While in Uganda in February & March, I took some time to be a tourist.
I headed to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Southwestern Uganda to see the mountain gorillas. The fact that the mountain gorillas are the world’s most endangered ape, along with the 1988 movie Gorillas In The Mist (about a scientist named Dian Fossey who studied and later fought for the mountain gorillas), has made gorilla trekking in Bwindi a very popular tourist attraction.
The current population of the mountain gorilla is approximately 700, with over half of these estimated to be in Bwindi and the remainder split between Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda, Volcano National Park in Rwanda, and Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
There are 6 habituated gorilla groups to see in Bwindi, and a maximum of 8 people trek per group. It takes almost 2 years to habituate a family for human interaction. I paid $500 USD and trekked for about 4 hours (so much for thinking I was in shape!) to see the Mubare family. It was the first of the Uganda mountain gorillas to be habituated in 1998 and there are now 6 members including an 8-month-old baby.
It was an incredible experience. It was unreal how unaffected by humans they were and although we were supposed to stay a minimum of 7m from them, they apparently don’t follow that rule…and they’re huge!!
Here are some of the photos from my trek:
 |
| A mountain gorilla peers through the trees in Bwindi, Uganda |
 |
| A lazy blackback mountain gorilla caught mid-yawn in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park |
 |
| A blackback mountain gorilla stopping to check out the trekkers in Uganda |
 |
| Kashundwe Baby, the 8 month old youngest member of the Mubare gorilla family in Uganda |
 |
| Mubare family silverback, Ruhondeza, in Bwindi, Uganda |
 |
| The silverback of the Mubare gorilla family in Uganda |
