Franklin Park Zoo Gorillas

Category: Trip Planner

  • Get Started With Planning an African Safari

    When the word safari clicks to your mind, you think of Africa as the destination to enjoy the trip. Taking a safari tour as a vacation expedition is a vision of ecstasy for many of us. It may look easy as many think as it is just booking for a trip then have a blast.

    However, we tend to forget Africa is the second largest continent in the world and it has more than 50 countries. These countries vary in the nature experience that is the animals, vegetation, people, climate, scenery and landscape. The places or destination that can give the traveler the best experience in Africa is affected by the time of the year he/she is willing to travel.

    Nonetheless, Africa’s safaris basing on nature, it appeals to all sorts of tourists that is those who want to travel with families, those that want spend time on an exquisite resort, tourists that want adventure and camping in the national parks and also those who want to enjoy romantic moment with their lovers.

    You may not how to go about a safari in Africa but all you have is idea of places you would love to go to, the nature of the safari tour and the wildlife you would love to see. Here we render you the services of explaining to you the different countries or place to visit so that you choose the best for you,

    Africa Safaris

    To enjoy a gorilla safari in Africa, you need to make enough preparations.

  • Gorilla Trekking Tours in Africa

    Planning for the best African gateway experience before your death? Visit the mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo. Once you choose to go for gorilla tours in Rwanda or Uganda, you should consider some of the highlights and budget for them in your planning and among them are: porters who will help you carry your backpackers and also give you a hand during challenging spots on the hike. The cost to hire a porter is $15. Hiring a porter for such a nominal fee compared to the actual permit at least provides locals with much needed employment. Some are even reformed poachers and the parks are trying to educate them the Eco-tourism.

    The actual hike to the gorillas can range anywhere from 1 to 6 hours. Although usually the most difficult, many people seek to visit the Susa group. Not only is this the largest gorilla group you can visit, it is also a group Dian Fossey studied for years and it is the most difficult trek.

    Another sought after group is that guided by Francois Bigirimana – the most famous and knowledgeable guide around. With over 30 years’ experience, including working with Fossey, Francois is in a league of his own. Having lived with a group of gorillas for an extended period of time, Francois is even able to communicate with them through grunts, shrieks and chest thumps. He knows the gorillas and they know him.

    Although the gorilla trekking experience can be physically demanding the beauty of the forest and surrounding scenery always makes the trekking a worthwhile experience. Once the gorillas are located, all fatigue is forgotten, the joy of finding your gorilla troop will only be overcome by the amazement of watching the gorillas go about their daily routine. The gorilla group is likely to be chilled out and eating celery, indulging in grooming, or involved in some other primal social activity. Looking deep into the eyes of the silver back gorilla is surely the most thrilling and profound wildlife encounter that Rwanda has on offer.

    Gorilla Trekking Rules

    There are certain guidelines trekkers should follow to ensure their safety and the safety of the gorillas:

    • Do not trek if you have a cold or flu.
    • Keep a distance of 7 meters away (the gorillas can still approach you)
    • No eating or drinking near the gorillas
    • Keep your voice low and movements slow
    • Avoid eye contact

    The gorilla trekking experience- general schedule of the day

    • 7am Check in at park headquarters. You sign up, drink some coffee and wait around for a bit. Drivers and rangers negotiate group assignments. Once decided, you will meet guides for a briefing.
    • 8am your driver will take you to the start of the trek. Each group has a different starting point. Guides will hitch a ride in one of the cars.
    • Begin trek with guides, porters and armed military officers.
    • First 30 minutes will be an easy walk through flat farmlands. Once the forest boundary is reached, the actual trek begins.
    • Remember, trek length varies (usually between 1-5 hours).
    • Once you reach the vicinity of the gorillas, porters will stay behind with all bags. Only cameras and whatever you have in your pockets are allowed.
    • Visitors are allowed 1 hour to observe the gorillas and may take photos at this time. You will observe playing, fighting, eating, swinging on trees among the gorilla family.
    • Before you know it, time is up and you find yourself hiking back through the forest, past the farmland and driving back to the park headquarters.
    • You will receive a certificate of completion at park headquarters. We returned at 1:10 p.m. but this will be later if your trek is longer.
    • Hire Your Own Porter: Though they are typically not included in your permit or guide price, hire one at the park gate. For just $20 a day, he can assist you with your backpack and your water, or help give you that extra push up a hill (a $15 tip at the end of your trip is customary).
    • One to Watch: Democratic Republic of the Congo the 12-bungalow Mikeno Lodge just opened in Virunga National Park in the D.R.C. While political instability currently impedes travel to the country, Virunga has the highest biodiversity of any park in the world place to track.

