Nyakagezi gorilla family is the only habituated gorilla group in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park situated in Uganda. The park is located in south-western part of Uganda in Kisoro district and can be accessed by road and air transport. It is approximately 9-10 hours’ drive from Kampala and about 3 hours’ drive from Kigali city Rwanda. For those interested in flying to the park, the nearest and only Kisoro airstrip is where local charter scheduled flights land and departs.
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is part the Virunga ranges and shares boarders with Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park as well as Virunga National Park. The huge cones of the Virunga Volcanoes, Muhavura, Sabyinyo and Gahinga dominate the landscape here at Uganda’s smallest national park. Mgahinga may be Uganda’s smallest national park at 33km, but it combines with Virunga National Park in DR Congo and Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda to create a conservation area of 434km.
Nyakagezi gorilla Family is one of the easiest to track given the fact that it prefers a narrow home range for feeding, nesting, relaxing and recreation. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is beautiful now and to think that 200 years ago or something like that, the park was destroyed as the communities started to expand to this region, they cut trees for their crops and so on. The government started the reconstruction works some years ago, that´s why you´ll see a very different habitat to Bwindi or Volcanoes, right now it´s still not the natural habitat but as the natural vegetation grows the vegetation not belonging here is being removed.
So we went for gorilla safari in Mgahinga after having an amazing day seeing the fabulous gorilla family in Rushaga sector in Bwindi Forest. The gorillas here look much bigger, as the vegetation is full of Bamboos and that is their main meal, they have more hairs and different head shape. The group is composed of 4 silver backs, 2 females, and 1 juvenile and 2 infant. The family is led by a silver back Mark assisted by Mafia, Ndungutse and Rukundo. The par home range extends up to national frontiers with Rwanda and Congo. No wonder the family at times pays a visit to their Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Virunga National Park in DR Congo.
They are not shy at all and they don´t mind to have people close to them.
The walk is a bit steep but you know it´s always depending on where are the gorillas at the time, you might walk a lot and on steep ways or have a short one. If you think, you are not fit enough to make your way through, they can carry you on a special bed/basket all the way up and believe all the struggle is more than worth it to see this beautiful species.
I cannot stop saying that our guide and the porters were such a great time, you could feel how the guide loved his job and so the habitat and all animals involved.
Spending an hour with the magnificent gorillas was the most incredible experience. I soon forgot about the arduous trek through the dense forest, scrambling up and down steep inclines. It takes a lot of strenuous effort but is so worth it. Hire a porter – I don’t think I’d have made it otherwise. The tracking permits are usually sold at the park offices in Kisoro town and Ntebeko the park head office. Guides on the ground say the group is playful and interesting that it occasionally attracts repeat visitors.
Other wildlife and attractions in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park include the golden monkeys. The endangered golden monkey is endemic to the Albertine Rift and the park offers a rare chance to track these magical creatures. High in the dense bamboo forests on the Mgahinga trail.
We can also see the Batwa people outside the park formerly known by the pejorative term, pygmies, are believed to have lived in these forests for some 40,000 years. They collected wild fruits and plants, game meat and wild honey from their surroundings. Since becoming a national park, these activities are now forbidden.
One of their most famous camp was the Garama Cave located in the park. Because the cave remained hidden to people outside the forest, it was once thought to be the hideout of an entire Batwa kingdom. Rumours of strange rituals and hidden treasure abounded. There is no evidence that the Batwa ever hunted gorillas. Gorilla encounters were rare, but when they did happen, it was bad omen and legend has it that all tasks had to be suspended until the next day.
Today the Batwa are a very small part of the surrounding community, and are among the poorest of the park’s neighbours. Most do not own land and often work as sharecroppers. Yet, they still possess one of the best understandings of the forest and its rich pharmacopoeia.
