Come to the beautiful continent of African and enjoy the lovely scenic delights here. Visit this lovely land of visual pleasures and bask in the simple pleasures of visiting the Virunga Mountains.
Home to the consistently reducing mountain gorillas, the Virunga Mountain tours are as wild and exciting as they are interesting. Virunga range lies on the borders of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Congo Republic in Eastern Africa. With around 480 mountain gorillas found here, the region of Bwindi is very popular in tours here. This rain forest region is the main home of the gorillas and provides a pleasure that is memorable and cherishable.
Uganda has two gorilla parks , one in Mgahinga and the other in Bwindi . Both these national parks are such that you would be able to follow a lot of gorilla tracking. Mgahinga is located on the southwestern part of Uganda and is found on the Virunga slopes. The park is on the borderline of Rwanda and Congo. With around 28 square miles as area, this small park has the best of gorillas, buffaloes, leopards, golden monkeys and bushbuck.
Then you have Bwindi which is in the south western part of Uganda and is a place where you get at least half of the population of gorillas here in Eastern Africa. Spanning around 200 square miles, this beautiful rain forest is a recognized world Heritage site. The most important fun in tracking gorillas is in following them in the dense forests. Chimpanzees are also a common sight here along with some avifauna too.
Rwanda has a gorilla park lying in the northern part of the country. it has the best sights of gorillas. This park, the Virunga national park spanning over an area of 46 square miles has six volcanoes. The park has a permit system which tourists have to adhere to. Bwindi park has an easier method of tracking gorillas. In Virunga it is slightly complicated. Bwindi has better light opportunities for taking a photograph.
The Congo Republic has a portion of the Virunga Park. It is called the parc Nacional des Virunga here. The Congo republic had a disastrous reduction in the gorilla population and this was a major setback and many gorillas were in fact killed to death. Today Gorillas move in the Virunga National Park freely. In the year 2005, the gorillas group moved towards Rwanda from Uganda. It is said that this could be due to the bamboo shoots which are believed to be tastier here. In the year 2009, the gorillas had come back. The safari companies maintain a check in the manner in which the gorillas move and thus come to know where their groups are.
Going on a gorilla trek is not really as easy as it sounds. firstly one has to trek to the habitat of the gorilla groups. It is a densely vegetated land and has lot of steep slopes and the entire area is filled with stinging nettles, and burning insects. The best thing to do on tours here is to wear gloves. Red ants are commonly found here so ensure that you also wear long socks into which you have to tuck your trousers.
Gorillas are used to humans roaming around and seeing them yet the fact that they cannot be sighted quite often makes the tracking very difficult. There are some basic rules for tracking gorillas . So you should be over 15 years of age in case you are involved in tracking gorillas. You should not have any kind of infectious disease.
You are allowed only one hour with the gorillas and you should maintain a distance of a round 5 metres. There are only six to twelve people who are allowed per group per day. Flash photography is prohibited. Trekkers should ensure that they are well equipped and fit enough for the entire experience. Make sure you carry warm clothing for the wet climate. Do not eat or drink in front of the gorillas. Do not also touch the gorillas as they could suddenly pounce on you. While in front of the gorillas do not point fingers .
There are facilities for getting an official permit and these are being taken care of by the national parks to see the gorillas. This permit has to be arranged for in advance.
Thus the Virunga Mountains offer the best of gorillas sights and provides the best kind of excitement and adventure in this part of the world in Eastern Africa.
