Gorilla safari holiday in Uganda
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
Gorilla expeditions in Uganda directly benefit the people and the wildlife and habitat through creating jobs as guides, or in the various hotels and lodges surrounding the parks. The gorillas and there habitat are also conserved through this avenue of tourism as this is the attraction bringing the tourists to the area. Permit fees are government driven but do go directly back into the community.
Community
Through the business generated by the clients we send to Uganda, our local agent additionally, directly supports various local projects. We have set up a community library in the town of Rutoma, near the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest giving local people access to books, newspapers and participate in study programmes.
We provide costumes and musical instruments for an entertainment club for girls who perform every week for the tourists on the shores of Lake Nkuruba. And Fort Portal is one example of a water well building project that we support to give the local community access to water which is not contaminated by agricultural runoff and bacteria.
Gorilla conservation
There are more than 300 mountain gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Only 4 families of gorillas within this species-rich forest reserve have been habituated to human contact.
Access to the gorillas is controlled by the Uganda Wildlife Authority, whose work is funded in part by the considerable permit fees payable for access to the gorillas (currently our clients pay US$590 per person). For reasons of conservation, visits to the gorillas are strictly limited and each of the gorilla families may be visited by a single group of not more than 6 tourists for a maximum period of 1 hour per day. No one with a communicable disease, such as flu or diarrhoea, is allowed to visit the gorillas.
The gorilla families move freely within the 327 square km rainforest park and are tracked by rangers who attempt to put the tourist groups in contact with these elusive animals. There are few established trails and the forest environment remains pristine.
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