A gorilla trek in Rwanda is a magical experience that everyone should get a chance to experience for a safari adventure. Rwanda is the land of a thousand hills given the hilly nature of its landscape – a green undulating landscape of crops, gardens and tea plantations. Rwanda is also home to three quarters of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas with in the Volcanoes national park, which attracts Rwanda’s largest tourism impact.
Rwanda’s major tourism activity, treasured by many travelers who have had a chance to visit with the endangered silverback mountain gorillas in Rwanda, which are interestingly playful and relaxed in the presence of humans.
In the Volcanoes National Park Mountain gorilla hikes starts as early as 7:30 with your gorilla permit a brief orientation , where groups of eight are guided up the volcano with the assistance of a tracker- guide and hired porter for individual trackers. Depending on where the group starts their hike to the gorillas, trekkers may encounter fields of crops and beautiful views of mountains. During the gorilla safari which is sometimes very muddy, the guide describes the surrounding flora, and how certain species are used as medicines by the indigenous Batwa tribes.
Mountain gorilla families set to visit can include between 10 and 30 gorilla members, with a fully-grown male silverback gorilla, which is the head of the family. Because the gorilla are wildlife animals, they constantly move around the forest searching for food, the hike could take from one and two hours, depending on their current location within the forest. When the breathtaking moment arrives of finally meeting the gorilla family, the primates will be grooming, playing and eating, as if they never noticed the arrival of curious human onlookers.
The guides use certain vocalizations around the gorillas that researchers like the late primatologist Dian Fossey have found to convey a message of peace.
Satiated by the lack of threat from trackers, the gorillas will feel at ease and come out from their perches and rub past you as they play or look for delicious stalks of bamboo or one of the 142 varieties of plants represented in the silverback’s diet, including celery, nettles, thistles, succulent herbs, and wild berries.
Also playful baby gorillas and juveniles roll past trackers or even touch pants, legs when they get close enough. Its very memorable and breathtaking watching the gorillas in their natural habitat and witnessing their human-like emotions and behavior.
Still not made up your mind to visit Africa, for animal lover and adventure travel, gorilla tracking will prove to be a most fantastic experience.