Gorilla Tracking in Mhinga National Park

The most publicized tourist adventure in Uganda is the tracking of the families of habituated mountain gorillas. There are only a couple hundred mountain gorillas left in the world (all in Uganda, Rwanda, and the Congo) and they have never successfully been bread in captivity. So they're kinda a big deal. Kinda cool but comes with a heft price tag to spend only an hour with them.

The first guy I met who had done it was in Botswana. He paid $1000 for a gorilla tracking permit online. When this permit turned out to be fake, park rangers refused to let him go. He bought a second permit for $500 from the park rangers but fell ill and missed his tracking date. He finally got to track gorillas after purchasing a third permit. His experience consisted of thirty minutes of tracking and a one hour session with the gorillas. $1333 per hour? He claimed it was the best thing he had ever done.

I later met Joseph, likely the most experienced traveler I've ever met. He recounted the tale of his twelve-hour trek up the steep slopes of the Impenetrable Forest to find the illusive gorillas. He said it was fabulously worth while and a bargain for money. He also mentioned how deforested Uganda was now compared to when he visited many years ago and claimed that the future of the gorilla was bleak. He convinced me at the time, but in retrospect I disagree as gorilla tracking is now the third largest industry in Rwanda. With permit prices doubling in the next two years, even the DRC is protecting their gorillas.

Shann and I went.  It was pretty cool. Shann describes it better.

The silver-back screamed at our guides and walked to his lady via a path just a couple meters in front of us making eye contact. That put us in our place.		The baby swung around playfully.

The next day we stayed in the park to bag the three peaks of Mount Sabinyo in the Virunga range of volcanoes. It was a casual hike with a few new friends from New Zealand. On the third peak, we stood in Uganda, Rwanda, and the Congo at the same time. We played twister - right arm Uganda, left leg Rwanda above the border. We had lunch in the Congo - despite being brief, its the thirteenth country I visited on my sabbatical.

This was the closest we've been to the rainforest depicted in my dreams. I must say that the majesty of Jumanji continues to illude me, but it is still beautiful. The third peak was the highest and best as the last 200 meters were vertical and conquered by a series of sketchy wooden ladders. I think this might have been the first hike I've done with Shann which she actually enjoyed.