What to Expect on a Safari in Rwanda to Trek Gorillas

Rwanda is a peaceful and safe country with very welcoming and worm people. The Kigali city area is most probably the cleanest place in all of Africa as the streets are clean and in excellent condition, free of rubbish and you feel the cleanliness of the streets when walking around the city. In fact, the respect for law forbids disposing off trash only in dustbins placed along the street or else be arrested for throwing trash in a wrong places. Generally Rwanda is a well-organized country with a lot of respect for the law

Unlike other tour experience where you are in a jeep and watching many different animals, trekking Mountain Gorillas is an active and very involving experience, which creates lifetime memories – it is simply an extraordinary experience.
When planning your gorilla trekking excursion, first you need to find a professional, attentive and flexible ground travel agent. Ask for different gorilla tour options around Rwanda, Uganda as well as into the Democratic Republic of Congo that allows organize gorilla safaris from one day to 15 days. Do good research about the your chosen local agent checking if they have membership with the country’s tourism body, check for tripadvisor.com. Make sure to ask for a knowledgeable guide.
br /> Don’t miss out on the Kigali city tour to the national museum, the local markets, cultural dancers and a visit to the Genocide memorial site is a must and free of charge. 

Visiting the Mountain Gorillas requires you to purchase a gorilla permit for  $750 permit fee and a one-day visit possible and good enough, but you have come this far and I would recommend another day as you will not only be able to compare the different gorilla families, but guarantee you will take the perfect photo/video that you may have missed the day before!

Among what to carry for your Rwanda safari trek is Waterproof Boots and jacket as it may rain during the trek, quality/thicker-hiking pants which will protect you from stinging nettles everywhere, and gloves. Hiking poles are provided at the park station during your briefing free of charge.

At the briefing point, everyone has the chance to pick either an easy, medium or hard trek depending on capability and interest. The harder trek has larger family groups that easier trek but the longest hike may only be 2-3 hours uphill one way. The drive to each Gorilla family trailhead may also require a 1-2 hour drive.

Porters are also available to help bring your backpack if you wish but are highly recommended as your porter watches out for you.

Meeting the gorillas in their natural environment is very fantastic, Gorillas are very active and do move frequently - so just when your guide says you are close – the gorillas have moved even further up the mountain. Additionally, the guides carry machetes and will constantly be clearing a new path throughout the hike. Once you find the family, you have one hour – but surprisingly it does not go as quick as you would think
The guides are very professional and will all but guarantee you will get close enough for an experience you would not forget

Gorilla trekking is wonderful even for the Disable

Don’t cancel your lifetime dream of visiting gorillas in Africa simply because of a disability. Your dream is very possible and can meet the gentle giants in Uganda, Rwanda and DRC.

There a few tips you need to know while planning to go for your gorilla safari adventure including;

Its always and added advantage to book your gorilla permit months before you go for your safari to visit the gorillas. If you have booked through a local tour operator, make sure, they send you a scan copy of your gorilla permit to be sure its been purchased. Although some travelers testify to have successfully bought permits the day before gorilla tracking, that’s very unreliable.

For Physical ability Prior to the trek

Inform your guide of any physical disabilities before you book your trip. Be very specific with your tour operator and make sure all answers given and the way your trip is to be conducted suites your health abilities. Always guides are very supportive and reassuring as well as helpful.

Notify your guide at the pickup point from the airport, though most time he will have been informed by his manager.

At the point of gorilla trekking, your guide will notify the park wardens in charge about your difficulty so that you are assigned to an easier group. Alternatives if you would prefer a tough trek so as too meet gorillas at a higher altitude, you can hire porters to carry you and your backpack up the terrain, some people need stretchers.

The Actual Trek

During your gorilla tour, porters will assist you as requested during the trek but go out of their way to help you through the dense vegetation. The porters can carry you, or keep to your sides making it easy for you to move and keep up the pace with your group. At the start the hike is okay but gets steep as you fight through the plants and the wet mud. The park rangers guiding the trek will often time stop for a regular break to catch your breath and relax a bit.

The gorillas:
Finally meeting the gorillas is actually more remarkable than imagined before. We visited the Titus group consisting of 12 members in which 2 or 3 were silverbacks, a few females, a 3 year old, a 3 month old and some other young ones that were off exploring the forest. You spend an hour with them and as much as it would have been magical for the 3 year old to have made it all the way to where I was sitting, the guides had to pull me away. This is understandable so that the gorillas don't get infected with human illnesses.

Tip on Things to take:
- Pack garden gloves very helpful so pack a pair
- Buy trekking shoes which provide great ankle support (the ones that come above the ankle bone)
- Carry a bottle of Water
- Snacks (we started at 9am and finished at 5pm due to the type of group we were in)
- If you get tired quickly, take sugar or glucose loaded snacks/drinks. Some people usually need that to have enough energy
- Take something if you get sick easily by altitude (the easy trek isn't too bad but some people need to rest and catch their breath)
- Long sleeve rain jackets and warm clothes of course
- Thick pants that are easy to tuck into your socks (you wouldn't want mud going upto your shoes.
- Beanie if you like (mine came in handy for the colder parts)
- Walking sticks are provided at the station
- Of course cameras! We had a DSLR with an 18-200 and another with a 70-300mm lens. Both were handy. Zoom lens are a plus IF you don't get too close to them.
- Light day pack even though the porters can carry them for you
- Like many other have mentioned here, it's actually helping the locals to higher porters. They go out of their way to assist you during trek, as well the small tip given to them feeds their families


You even get a certificate of appreciation for completing the trek

Kidepo national park – home to rolling lions!!

