In the Land of Mountain Gorillas: The Story of an "Epic" Trip (page 5 of 8)

Hi Esther,

What a beautiful travel journal, thank you—it brings back so many amazing memories 🙂.

We were in Uganda last summer, and reading your story about meeting the gorillas brought tears to my eyes. We only did one trek (in Bwindi) because with four people, it’s already a pretty big budget. The approach hike was really tough for us, but it’s still an extraordinary memory 🙂.

Can’t wait for the rest of the journal 😉. Delphine

What an amazing encounter, I hope I can do it one day!

I know people who ended up in a group of 14, even though it’s limited to 8—this is Africa.

I’d never heard of the chair with porters to see the gorillas. I get having a porter for your photo gear, but having someone carry *you* 😕

I can only wish you such an encounter—it’s so magical 🙂

Here’s the famous "African helicopter"...



In Bwindi, it costs at least $300, and the price can vary depending on the weight to carry. Tips are obviously extra...

I thought it was a joke when the ranger mentioned it.🤪

But did they have physical issues with taking a sedan chair?

But did he or she have physical difficulties that required a sedan chair?

He did actually need the help of a porter (for support) to move through the forest to follow the gorillas. Walking up would have been pretty tough for him, I think.

I think it’s really positive that this option is available for people with reduced mobility.

That said, in this particular case, I found his attitude a bit "high-handed," especially in some narrow passages between walls. Easy to navigate on foot, but extremely complicated for a chair with 8 porters. In my opinion, he could have made the porters’ lives easier by getting off the chair and walking those 2 meters himself—especially since I’d seen him walking in the parking lot.

True, when you put it that way, a sedan chair makes sense!

Day 14

After a peaceful breakfast in the garden, we set off at 8:00 AM for Queen Elizabeth Park. We’re back in the African savanna near Ishasha.

We start by spotting a lone elephant. Then, we go in search of the tree-climbing lions in the Ishasha area. We see plenty of elephants, large herds of buffalo, dozens of bird species, and kobs, but the tree-climbing lions are nowhere to be found.













On the other hand, the flies are definitely here. As soon as the car slows down or stops, we’re literally swarmed by dozens of them—super annoying!

Ronnie seems to have gotten a tip; he speeds off. We ask what he’s looking for, and he says nothing in particular… we’ll understand later that a guide told him a leopard was in the area. This was after my friend saw something hanging from a huge tree. We ask Ronnie to stop so we can check with binoculars. Bingo! It’s a magnificent leopard lounging in the tree!



It’s already 11:00 AM when, thrilled with our sighting, we head toward the Kazinga Channel. The savanna seems empty. It’s hot, and apart from a few elephants and baboons, the other animals seem to have taken shelter from the sun. And, just like in Akagera, the grass is tall, making animal spotting a bit trickier.





We stop by the side of the track to eat our meal. We arrive around 3:00 PM at Kazinga Channel View Resort. The receptionist warns us to be careful when it’s dark because hippos come to graze on the grass in the garden.

While waiting to head out for our tour, we settle on the terrace. We remind Ronnie that we’d like to do a night drive this evening. He contacts a ranger, and we give him the 120 USD it costs (100 USD for the entry fee with a ranger + 20 USD for the lamp rental).

Day 14 (continued)

At 4:00 PM, we board the boat. We have a private tour on the Kazinga Channel to take our time observing the birds at our leisure. Hippos, buffles, elephants, crocodiles, and plenty of birds are all part of the show. And, as has become customary since our arrival, the rain makes its daily appearance—right when we're on the boat.



















Luckily, it starts raining just as we're already on our way back. So, we speed up because this rain really soaks you. Our night safari was supposed to start at 6:00 PM, but with this rain, we're not sure if we'll be able to do it.

We rush off the boat, and by the time we run to the car, we're already drenched.

It seems like it's not raining toward the north of the park. We head in that direction, and sure enough, it doesn't look like it's rained there. YESSSS!

We head back south, where the rangers' HQ is, to find Harriet, the ranger who'll accompany us during our night safari.

About twenty minutes after we start, luck smiles on us again 😎 because we don't just see one, but two leopards!!! A mother and her cub 😎😎. There are four other cars, and since we're relatively far away, we observe them through binoculars. But as closing time for the park approaches, the others leave, and soon it's just us with the leopards. They let us watch them for about thirty minutes—they cuddle and then start playing just a few meters from the car! Wow! Thank you, Mother Nature!











We continue our safari and, after spotting a hare, we see a lion, then a lioness. We follow them for a while. Unlike the leopards, who didn’t seem bothered by our presence, here we feel like we’re intruding, so we ask to leave.



