Which gorilla sector in Uganda is best for gorilla tracking? The best gorilla sector in Uganda is Rushaga gorilla sector in Bwindi impenetrable national park and this gorilla sector is located in the southern part of the park. Gorilla trekking in Uganda is one of the breathtaking activities that one can engage in to when they choose to do a safari.
Gorilla trekking involves climbing up the hills and going down the valleys looking for gorillas in their natural habitat, this normally takes about 30 minutes to 4 hours depending on how far the gorillas will have moved on that day as they look for food. Uganda has 2 gorilla destinations where you can meet the gorillas up close for 1 hour as you enjoy other goodies that the forests have to serve you, you can track gorillas in Mgahinga gorilla national park and Bwindi impenetrable national park, and therefore Uganda is ranked as the country with half the population of mountain gorillas in the world.
Uganda now has over 26 gorillas families distributed in these two destinations however 25 gorilla families are distributed in 4 gorilla sectors in Bwindi for example Buhoma gorilla sector, Nkuringo gorilla sector, Rushaga gorilla sector and Ruhija gorilla sector and the remaining 1 gorilla family which is Nyakagezi gorilla family is in Mgahinga gorilla national park.
These gorillas are habituated and are ready for trekking and for the gorilla enthusiasts you can engage in gorilla habituation which allows you more time to spend with the gorillas about 4 hours and you will be very close to them compared to when you are trekking them.
Gorilla habituation experiences only takes place in Rushaga gorilla sector and guess what? How different is gorilla habituation from gorilla trekking?
Gorilla habituation is different from gorilla trekking in that, gorilla habituation involves spending the whole day with gorillas under the guidance of the ranger guide. Gorilla habituation price is higher than gorilla trekking’s which goes for about $1500 compared to gorilla trekking’s $800 for foreign non-residents and for foreign residents and the rest of Africa gorilla habituation permit costs $1000, for East Africans gorilla habituation permit costs 750,000 Uganda shillings.
The best gorilla sector in Uganda is Rushaga gorilla sector which has over 8 gorilla families and each gorilla family is allowed be visited by 8 people per gorilla family and you have to spend 1 hour with the gorillas, therefore there are 64 gorilla permits available in Rushaga per day, and only 4 people are allowed for gorilla habituation per day per gorilla family in Rushaga gorilla sector.
Gorilla trekking starts in the morning and it starts with the briefing at the guest information center where you are briefed about gorilla trekking etiquettes, you are allocated a gorilla family to track, this happens at 7:30 am, and you are always under the help of the ranger guide who takes you through the thick forests till you meet the mountain gorillas.
After you have met the giant gorillas, you can combine this experience with either birding in Bwindi or Batwa cultural tour which happens in the evening at around 3pm where you visit the Batwa community who will dance for you, sing for you, they will tell you stories of how they used to live in the forest, they have craft shops where you can buy a souvenir to make your trip a memorable one.
Some of the gorilla families in Rushaga gorilla sector include; Bikingi gorilla family, Nshongi gorilla family, Kahungye gorilla family, Busingye gorilla family, Mishaya gorilla family, Mucunguzi gorilla family, Rwigi gorilla family and Bweza gorilla family, other gorilla families are expected to be born because the gorillas are in good health conditions and the number keeps increasing day in day out.
How to get to Rushaga gorilla sector?
Depending on where you are coming from, but if you want to track Rushaga gorillas from Rwanda it will take you about 4hours drive, and if you want to track gorillas from Kampala you will drive for about 9 hours, if you want to track gorilla from Kabale you will drive for only 1 hour and 30 minutes.
However you can also use air transport where you board from Kajansi airfield and land in Kisoro which will take you only 1 hour and 15 minutes however you can also board from Kajansi to Kihiihi and it takes only 1 hour then drive for over 30 minutes to the park.
