How you can miss gorillas trekking, gorillas are gentle species living in highland areas, in the world, there are a few remaining kinds in the Bwindi impenetrable national park, Mgahinga National park in Uganda, Volcanoes national park in Rwanda, and Virunga national park in the democratic republic of Congo, Uganda hosts the largest population of the primates’, half of the world’s remaining types can be found here they live freely in the forest roaming from one ecosystem to another. Trekking mountain gorillas is almost every traveler’s dream to an African continent, one which should at least be included on a bucket list in a lifetime! Despite loving to see the mountain gorillas it is important to know and take care of some of the reasons why you might not be able to see the animals, some of these are:

How you can miss gorillas trekking

Forgetting your trekking permit, where ever you track mountain gorillas, whether in Uganda, Rwanda, or the democratic republic of congo, please don’t forget to take your permit with you, this is issued by authorities concerning the conservation of the national parks, after you make payments to receive the permit, for example in Uganda on daily 8 gorilla permits are given out per gorilla family to track in each of the sectors where they are to be found, this is presented to the park headquarters team for clarification, the process has been made easier with technology as these can receive the permit online after purchasing for it, Gorilla permits are valid for one day, today we discus on How you can miss gorillas trekking

Forgetting your Gorillas permit

In cases of not finding the Mountain gorillas, it is rare not to meet the mountain gorillas, however, there are cases where you can’t find them, some gorilla families move way too far or even roam across borders to another country, hence not seeing them in such a situation the traveler is given a chance to trek the following day without buying another permit, trekking can be done in 2 or more hours of time depending on how far the gorilla families have moved, moving through the steep slopes and thickets of the forest requires physical fitness to complete the exercise.

Underage children

Underage, trekking mountain gorillas has a limited age number below which someone is not allowed to do the activity, children below the age of 15 are not accepted to perform the activity, however, there are times when the parent believes in their children’s potential and insist they should trek, in this situation he or she is supposed to write a letter to the park management asking them to allow the kids to track, acknowledging in case anything happens to the children during the course of trek they are fully responsible for it.

Timing

Trekking mountain gorillas begins in the morning at 8:00 am EAT, coming after this time can cost you a day without seeing the gorillas, please ensure to be at the park headquarters in time for briefing before the day’s activity begins it is led by an armed game ranger who will protect you from the animals and guide you through to enjoy these brown-eyed species. Coming late you will definitely find when everybody has gone into the forest and no team to trek with.

When you are not Healthy

When sick with communicable diseases like Flu or having a cold, you will not be allowed to meet the mountain gorillas, these are primates sharing up to 98% of the Human DNA, implying that the disease can catch them as well just like you have it, for conservation purposes, it is key not to be near the mountain gorilla when sick, actually, when going to so the activity, you are expected to present a clean medical record of not having any of the communicable diseases before you start trekking.

Altitude & Elevation

 It is important to Take Note of the Gorilla trekking rules given to you, the terrain may be tough but very rewarding when you finally meet these special angelic species watching them play, roll and communicate is amazing. Of the few things to take on Gorilla safari kindly bring warm clothes, boots, jackets, rain gears, waterproof covers for phones and cameras, extra batteries for cameras (kindly note that Flash photography is prohibited) as this may cause the primates to fume and can be dangerous.