Go Gorilla Trekking in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
Home to mountain gorillas, Mgahinga National Park is one of the best places to go to gorilla tracking in Africa. Located in Southwestern Uganda, the park has a diverse collection of tourism activities, though gorilla tracking stands out as the most popular adventure. The park also offers incredible opportunities for bird watching and golden monkey tracking yet the nearby 3 volcanoes offer great opportunities for hiking.
With Uganda hosting about 400 mountain gorillas, half the world’s total population, Mgahinga National park is one of the two places where a visitor is guaranteed to have a glance at the endangered species. Though the gorillas of Mgahinga were known to be good nomads, at times moving to the Rwanda side, today the Nyakagezi gorilla group offers opportunities to adventure seekers to visit and watch the endangered giants in the wild. For those looking for unique experiences on an Uganda Safari, a visit to Mgahinga National Park is a rewarding adventure that you should not miss.
The Nyakagezi Gorilla Group
Nyakagezi group size: 10 individuals including 1 silverback
The Nyakagezi Gorilla Group is the only habituated gorilla group in the Mgahinga forest. The group is led by Mark, the dominant Silverback, who likes traveling and keeps on crossing borders between Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – therefore, the Nyakagezi group keeps on rotating from Mgahinga forest to Volcanoes bamboo forest and to Virunga National park. Over the past few years, however, the group has been stable and they are trying to settle on the Ugandan side since November 2012, and are likely to stay for a while. In May 2013 when a newborn baby gorilla arrived, increasing the group to 10 members- the number of gorillas goes on increasing as they go on multiplying. On that note, therefore, Mgahinga forest National park is expected to get more Gorilla groups in near future- we expect splits from the Nyakagezi group.
Despite the unpredictable behavior and movements, permits for this group can now be booked at the Uganda Wildlife Authority. The Mgahinga Gorilla National Park gives updated information about the availability or absence of the Nyakagezi gorilla group in Uganda.
