Going on a Gorilla Trek in Uganda

If you have never been to Uganda, then it is one of the greatest mistakes ever done by you in your life time. Uganda is among the East African countries that is worth to pay a keen attention in regards to tourism industry. Taking up a gorilla safari in Uganda is one of the memorable decisions done by every enthusiastic tourist plus the safari holiday for those on relaxation holidays. Going for a gorilla trek can be combined with a safari holiday at Lake Bunyonyi.

Before going for the holidays and gorilla tracking, it is advisable to make a planned and organized tour in all aspect with the company and this is the best way of enjoying the holidays and the safaris when everything is in the hands of the local tour company, gorilla tracking permits have to be booked before even going for the safari since their availability is uncertain due to the high demand. The fact is each gorilla family is allowed to be tracked by a maximum of eight people in a group per day; therefore being among them is one of the best experiences forever.

Gorilla tracking in Uganda is done from her two unique national parks of Bwindi impenetrable and Mgahinga national parks both located in the south western part of the country. From Kampala to these two parks, 8-9hours of driving is required including stop overs for refreshments and lunch along the way. Gorilla tracking cannot be done on that very day of arrival in Uganda; visitors spend an overnight at the nearest lodges, hotels and camping sites as they wait for the great trek within the parks in search for gorillas.

Currently, Uganda has phased off discounted permits and there is no longer low seasons, all tracking permits for gorillas costs USD 600 and that preferring gorilla habituation goes at USD 1500 per day per person. Tracking starts at exactly 8am in all the two national parks and it’s at the park headquarters, Bwindi impenetrable national park has got fourteen gorilla families  all distributed in its four sectors of  Ruhija, Nkuringo, Buhoma and the Rushaga sector.  Mgahinga national park so far has one gorilla group known as the Nyakagezi group and this is the only tracked and habituated group within the park though being the smallest among all the ten national parks of Uganda.

All these sectors have got different Gorilla groups that are tracked and habituated, gorilla trekkers are only allowed to used one hour while taking photos, enjoying the smile and the superiority powers exhibited by the silver back gorilla and also seeing how the infants cling on their mothers backs in the process of movement. For gorilla habituaters, the all day is assigned to them and they get to enjoy as much as possible since they stay with them throughout.

After a great hectic day of trekking, visitors can embark into their vehicles and proceed to Lake Bunyonyi for a holiday, this is the best way of hiding away from stress and agony since the beauty of the landscape, the weather and its climate all provides a nice place to stay at. While at the lake one may engage in a boat cruise with the local people around, fishing and sports from all the amenities available at the places of residence.

Visitors who wish to engage in fishing at the lake may carry their own equipments all hire from the available local fisher men. All these activities are done at a cheaper price from the service providers at the lake, sunbathing is best enjoyed  here hence making a gorilla safari and the tour holiday the best activity forever in ones moments while in the pearl of Africa.

5 Finest Self Drive Routes In Uganda

It is really very interesting to explore this pearl of Africa on your own pace and itinerary. Each region hast its own tourism attraction, and to meet these attractions in each region, needs a drive of from 3-10 hours since most tourist attractions are located in remote areas which needs you to explore with a comfortable and good vehicle. Driving on the open roads, dust roods and game park trails when on a self-drive vehicle is a great experience, and this will be much better especially when you know which route to use. When you go for a self-drive tour it requires you to have knowledge of the route to take, the distances to cover in order to plan for the fuel, you need also to know the durations and advise on the possible routes plus the accommodation to stay during the road trip. Most of Uganda roads are tarmacked with sign post and clear demarcations. The following below are the most used routes by travelers

1: Kampala- Entebbe highway (45 km)

This route is considered as the most commonly used route in Uganda as it connects Uganda to the rest of the world, it links the capital to the main airport (Entebbe international airport), and hence all visitors coming to Uganda or departing the country have to use this route. It’s about 42 km (1 hour and 10 minutes) from Kampala to the airport without traffic jam. The route has very many attractions as it takes you to the Uganda Wildlife Education Center (UWEC), botanical gardens, resort Hotels, over 20 beaches on the Lake Victoria and many other interesting places around.

2: Masaka -Masaka -Mbarara- roads

The Masaka road is known as one of the busiest roads in Uganda which stretches about 130km from Kampala Uganda’s capita and its largest city then connects to Mbarara highway about 148km in distance. From Kampala to Mbarara it’s about 278km which is about 2-3 hour’s drive depending on traffic jam in the city, from Masaka to Mbarara takes about 1hour and 40 minutes. These two routes connects to a number of popular tourist attraction in Uganda including the equator crossing, so here you can’t miss to have a stopover for snacks and photography, Lake Mburo national park which is the nearest park in Uganda you branch before Mbarara town, kibale forest the home to over 13 species of primates coupled with chimpanzee the closest relative of man sharing almost 98% of human DNA Make up, On this route you can connect to Ssese islands

3: Kampala- Jinja highway about (80 km- 2hours)

The trip starts from Kampala Uganda’s capital and it’s largest city to Jinja one of the good place for adventure safaris in Uganda, its located in eastern side of Uganda about 80km’s drive from the capital and the car takes about 2-3 hour’s drive depending on the traffic jam on the way. You will pass via Mabira forest Uganda’s biggest forest, primate watch and birding on the way is thrilling, pass through Lugazi sugar plantation plus amazing landscape scenery and local people .Many tourist love to visit jinja because it houses the source of the Nile and also a variety of many interesting adventure activities like white water rafting and Bungee jumping, other activities in Jinja include quad biking, cycling, boat rides many others. Be the first to visit this place with a self-drive car.

4: Kampala – Masindi road (285 km)

This is a can’t to mention route in Uganda as it connects the main Gulu highway and it’s the shorter route when going to Murchison falls national park which is Uganda’s largest park bio-diversified with a lot of attractions including forest giants like lions, leopard, elephant, buffaloes just to mention but a few., primate species are superb such as chimpanzee can be seen in budongo forest other primate species like the black and white colobus monkey, civet monkey among others are among the primate species inhabit the forest, bird watching activities are breathtaking, what about the beautiful Albert Nile where launch cruise are enjoyed from. Reaching Murchison falls national park takes about 4 hours and 20 minutes(285km) travelling by road.

5: Mbarara –Kabale road (472 km)

This rout links you to the most interesting and visited Uganda national park that’s Bwindi impenetrable national park which is one of the longest journey takes about 7 hours to reach the park passing via Masaka, Mbarara and Kabale. The journey takes you through plentiful trading centers, small towns, parks, local villages, landscapes among other attractions, Bwindi impenetrable national park house endangered mountain gorillas which have attracted a number of travelers to this park, tracking mountain gorillas is one of the most exciting adventurous activities on earth as these giants are only seen in three countries in the world that’s Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic republic of Congo. When at bwindi national park you can easily connect to Queen Elizabeth national park which takes about 3-4 hours passing through the famous part of the park known as the Ishasha sector of the park