Gorilla Trekking Vs Chimpanzee Tracking - Rwanda Primates Safari

For decades, Rwanda has been known as the land of a thousand  hills due to the gentle slopping hills all  over the area, the country has been also known for gorilla trekking as the major attraction taking visitors to see gorilla in Rwanda Volcanoes national park part of the virunga conservation area shared across the borders of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic republic of Congo, however, the chimpanzees in the Nyungwe national park a  tropical rain forest in the south western  part of the  country has become another interesting adventure which can be an add on to a complete Rwandan safari adventure. Both being apes and almost with the same features, many people wonder the differences between these two intriguing apes, which adventure to choose over the other. Lets look at their differences below

Trekking for gorillas in Volcanoes NP

Mountain gorillas are found in the volcanoes national park, which is only 2 hour drive from the international airport of Kigali, the rare endangered mountain gorillas are the major attraction in the national park, the park is one of the four national parks in the whole world where the rare mountain gorillas are found. The other national parks are Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and Mgahinga gorilla national park in Uganda and in the virunga national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Trekking mountain gorillas requires advance preparations and the physical fitness of an individual, it’s a real jungle experience hiking through the thick dense rain forest before meeting these intriguing animal species taking   arrange of time between 45 minutes to 7 hours depending on the location of the mountain gorillas.

A gorilla permit in Rwanda is sold at 750usd for per person for non-nationals, 375 usd for foreign residents and 30,000 Frw for Rwandan citizens.

 Travellers can secure and buy their gorilla permits through a Rwandan based tour operator or book and pay online with the Rwanda Development Board(RDB)  http://www.rwandatourism.com/things-to-do/gorilla-tracking. Its very much advisable to book your gorilla permit at least 6 months in advance as gorilla permits are on demand and sold out at first come first serve basis.  

Visitors going on gorilla safari in rwanda are allocated gorilla families of their choice during briefing on the trekking day and here trekkers aged 45 years and above are normally allocated the nearby gorilla family.

Presently, there are only 10 gorilla families in the volcanoes national park available for trekking each family headed by a silver back who defends and protects the entire family from external attacks, a maximum of 8 people is allowed to interact with one gorilla family for a maximum of one hour keeping in mind the caution of keeping a distance of seven meters from the endangered species, this distance is due to the close relationship between human beings and the mountain gorillas that make them so susceptible to human diseases.

Trekking mountain gorillas is a real jungle as trekkers enter a thick forest of bamboo, hiking over the deep puddles of viscous mud that can block the path and passing the deep imprint of a just-missed elephant and other animal species, it is tiresome as trekkers break into real sweating, puffing and panting, however, a mere setting of one’s eyes on these magnificent mountain gorillas is a great experience one can never forget.

Chimpanzees Tracking in Nyungwe NP Rwanda

Still in Rwanda another opportunity available is the chimpanzee trekking which is so much interesting carried out in the Nyungwe forest national park in the southern area of Rwanda. The national park is the tropical rain forest in the south western part of the country which is ever green; it is a home to over 400 chimpanzees with two wild chimp communities which are the cyamdungo and the other community found around uwinka. Chimpanzee trekking is the most tourism activity carried out in the park.

For all travelers interested in trekking chimpanzees in the Nyungwe forest national park, a chimpanzee permit is sold at 100usd, only people at the 15 and above years are the only ones allowed to trek, the chimps, trekkers are reminded to keep a distance of 8 meters, switch off all the flashed cameras, avoid provoking the chimps, no feeding the rare chimpanzees and trekkers with sicknesses such as flue and cough are not allowed to trek the chimpanzees.

Note: Rwanda is a destination with more opportunities for the travelers, gorilla trekking in the volcanoes national park and chimpanzee trekking in the Nyungwe forest national park. The trekking experiences is not so different but it would be good to trek in both national parks,  chimps are trekked in the tropical rain forest of Nyungwe national park, the experience is different for the one who trekkers in the bamboo vegetation of the volcanoes national park (mountain gorillas).