so used now.  Before you walk into the jungle, the park ranger will give you more information about how you must behave while in the presence of these mountain gorillas. Briefly however, here is what you need to know.

• Avoid staring straight into their eyes because they take this as being aggressive towards them.
• While around the gorillas, you need to make the grunting sound which the ranger will show how to make and this is to reassure the gorillas that you are their friend. They might also communicate back.
• Stay away from the gorillas you’re not fine. The sick should never go gorilla tracking because they are very susceptible to our diseases and the unfortunate thing is that if just one member of a group gets an illness say catches a cold, the whole group is like to get sick and many of them might die.

This is why you have to turn away from the gorillas when you sneeze or cough, so don’t want to spread the germs.

• You shouldn’t eat or drink while with the gorillas.
• Whatever happens, don’t you ever run away from a gorilla so if any of them approaches, all you have to do is act submissive and them crouch down.

If possible go for gorilla tracking during the dry season

Although you can go for gorilla tracking any time of the year, there is a best time for that and that is during the dry season which comes in from around June up to September. This time is more favorable because then the ground is a lot drier and those dirt roads that lead to the parks are more accessible than they are during the wet season. Hiking is a lot easier during the dry season although during this season, you have to hike further because they tend to move further to higher altitudes since that is where they can find food.

You have to make most of all that one hour you are given when you meet the gorillas.

Your ranger will give you an hour to sit in the jungle with gorillas and watch them interact with each other. This hour is given so that the gorillas don’t fell stressed by too much contact if you get to spent more than an hour.  You need to make good use of that hour as it flies really flies so fast thus making it the shortest hour of your precious life. This is the best time for you to take a make pictures and videos as well as take time appreciating nature. This is more fun than seeing them on television.

Somehow, these gorillas will know when that hour is finished because they will definitely change their behavior towards you. This will definitely be the most amazing day of your life.

For more information about the virunga mountains, visit gorillasafarirwanda.com