Description
3 DAY GORILLA TRACKING SAFARI
Itinerary
DAY 1: Meet and pick up from the agreed location/hotel
Our driver guide will pick you up from your hotel/place of residence in Kampala, have a quick briefing about the tour and then embark on the 8- 9-hour drive to Bwindi impenetrable National Park. On this road trip you will have a chance to see the different vegetations, beautiful sceneries and people, nyama choma places, street foods etc. You will have a stop over and a photo moment at the Uganda Equator then proceed to Mbarara where you will have lunch shortly before you continue to Bwindi and have an overnight at the guest lodge
DAY 2: Gorilla Tracking
The most awaited day is here, the day to track gorillas. You will have morning breakfast at the hotel and proceed to the UWA offices for a briefing. Here you will be welcomed by the enchanting performances of the batwa community through songs, dances or poems telling you more about their culture. After that you will have an hour of briefing from the UWA officials and then you will proceed to start your trek. You will carry your packed lunch given at the hotel which will take you through the trek.
Gorillas are never in one place because they keep looking for what to feed on in the forest and depending on where they camp, that’s where you find them. This might take a long time, and it might quite be a distance. So, a team is sent earlier to track them on your behalf, and they communicate to the guides who you will track with on where to find them so that you meet the halfway or on a shorter trek.
You will have an hour or so with the gorillas’ taking pictures and videos whichever way you want to capture the memories and then head back to the hotel of residence. On your way back you will have a break and have lunch and then proceed back to the hotel
Depending on the time you will arrive after the trek/hike you will then go and experience the batwa culture!
Batwa Experience
Before Bwindi was turned into a national park to conserve gorillas and their natural habitats, Bwindi was also known as a home to the Batwa pygmies or the forest keepers.
Batwa survived on hunting small game, fruit and vegetable gathering from within the forest. They lived in small grass and leaves thatched huts which were not for permanent stay since they moved constantly in search for fresh food and wild animals. For a long time, they co-existed peaceful with the rest of the forest animals including mountain gorillas without being a threat to their survival.
The Batwa experience begins with a nature-walk, hike through the forest seeing the forest in a new way, through the eyes of the original people of the Forest. You will Learn how they hunted the small animals they used for food, what things they gathered, how traps and nets were used.
The Batwa Experience will also show you how they lived in huts made of grass, trees, the use of treehouses, caves. Experience the Batwa village life of old, the sharing, of living as a community, as a people, learn the things that they revered and cared for and almost lost.
See how they lived and hunted in the traditional manner. Enjoy trying out your hunting techniques as the Batwa teach you how to shoot with a bow and arrow.
Visit a traditional Batwa homestead and learn from the women how to prepare, cook and serve a meal. You will also have the opportunity to sample the prepared dishes.
Talk to a medicine man and learn about the medicinal properties of the forest flora.
Hear ancient legends and traditional songs.
DAY 3: Return to Kampala
You will have morning breakfast, check out of the rooms and embark on the journey back to Kampala. You will have a stopover in masaka for lunch, and you will be dropped back to your hotel/place of residence
NOTE:
- Gorilla tracking involves walking distances deep In the forests, so one has to be physically fit with good hiking/walking boots to enable them have a smooth trek.
- Carry a mask on as you go to track gorillas
- Make sure to carry enough water for hydration
- Carry a windbreaker/raincoat/jacket because of an expected weather changes
