Are you looking to planning a gorilla safari in Africa? Would you like to meet the gorillas eye to eye in the wild? Here are some hotspots where you can see the different gorillas in their natural homes in Africa;
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park of Uganda
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is definitely the top on the list because this Ancient Forest is a home to more than half of the World’s surviving Mountain gorillas. There are over 400 mountain gorillas and over 12 habituated gorilla groups call the jungles of this Impenetrable Forest home. This is the only Park where tourists can join researchers during habituation of gorillas in the Gorilla Habituation Experience and get to spend over 4 hours with these critically endangered Primates instead of the usual one hour spend during gorillas trekking. Besides the mountain gorillas, you are sure of encountering other mammal species that will blow your mind. It is for this reason why it was listed in CNN’s list of top 5 National Parks to visit in 2017.
Volcanoes National Park/Parc Nationale des Volcans of Rwanda
Volcanoes National Park, located in the North-eastern side of Rwanda and lies in the Great Virunga Conservation Area that stretches across Uganda and DRC. There are 10 habituated gorilla groups in this Park and some golden monkey groups that spice up your experience of visiting this Park. Over 5 Volcanoes of the Virunga Massif, the luxuriant rainforest and the outstanding biodiversity make this Park to stand out in the crowd.
Mgahinga National Park of Uganda
Mgahinga is the smallest Park in Uganda, but doesn’t mean it has few wildlife species. The outstanding beauty and remarkable biodiversity that this Park offers will take your breath away. It homes part (about 80) of the 480 mountain gorillas found in the Virunga Massif. Mgahinga is the only Park in Uganda where Silver meets Gold (Mountain gorillas and Golden monkeys) and the only Park where tourists can participate in the Golden Monkey habituation Experience.
Virunga National park/Parc Nationale des Virunga of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Much as it is often neglected, Virunga National Park is a real Gold mine when it comes to biological diversity. This Park is situated in the Eastern side of the country and is a home to about 200 of the World’s surviving mountain gorillas. When compared with other National Parks where Mountain gorillas are found, Virunga National Park receives the least number of tourists which makes most of it unexplored hence tourists who visit this Park have the feeling of having the entire Jungle to themselves. Besides the mountain gorillas, other primate species exist, the endangered Okapi only found in the Democratic Re4public of Congo and other unique bird species call this Park home. Virunga National Park was also listed in CNN’s top 5 National Parks to Visit in Africa in 2017.
Kahuzi-Biega National Park of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Kahuzi-Biega is also located in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and is a home to the largest sub-species of Gorillas-the Eastern Lowland Gorillas (Only found in DRC). These sub-species of gorillas are differentiated by their stocky bodies, large arms and their short muzzles. Besides the Eastern Lowland Gorillas, several mammal species also exist and they include Chimpanzee, Colobus monkeys, Bonobo and Red-tailed Monkeys among others.
Cross River National Park of Nigeria
If you are in tested in seeing the gorilla sub-species with the least number of individuals, then visit Cross River National park, the home to the critic ally endangered Cross River Gorillas. These gorillas are also found in Cameroon but Cross River National Park shelters the largest population of these gorillas they are almost getting extinct. There are estimated to be between 250 and 300 cross river Gorillas lest in the wild.
In conclusion, Africa is a continent blessed beyond Imagination because it is where you can sight all the four sub-species of gorillas that include the Mountain gorillas, Eastern lowland gorillas, western lowland gorillas and the Cross River gorillas. There is no feeling greater than meeting face to face with any of these Giant Apes species.
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