Most of the visitors to Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo come with interest of seeing these shy endangered Mountain Gorillas plus the scarce Eastern Lowland Gorillas.
Gorillas are Scarce but interesting that’s why it’s on high demand, these apes are herbivorous in nature feeding on young bamboo shoot, stem, foliage, tree leaves, flowers and some fruits like orange, mangoes and more.
These Species are divided into Mountain and Lowland Gorillas, Mountain Gorillas are usually black in color with wide faces and Lowland Gorillas are brownish in color with black eyes & mouth, lowland Gorillas are bigger when compared to Mountain Gorillas.
Gorilla trekking as an activity involves moving in a group of about eight people following the well-established routes heading into the Jungle in search of these shy endangered ground dwelling apes, you are assigned a Park ranger to guide you through the jungle since for them are usually informed of where these apes spent their last night and it’s their work very early in the morning to track the location of these apes and communicate to their fellows via radio call, while in the Jungle you are able to be in touch with other features like primates which include Black & white colobus monkeys, vervets, owls, insects, Reptiles like Snakes and different bird species.
After discovering location of these apes, you are allowed to stay in their presence for only one hour while seeing them playing with their young ones, laughing, feeding and taking photos of them for memories, after that session descend back to park offices for gorilla trekking certificate award but usually do not forget to go with your packed lunch as sometimes it takes long to discover these apes in the Jungle.
For successful gorilla trekking tours ensure that you move slowly while in the Jungle, maintain your voice at a low tone, do not run after these apes, do not touch on them without permission, do not eat in the presence of these apes, do not use flush camera when taking photos of them and finally if you are suspected to be with any signs of infectious diseases you are not allowed to go for the trekking.
For gorilla trekking safaris in Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo you must buy a Gorilla trekking permit which costs $1500 USD and $400 USD per person respectively.