Where to find gorillas?
10 of the best places to see gorillas
Most people who go to see gorillas see them in Uganda or
Rwanda; only a few hundred make it elsewhere, Fancy bucking the trend? Here are
ten places to see them for you
1. Nigeria
Visitor infrastructure: 3/5
Chance of sighting: 1/5
Cross River gorillas (CRGs)
are found only in Cross River State, where the government has invested heavily
in tourism infrastructure (for example, the spectacular cable car up to the
Obudu Cattle Ranch Hotel). However, the chances of seeing gorillas here are
still slim. Their total population now consists of less than 200 individuals,
spread across an area of 12,000 km² which includes Afi Mountain, Mbe Mountain,
and the Okwangwo Division of the Cross River National Park. For this reason,
scientists are cautious about habituating any.
But visiting the
habitat does help to conserve it, and two outstanding primate sanctuaries and
reintroduction projects – Pandrillus for drill
monkeys and chimpanzees, and Cercopan for numerous
monkey species – are based in Calabar.
2. Cameroon
Visitor infrastructure: 2/5
Chance of sighting: 3/5
(WLG), 1/5 (CRG)
Cross River gorillas
(CRGs) live in the English-speaking part of Cameroon bordering Nigeria, in
small pockets of forest that are the focus of a conservation project but with
no tourism component yet. The only captive CRG can be seen at the Limbe
Wildlife Centre, which also cares for about 15 WLG
orphans with a long-term goal – funding permitting – of rehabilitation back
into the wild.
WLGs live in the
French-speaking part of the country. The WWF is developing eco-tourism in
Campo-Ma’an National Park in the south-west, but its early days so
gorilla-viewing is not guaranteed.
More rescued WLGs – orphans of the illegal bush meat and wild animal trade – can be seen in forest enclosures at Mefou National Park, located close to the capital city of Yaoundé.
3. Equatorial Guinea
More rescued WLGs – orphans of the illegal bush meat and wild animal trade – can be seen in forest enclosures at Mefou National Park, located close to the capital city of Yaoundé.
3. Equatorial Guinea
Visitor infrastructure:
1/5
The Monte Alen National
Park is a spectacular forested park and its rugged terrain served to protect it
from commercial logging. As yet, there are no habituated WLG. The tourism
infrastructure is in very early stages of development, and trained locals have
started to conduct guided day treks.
4. Gabon
Visitor infrastructure: 3/5
Chance of sighting: 3/5
Gabon made a bold bid to
diversify its economy by creating 13 national parks in 2002, most of them
containing gorilla habitat. The WLG habituation program at the Mikongo
Conservation Centre in Lopé National Park was terminated in 2010. But although
visitors are no longer taken on specific gorilla-spotting treks, visitors can
still see them while looking for other wildlife.
Moukalaba-Doudou National Park has some of the highest densities of gorillas, and an eco-tourism project has begun there with help from The Gorilla Organization.
Moukalaba-Doudou National Park has some of the highest densities of gorillas, and an eco-tourism project has begun there with help from The Gorilla Organization.
Loango National Park
offers the rare combination of rainforest and Atlantic beach, where hippos have
been seen surfing, whales and dolphins surface offshore and the forests are
home to gorillas, chimpanzees and forest elephants – my idea of heaven!
5. Angola
Visitor infrastructure: 1/5
Chance of sighting: 1/5
WLGs are found only in
the Cabinda enclave, the part of Angola north of the mouth of the River Congo.
There is little in the way of tourism infrastructure, but if it is adventure
you want…
6. DR Congo
6. DR Congo
Visitor infrastructure: 2/5
Chance of sighting: 4/5
Since the loss of the
habituated Lossi gorillas to Ebola in 2002, the nearby Odzala National Park now
presents one of the best options for seeing WLGs. It is currently home to two
habituated family groups that can be seen by visitors. They can also be seen
from hides as they visit bais (open
clearings in the forest).
Western Lowland gorilla, Congo
The most famous bai is
Mbeli Bai, in Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, where about 100 gorillas have been
monitored by the Wildlife Conservation Society for a decade; gorilla groups can
be seen wading into the marsh to forage for water plants alongside forest
elephants, buffalo and antelope such as sitatunga.
