Trip to the most beautiful creatures of Uganda

Besides all the other beautiful days in Uganda (see other posts), the visit to the Mountain Gorillas was the most impressive thing I have ever done!

Unfortunately, it’s not cheap (500 USD for one visit) but worth it! And as they do not guarantee to see the Gorialls (its wildlife, who knows where they are), I bought two permits at two different locations. Spoiler Alert: I saw Gorillas twice 🙂

How it works: Your tour guide travels with you to a starting point, and other groups are also waiting there. In groups of 10 people maximum, you walk to “your” Gorilla. Each group of Gorillas is only visited once a day. With you, you have 2-3 armed rangers. Not only because of the Gorillas but also because of every other animal in the jungle of Uganda (Jungle Elephants, Buffalos). How do you find the Gorillas? Hours before you start, a group of “Spotters” is beginning to look for the animals. Being in contact with them helps a lot in finding your targets… In addition, you can book a “parker” for 10 USD, someone from the local village helping with your backpack. As you want to concentrate on taking photos and enjoying every little moment, you should spend the money.

The first trip was quick; after 15min, we found the Gorillas.
And I had the chance to take the most impressive photo of my whole trip.

It was a father with his family and a newborn, 3 months old and pretty cute 🙂

The second trip, four days later, took longer. We walked for almost 3 hours to find the group. In the second group, the countryside was easier to stand or sit next to the group. We have been introduced to not running away or doing any other hectic movement if Gorillas try to approach us. So it happened for me; a female Gorillas thought the tree next to me was the most delicious. Therefore she walked by and touched me briefly before heading up for lunch. I tried to take pictures “out of my hip,” but, yeah, only pictures of grass or my trousers 😀