The southern sector of Bwindi Impenetrable national park known as “Rushaga sector” is famous for owning 6 mountain gorilla families which make it the bigger part of the park’s gorilla population. Rushaga sector is located in Kisoro district and the only sector that offers spectacular gorilla habituation expedition / experience in Uganda. It is one of the four trekking regions in Bwindi forest.
Instead of spending the ordinary one hour with gorillas, Rushaga’s gorilla habituation experience offers you four spectacular hours with these giant human-like apes. On a daily basis, 56 gorilla trekking permits are available inclusive of eight for the two families undergoing habituation at the moment.
Spectacular uninterrupted views of Bwindi forest’s canopy, Virunga Mountains, L. Mutanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda are all presented to you by the magnificent rolling hills in this sector.
The following are gorilla families available for trekking in Rushaga sector;
- Busingye, Bweza and Kahungye groups (accessed via Nyabaremura trail head)
- Mishaya, Bitukura and Nshongi groups (accessed via Rushaga main gate)
Gorilla trekking in Rushaga sector.
Rushaga sector consists of 5 fully habituated gorilla families, each with an average of eight members. It is the only region with the highest number of gorillas than any other region in Bwindi impenetrable forest. Here is an opportunity for you to watch as many gorillas as possible.
Location of the gorilla families and fitness of the hiker determine which gorilla family you are to trek. Trekking lasts for about six hours but largely depending on the location of a gorilla family and where they slept the previous night.
Upon finding your destined gorilla family, you are given a full hour of interacting with these apes while enjoying their ways of feeding, mating and socializing in addition to taking as many pictures as your camera can store. A gorilla trekking permit for seven hundred US dollars, it is better for one to book in advance to avoid being disappointed on the last minute.
Gorilla Habituation Experience in Rushaga sector.
In order to turn your trekking moments into memories, you will have to partake in this experiential activity alongside professional rangers, scientists and researchers. These will be in position of answering all relevant questions about wild and semi-habituated gorillas.
Unlike the ordinary one hour spent with a family of mountain gorillas, here you have four hours of spending and interacting with these gorillas. Gorillas may somewhat look skittish than the already habituated ones however, what you do means a lot in as far as their conservation is concerned.
8 gorilla permits are available on a daily basis in general at Rushaga sector, while four permits are available for each gorilla family. In Uganda, a gorilla habituation permit costs only $1500 and booking early is an added advantage since it saves you from the last minute congestion and disappointments.
How to get to Rushaga sector?
Driving through Masaka, Mbarara and Kabale from Kampala can last for about nine hours to reach Rushaga sector.
The other quickest and easiest option other than the lengthy drives, is taking a flight from Entebbe airport/ Kajjansi to Kisoro Airstrip; this may take not more than two hours.
Note: Flights to Kisoro only happen in the morning and can change depending on weather conditions.
When to visit Rushaga sector?
Generally the months of December to February and June to August is the best period of the year for trekking gorillas in Uganda. This is due to the fact the area is dry thus rendering trekking an easy and beautiful venture. In these months, little showers are expected since the climate of Rushaga is equatorial and it can rain anytime.
Trekking during the wet months of September to November and March to May might be difficult in one way or the other, however it is apparently difficult to predict Rushaga’s weather.