Rescued gorilla orphans
(WLG) are being rehabilitated back into the forest in the Léfini Reserve (two
hours’ drive north of Brazzaville), where visitors can view silverbacks on a
forested island from a boat.
7. Central African Republic
Visitor infrastructure: 2/5
Chance of sighting: 4/5
One of the best places to
track WLGs is Bai-Hokou in the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park. A WWF project has
succeeded in habituating a group, and a calm contact is likely, though the
dense forest and low light beneath the canopy make photography challenging.
The mountain gorilla nations
8. Rwanda
Visitor infrastructure:
5/5
Chance of sighting: 5/5
Rwanda is about the size
of Wales, with good main roads (making it quick to get around) and a relatively
well-developed infrastructure.
But it is the work of
Dian Fossey, as dramatized in the film Gorillas in the Mist, that really makes
Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park many people’s first choice for a mountain
gorilla safari.
Umubamo Group mountain gorilla, Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
Umubamo Group mountain gorilla, Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
Relaxed gorillas and
relatively open habitat – montane vegetation, often with stunning views –
greatly improve the chances of good gorilla watching.
The professionalism and
kindness of the guides – many of whom have spent decades helping visitors cope
with steep slopes, stinging nettles and nerves – makes every muddy, gasping
step that bit easier. But when it's sunny, and the gorillas are only a short
stroll from the park boundary, people tend to wonder what all the fuss is
about!
9. Uganda
Visitor infrastructure: 5/5
Chance of sighting: 5/5
Second in popularity to
Rwanda, the two gorilla parks in the south-west of the country offer different
experiences. Mgahinga National Park is part of the tri-national Virunga
Conservation Area, and its habituated gorillas often cross into DRC. However, climbing
to the top of Mt Sabinio, where Rwanda, Uganda and DRC meet, is an outstanding
way to see the whole mountain gorilla kingdom – an island of forest surrounded
by a sea of densely populated farmland.
Mountain gorilla, Uganda
Mountain gorilla, Uganda
Just to the north, on dramatically
winding roads, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is more biodiversity
and at a lower altitude. It has well-habituated mountain groups for tourism,
and two more are being habituated to cope with demand. Some taxonomists regard
the Bwindi gorillas as a separate sub-species of eastern gorilla – the lack of
hair on their brow easily distinguishes them from their shaggier Virunga
cousins.
One of Uganda’s real plus points is the range of other activities on offer: combine your gorilla tracking with the country’s other national parks and adventurous activities, from hiking the glaciers in the Rwenzori Mountains to white-water rafting on the Nile, Culture, hospitable people and other interesting primates such as the intelligent chimpanzee, welcoming golden monkeys and so many others. Uganda is as well the source of river Nile, and sharing a part of Lake Victoria the Africa’s largest Lake and second largest worldwide.
10. Democratic Republic of Congo
Visitor infrastructure: 1/5
(WLG), 3/5 (ELG and MG)
Chance of sighting (security
permitting): 1/5 (WLG), 3/5 (ELG), 5/5 (MG)
Three of the four
sub-species are found in DRC. Gorilla tourism with habituated groups began here
in the mid-1970s, in Kahuzi-Biega National Park, a stronghold of eastern lowland
gorillas (ELG), and this park still offers one of the best gorilla-viewing
experiences. Bukavu is the nearest town (with some beautiful lakeside hotels),
but check the security situation if entering DRC from Rwanda.
Eastern Lowland Gorilla, DRC
Mountain gorilla (MG)
tourism in Virunga National Park is also excellent, if security allows. Things
have improved since the early 2009 arrest of rebel leader Nkunda, but the area
is still unsettled. However, even during the troubles many people visited the gorillas
at Djomba on day trips from Kisoro, Uganda, because permits were available in
the DRC and sold out in Uganda. Take advice on the spot – it can change from
one week to the next.
Some WLGs survive in the far west of DRC in the beautiful Madiakoko Mountains, Bas-Congo, crossing back and forth from Cabinda (Angola), but you’d be a pioneer tourist here.
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