  • Encounter the Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda

    Most tourists planning to visit any African country always worry about not meeting their expectations and most of them perceive Africa as an insecure tourism destination. That is very wrong because Rwanda is today one of the safest country to be in for a tour or wildlife safari. Though Rwanda was affected by the 1994 Rwandese genocide, the country has greatly recovered over the decades and today its one of the most developed countries in east and central Africa. The country has various tourism attractions evenly distributed all over the country. Of the many attraction are mountain gorillas located in volcanoes national park.

    Mountain gorilla encounters in volcanoes national park in Rwanda are some of the mind blowing and astonishing experiences that one can have ever have on a safari in Rwanda. They were most made popular to the western world by Dian Fossey an American zoologist who spent years in the forests studying these untamed animals.

    Mountain gorillas are the largest of the Apes family and are close to humans having over 95%DNA similar to humans. They are strong and their enormous size makes them a little dangerous. Mountain gorillas are a little shy and spend most of their time hiding in the wild feeding, females looking after their young mountain gorillas and the males – silverback gorillas always looking for new feeding grounds and very determined to protect their territories.

    Mountain gorilla permits are the first things to think about in Rwanda because mountain gorilla trekking is an activity preferred by many tourists and only 80 gorilla permits are available for tourists a day. Only 8 tourists are allowed to track one of the 10 mountain gorilla families in the national park. The permits are sold at $750.

    The Volcanoes National Park can be easily accessed from Kigali international airport just after a 2-3 hours drive on a well-developed tarmac road. You do not need to worry about accommodation because volcanoes national park has a number of well developed lodges where one can have a good night sleep while preparing for the greatly anticipated mountain gorilla day. The standard accommodation facilities where one can relax include gorilla Mountain View lodge, Sabyinyo silverback lodge and Virunga lodge among others.

    After having a good sleep and waking up early morning to the sounds of the birds and great views of the beautiful the gently sloping hills covered with evergreen forests, tourists head to the Kinigi park headquarters where they are served with locally made hot coffee and tea as the a local group of entertainers bring lots of smiles to your faces jumping and dancing. You are then divided into groups of 8 and allocated to the 10 gorilla families. After being briefed, you then head to the jungles in search for the allocated gorilla group, which takes from 30 minutes to 5 or 6 hours.

    Just a step in the forest introduces you the true African wilderness and sounds of nature. The guides in volcanoes national park are always willing to explain to the tourists the jungle and some of its inhabitants. As the journey proceeds, your guide is informed by the trackers who usually go ahead of the tourists tracking where exactly the gorillas are.

    In just few minutes after having given proper direction by the trackers, a look through the vegetation introduces you to the mountain gorilla. All covered with black fur, a look in the mountain gorilla dark eyes is first scary but as look more you eventually get moved.

    The gorillas just relax eating the leaves in the reach of their hands as they stare at the very curious tourists taking their photographs.

    While here, tourists are advised tourists are advised to keep a reasonable distance to avoid being attacked by the gorillas. An allowance of just an hour is given to the tourists and when it elapses, they are directed back to the headquarters, given certificates of participation for having gone for the great adventure. In addition to the remarkable gorilla experience, being in Rwanda feels like being home away from home and this explains why tourists are always forced to visit the country again.