Unfortunately not taken as prominent as other savannah national parks like Murchison and Queen Elizabeth, Kidepo Valley National Park has a unique beauty that makes it a true African wilderness. With a wide range of primates that can be found in the park including 22 predator species; lions, black-backed jackal, bat-eared fox, African hunting dog; striped hyena, aardwolf, cheetah ,side-striped jackal, spotted hyena, lion, leopard, and a variety of mustelids, genets, mongoose and small cats. About 17 antelope species are located in Kidepo. 7 of these species are registered nowhere else in Uganda including greater kudu, lesser kudu, Grant's gazelle, roan antelope, Beira Oryx, Guenthera's dik-dik, Jackson's hartebeest, topi, eland, klipspringer, oribi, Defassa waterbuck, Uganda kob, Burchella's zebra, Bohor reedbuck, giraffes and mountain reedbuck.
Kidepo offers an exciting kind of adventure than any other of any Ugandan national park. With 86 mammal species, it is only the third highest in Uganda protecting a far greater variety of large mammals than any other national park, including 28 species found nowhere else in the country. About birds with over 463 confirmed and 26 unconfirmed species make this park second to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Kidepo valley has special species including the ostrich, kori bustard, fox and white-eyed kestrels, carmine, Abyssinian scimitar bill. The variety of butterflies and other smaller creatures is far less than in the forested national parks of western Uganda.

On your way from Kitgum District to the last trading center at Karenga, before entering the park, one observes an inaccessible place. This is so because of the slippery roads and the near-flooding valleys, coupled with the potholes.
However, having been forewarned, about the roads, we traveled by a 4x4 vehicle, making our journey to the park easier. Herds of buffaloes, water bucks, warthogs, among other animals welcome you to the park through Lukumoit or Nataba gates.

Accommodation are set up
Kidepo valley national park has some accommodations set including the Apoka safari lodges and after check in set out for a game drive through the park by the Uganda Wildlife Authority guides.
The park stretches 1,442 square kilometers with two seasonal rivers Kidepo and Narusi during the dry season the animals are normally dispersed around thus making a game drive a rewarding adventure at this season of the year. In this season, in Kidepo National Park’s lions always love visitors and will welcome them by rolling down and presenting themselves for photo opportunities.
The southern route through Kalabe and Narusi River offers a variety of animals and birds ranging from buffaloes, water bucks, Jackson heartbeats, warthogs, zebras, monkeys, baboons, mongoose, monitor lizards, side-striped jackals, among others.
Climb the steeply rocky hills of the Amampwas, a Sudanese name from the Mening tribe which means “he threw a spear at” that has a scenic view of the park to end day one.
Day two
On day two, we take a drive to the northern part of the park where we find several animals, this time with a wider variety like the tower termite mounts and ostriches. We then go to Kidepo river, which we discovered has dried up.
Akorongimoe says this river just changes from flowing on top to flowing underground but it never dries and proves his point by scratching the sand to show us traces of water.
The northern side also has the forests of the Borassus palms, where Kidepo derives its name. Karimojongs used to go to this park to pick fruits from Borassus palms and named the place “Kidepo” a Karimojong word translated to “pick”.
From the river we head to the hot springs called Kanango rock. Archeological findings of bones covered by rocks show that the volcanoes which formed the rock could have solidified with these bones.
We also come across the klipspringer, a small animal found in rocks that Akorongimoe said violates the African cultures because it mates with only one partner. Another animal of interest is the black-bellied bastard.
No lions in sight
We later spend the afternoon looking for the king of the jungle but the search is fruitless because there were no lions in sight.
We do not take this kindly, so the group asks UWA rangers why we can not see the lions. Akorongimoe says the park is not a zoo, where animals are found in a cage, and that he has no “contact number” for these lions to fix an appointment but people should remain hopeful.
After a fruitless search, the group resolved to go to the park headquarters and meet the managers for general interviews about the park.
As if in response to the group’s disappointment, we return at around 9pm to find lions lying besides the road. Hitherto frustrated, the guide gains the courage to crack yet another joke, saying the lions must have heard the group’s anger.
The third day is the most tedious as the group was led to Moronoru mountains to visit the most reclusive tribe, the Ik, about 2900ft on top of the mountain. The hiking is a little tedious stretching for about six kilometres on a steep slope.
The Ik welcome the group with traditional dances and a walk through their homesteads.
The return route from the mountains is different and we trek for 20 kilometres on a steep route from Amarongole. The tedious return from the hill involved climbing and descending on four different mountains.
Article on Uganda adventure safaris with a focus on Kidepo Valley national park a park on well marketed by the Ugandan government but offers a whole adventure for travelers written by Yahaya Kimbowa a research student – www.studentsugandasafaris.com, working on his final tourism report.