Habituation practically echoes staying longer with the primates, and yes this is possible even on a self drive car rental in Uganda with Auto Rental arrangement. Kick off the bucket list once in a lifetime experience by helping researchers in the Bwindi national park train and friend the great apes one of the oldest and impenetrable rainforest of Uganda. Spend longer with mountain gorillas in Uganda, an activity dubbed as Gorilla Habituation. The Uganda Wildlife Authority recently introduced gorilla habituation tours for visitors interested taking part in gorilla habituation who can as well double it from the normal trekking activity that involves staying with the great apes for just an hour.
Mountain Gorilla Habituation
Gorilla habituation is a process of bringing gorillas to terms human presence or getting them familiar with human presence in natural habitats. Reasonable aim for Gorilla habituation is to promoting mountain gorilla tourism by letting mountain gorillas live in harmony with human visitors, and not wildly attack excited tourists who go gorilla trekking in Uganda or Rwanda or in their natural habitats.
Mountain gorilla habituation is a quite a process involving gorilla adaption. Initiated and done by gorilla researchers and well-experienced rangers who meet with the gorillas every day training and monitoring their progress. Gorilla habituation involves giving names to each gorilla and training them to acknowledge these names, while closely observing their behavior and characters. It is a quiet a challenging task at the beginning as gorillas tend to run away from researchers moving deep into the forests. It is a very slow process that can take upto 3years for the apes so they can be allowed to be visited.
As time goes on during the habituation process, gorillas curiously get used to the presence of human researchers and rangers, however to have them approved as ready to be visited by trekkers, two to four new people each day accompany researchers and rangers on their visits each day. If the gorillas are not disturbed, they are then opened to tourists.
The difference in Gorilla habituation and Gorilla tracking
Whereas gorilla trekking safaris can be done in all other mountain gorilla destinations, gorilla habituation is limited to the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and on the Rushaga region south of Bwindi, and can only be done with the Bushaho gorilla family and Biking group that also double as the newest families to be tracked or added to the habituated mountain gorillas.
The whole Mountain gorilla habituation process takes up to about four hours. Im most scenerios, visitors spend most big part of the morning trekking for gorillas, and when they later find them, they are physically involved in gorilla training process with guidance of researchers and trained park rangers who have spent a lot of time with the gorillas before. Contrary, gorilla trekking takes trekkers to visit already habituated gorillas who are used to human presence and are good to do their normal activities with people being around them.
A very important point to note is the number of people allowed for gorilla habituation is limited to four people or less per day and per visit. Technically advised more numbers may distract the gorillas who are slowly adapting to human presence contrary to already habituated gorillas that are limited to eight people per day for one hour.
Securing A Gorilla habituation Permit
Getting hold or Booking can be done directly with Uganda Wildlife Authority offices or Auto Rental Uganda as a local tour operator is more than happy to secure and book and arrange you this once in a lifetime wildlife encounter and also we will share with you more self drive car rental safari options in Uganda. These habituation permits are available all year round, but recommended to book early as spaces get booked up quickly, remember its only 4 persons per day and yes, the ealier the better to secure your day
Travelers from Rwanda on a self drive car rental can also cross into Uganda through cyanika boarder in kisoro or Katuna Boarder in kabala and proceed to Rushaaga for this amazing wildlife encounter southern Bwindi.
Consider Auto Rental Uganda, a car rental agency in Uganda and loving to share with you the typical African experience for Gorilla habituation and trekking, wildlife safaris, self drive car rental, guided trips and yes with memorable Authentic local experiences