Are you looking for a longer, more intense, educative, more informative and more participatory experience with Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park? Your answer is Gorilla Habituation.
Gorilla Habituation is the process of acclimatizing wild Gorilla families to the presence of humans in their daily interaction with their natural habitat. The Gorilla Habituation process must be fully satisfied before a Gorilla family can be flagged as safe for daily visits during Gorilla trekking. Gorilla habituation lasts between 2 – 4 years for the wild Gorillas to get comfortable enough with humans.
Gorilla Habituation is conducted by ranger guides, researchers, trackers, and veterinary doctors. The activity starts very early morning from the park headquarters after the briefing. The Gorilla families visited are semi-habituated and therefore may not be fully receptive of visits or close encounters. Habituation involves a lot of observation for the characters of individuals and their distinct marks. It also involves recording of new additions to the family, the numbers of babies, juveniles and females. Because of the activities involved, Gorilla habituation offers tourists 3-4 hours in the presence of Gorillas. This is 3 or 4 times more than 1 hour during Gorilla trekking. During this time, tourists are able to understand important Gorilla conservation records and receive more information from the company of rangers and scientists.
In Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Gorilla habituation is only offered from Rushaga sector, south of the park. Because habituation is a sensitive process, only 4 slots are available daily for Habituation and must be booked in advance. Therefore, Gorilla habituation is not possible for groups of more than 4 that would like to do it at the same time. Gorilla habituation is offered throughout the year in Bwindi.
The activity may take up 6-9 hours of the day depending on how far the family of Gorillas moves from the starting point. Therefore, we recommend that clients stay in properties closest to Rushaga Park Headquarters. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park presents a mountainous terrain. Therefore, we recommend a fair level of fitness for all clients interested in Gorilla habituation. Sturdy hiking boots, a raincoat, energy bars and spare camera batteries are recommended for the experience.
A Gorilla habituation permit in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park cost $1500 per person. A Gorilla habituation package requires at least 3 or 4 days. The days can be more in combination with other destinations. Daily scheduled flights from Entebbe to Kisoro airstrip are available to shorten the drive distance. Rushaga Park headquarters is only a 1.5-hour drive from Kisoro airstrip.
We are glad to organize for you a customized Gorilla habituation package