Comparing Gorilla Trekking in Uganda : Bwindi Impenetrable National park and Mgahinga Forest national park are the only two national parks in Uganda where visitors can do Gorilla Trekking. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Forest national park is home to over 50% of the remaining mountain gorillas in the whole world.
Gorilla trekking activity can be done in only 4 national parks which are Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Mgahinga Forest national park, Virunga National Park, and Volcanoes in Rwanda. Other types of wildlife animals have been transferred to different parts of the world but have been unsuccessful with the mountain gorillas due to their nature and character of being closely committed to their family groups. The feeding capacity of mountain gorillas may also not be easy in other parts of the country since they are entirely vegetarian.
Bwindi’s impenetrable National park was designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1994 due
to the park’s high biodiversity. Bwindi impenetrable national park has over 120 animal species such
as Giant Forest Pigs, African Golden Cat, African Civets and Tiny Antelopes, Chimpanzee Lhoest
Monkeys and Black and White Colobus Monkeys among others all aside from mountain gorillas.
Bwindi impenetrable national park has over 220 butterfly species and over 310 bird species such as
African Green Broadbill, Brown-necked parrots, and white-tailed blue Flycatcher among other
famous bird species.
Mgahinga National Park is another national park where travelers can do gorilla trekking. The park is the smallest national park in Uganda which is located at the base of the three dormant volcanoes. Mgahinga National Park is an extension of the Virunga region and conservation area. The park has mountain gorillas and the rare golden monkeys as the main attractions of the park. If you are planning to come for gorilla trekking in Uganda but you are finding it a hard time to choose where to go for the activity on one of the two national parks, here are some of the comparisons you can base from depending on our expertise as Jewel Safaris to help you choose one of the two national parks. We can strongly confirm that both Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Forest National the park has mountain Gorillas and there is no big difference when it comes to the experience obtained by tourists at the end of the trek. There are many things you can base on to compare between the two parks especially concerning gorilla trekking activity then choose where to book for the experience.
How Does Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park Differ From that in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park? Bwindi impenetrable national park has four sectors of the park and each one of them has many gorillas. Two of the sectors offer Gorilla Habituation experience and this is offered in Nkuringo and Rushaga sector. Here in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, four people are given close to 4 hours with a gorilla family while in Mgahinga Gorilla national park, visitors are given only 1 hour with a gorilla family. This makes Bwindi’s impenetrable national part more favored since it provides more hours for Gorilla Habituation.
Mgahinga has the rare mountain Gorillas and Golden Monkeys which are the main attractions of the park. The park also offers other activities like nature walks, mountain climbing, and birding and this difference clearly shows how they are both strong on attractions offered to the visitors. Mgahinga is less crowded with people and there are fewer crowds of people during the briefing and even after gorilla trekking this is an advantage over Bwindi’s impenetrable national park since Bwindi is always crowded with visitors. While in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, tourists may see both the endangered golden monkeys and Mountain Gorillas. This makes visitors enjoy both gorilla trekking and golden monkey tracking. However, Mgahinga’s beautiful golden monkeys are not a big reason to choose Mgahinga Gorilla national park since Bwindi’s impenetrable national park has chimpanzees and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park does not have them.
In terms of Gorilla families, Bwindi impenetrable national park has more gorilla families open to trekking than Mgahinga Gorilla national park since Bwindi has 19 habituated gorilla family groups which gives the chance of providing access to over 152 gorilla permits while Mgahinga has one gorilla family hence providing 8 gorilla permits. This makes it more flexible to get gorilla trekking permits in Bwindi Impenetrable national park especially in the months of high season. In terms of Vegetation and Trekking experience, Mountain gorillas in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park are in the Virunga hills with the vegetation as Bamboo while in Bwindi impenetrable national park, gorillas are in the thick impenetrable forest with plenty of trees and plants. This makes taking photographs easy in Mgahinga since the vegetation is not so thick as that of Bwindi impenetrable the national park that is thick. In terms of accessibility, both Bwindi Impenetrable national park and Mgahinga Gorilla national park can be accessed by road transport. You will be driven by a professional driver guide from Kampala/ Entebbe via Kabale and you proceed to Bwindi or Kisoro then you get to Mgahinga. You can access the parks via Rwanda (Kigali) which is a 4-5 hour drive. Where you will need an East African Tourist visa then come trek gorillas in Uganda.
By Air, there are scheduled and charter flights like Aero Links and Bar Aviation for flights to Kisoro Airstrip leading to Bwindi from Kajjansi Airstrip in Kampala. The planes land at Kihihi Airstrip and it is not far from Kihihi and Buhoma. In terms of distance to see gorillas, in Bwindi impenetrable national park and Mgahinga Gorilla National park. It is all about where the gorilla family is located on the day of the trekking. This will determine how long/ short the trekking distance is. However, in both parks, they will try giving you a family that requires shorter walks to trek. The best time for gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla national park is open for gorilla trekking all-round the year. The best time of the month to track gorillas include June- August and December to February because they receive the lowest rainfall and the forest is less slippery. However, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla national park have similarities between them Both parks allow visitors to have cultural encounters with the Batwa people during their time in the park. The Batwa pygmies were one of the original community living in the park from the park 1991 but they were relocated. In both Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla national
park the Batwa are involved in the park activities such as cultural encounters by showcasing their way of living and others act as local tour guides. In both Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla national park, the requirements to pack by visitors in preparation for gorilla trekking are completely the same long-sleeved shirts, pants, waterproof hiking shoes for trekking, a hut, a walking stick for personal support while hiking, you also need drinking water, snacks, and a camera. Both Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla national park have similar prices for gorilla trekking since they both charge 700 dollars for gorilla trekking permits per person per day. However, depending on the accommodation chosen for the stay, the lodging fees and transportation fees are different.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is much closer to other National parks like Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kibale Forest National Park then Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Queen Elizabeth The national park is just 2 hours away from Bwindi impenetrable national park by road. The park has a large number of tree-climbing lions and the Kazinga Channel which is known for its high concentration of Hippos.