We think we’ve had our share of luck for the day when another leopard crosses the track right in front of us! What an evening!!! Harriet tells us it’s already rare to see one leopard, and sometimes it can take one or even two months before spotting one. So seeing three in two hours—she can’t believe it! 😎

Shhh… let’s not tell her it’s actually our fourth leopard of the day. We’re fully aware of how lucky we are and still can’t believe it!

Back at the lodge, we’re served a vegetable curry at 9:00 PM, and then we go to bed.

And what magnificent sightings during this visit to the park! 🙂

Amazing sightings! Bravo, bravo, bravissimo!

Hi Esther,

We start climbing at 8:10 AM, and you can say it’s a steep climb... in fact, one of the 9 other people in our group rented an "African helicopter," meaning a chair carried by 8 people up to the gorillas.

Our guide had told us about the "African helicopter." An 80-year-old woman wanted to see the gorillas before she died, and the "African helicopter" made her dream come true.

What an unforgettable and emotional morning! And I’m really thinking of Ticapi/Carmen because if I hadn’t read her travel journal, I wouldn’t have had the idea to do two outings to see the gorillas. And it was really a great investment!

Yes, when you can, two outings are definitely worth it. We were lucky enough to see the gorillas up close on both outings, but I feel like I enjoyed the second trek more, and the silverback was much closer—almost too close.😉

Anyway, you’re bringing back wonderful memories. I’d love to go back.

Carmen

Our guide had told us about the "African helicopter." An 80-year-old woman wanted to see the gorillas before she died, and the "African helicopter" made her dream come true.

In this case, it was totally justified

Amazing encounter with leopards! 🙂🙂🙂🙂

Doing an evening game drive is a great idea.

Thanks for this super detailed travel journal—it reads like a great book! I just got back from a trip to Uganda, and I relived some of the amazing moments you described. I also did two gorilla treks: the first one in Bwindi was really tough (6 hours of hiking round-trip) in difficult conditions, and we didn’t get the best views of the gorillas because of the dense vegetation. It was totally different in Mgahinga, where we only hiked for 45 minutes before finding the gorillas. They were super visible in a really open part of the park. What a joy! It’s hard to describe how intense that emotion was.

I’m proud I did the Bwindi trek, but I’d recommend the Mgahinga one for people whose main goal is to observe the gorillas.

I'm not the author of the travel journal—I think you meant to reach out to Esther (Plumini). :)

Prices went up again in 2020 for gorilla and chimpanzee treks in both Rwanda and Uganda. Looking for a great contact? We visited Uganda in 2019 with an absolutely fantastic driver-guide. Super reliable, loves his country, and knows a lot of people locally. You can trust him completely (for advance payments and organization). It was a fantastic trip without a single hitch.

Prices went up again in 2020 in both Rwanda and Uganda for gorilla and chimpanzee treks. Looking for a great tip? We went to Uganda in 2019 with an absolutely fantastic driver-guide. Very reliable, who loves his country and knows a lot of people there. You can trust him completely (for advance payments and organization). It was a fantastic trip without a single hitch.

Hi Nadine, I’d love to get that contact, even if our trip is still a ways off. Thanks in advance.

hi For Uganda, I can't say, but for Rwanda, the price of gorilla tracking didn't go up in 2020. It's worth noting that it's already pretty steep at $1500.

Prices went up again in 2020 in both Rwanda and Uganda for gorilla and chimpanzee treks.

In Rwanda, the prices for the Gorilla permit stayed the same at 1500 USD. I don’t know about the chimpanzees.

For Uganda, they did increase. The Gorilla permit went from 600 USD to 700 USD. The permit for chimpanzees in Kibale: - habituation day is now 250 USD (instead of 200 USD, I think) - the regular trek is now 200 USD (instead of 150 USD, I think)

For chimpanzees, you can find cheaper treks in other places, like Kyambura (50 USD), Budongo (100 USD), etc., but I’m not sure if the experience is as good.

The mountain gorilla permit in Uganda is $700 in 2020, and $200 for chimpanzees.

Prices went up again in 2020 in both Rwanda and Uganda for gorilla and chimpanzee treks. Looking for a great contact? We went to Uganda in 2019 with an absolutely fantastic driver-guide. Very reliable, who loves his country and knows a lot of people there. You can trust him completely (for advance payments and organization). It was a fantastic trip without a single hitch.

Hello Nadine, I’d love to get that contact, even if our plans are still a bit far off. Thanks in advance.

Hello, Our guide is named Patrick Owor, his agency is called Destiny Nile Adventurers (DNA), and his email is owormelalogi@gmail.com. He’s also on Facebook. Three couples traveled with him between 2018 and 2020, and we were all delighted. This country is stunning, and visiting it with him is truly amazing.

Have a great day.

Nadine