GORILLA TREKKING SAFARI INFORMATION

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Date: Tuesday, 1 September 2020 Email: [email protected] Property of: Safari Guru Pty Ltd Telephone: (+61) 0427 782 226 CONTENTS

GORILLA TREKKING SAFARI OVERVIEW...... 3 UNDERSTANDING THE DESTINATION...... 3 YOUR TREKKING IN DETAIL...... 4 MORE ABOUT GORILLAS...... 4 Why engage with Safari Guru Pty Ltd...... 6 GORILLA TREKKING SAFARI OVERVIEW

Considered one of the twenty-first century's top "Bucket List" experiences; the opportunity to spend time with gorilla troops offered in is indeed unforgettable. Many - even hardened safari enthusiasts - say it is life-changing, and they would do it a second time. Rwanda, with over half of the critically-endangered gorilla population, offers the best organised, carefully managed and most productive primate trekking in the world. This experience is challenging to find anywhere else within the continent, and certainly not on the planet as the species is limited to these equatorial African rainforests. Set against the soaring mountainside and beautiful endless green hills of the , expert trackers and guides will lead you in small groups of similarly matched guests (in terms of fitness and ability). You'll trek through the rain forests of the Volcanoes National Park, and up bamboo- covered slopes and then spend a precious and deeply enriching one hour with one of the twelve families of Rwanda's habituated gorillas. Watching our fascinating cousins feeding, sitting and interacting with one another is the experience which has once again put Rwanda's tourism industry back in the global spotlight.

Despite a turbulent past, Rwanda is now a very safe and amicable destination - a real testament to the remarkable people in this truly remarkable country. It is a fantastic destination not just for gorillas, but for primates in general; chimpanzees are found in the Nyungwe Forest National Park, and Golden Monkey, a sub-species of the Sykes Monkey can be seen in most major forested areas. More recently Rwanda has also opened up to Big 5 wildlife viewing in the Akagera National Park' considered central Africa's largest protected wetland and the last remaining refuge for savannah-adapted species in Rwanda.

UNDERSTANDING THE DESTINATION

The is one home to the endangered – including the habituated mountain gorilla families. This scenic landscape is where 's famous and groundbreaking research was carried out; an area with five volcanoes, a mountainous and semi-tropical wet area covered in rainforest and bamboo. These mountains are a chain of eight active and inactive volcanoes in east Africa along the border of northern Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

The highest peak of this is Mount Karisimbi, 4,507 meters (14,787 feet) high, located in the park. In these mountainous areas, rainfall is abundant, and showers can occur throughout the year. Rwanda's high altitude gives a remarkably pleasant tropical highland climate, albeit also a fair amount of rain. Temperatures don't change much month to month due to its proximity to the equator, yet varies considerably between locations, depending on their altitude. From March to May, Rwanda's long rainy season provides heavy and persistent showers. June to mid- September is the long dry season; October to November is a shorter rainy season, and it's followed by a short dry season from December to February. During the wet seasons, the air is cleared of dust, and the vegetation is green, with photo opportunities abound. But, both of Rwanda's dry seasons also have light cloud cover moderating the temperatures and occasionally bringing light showers; typically though there is less mud underfoot for trekking, although the air might be dustier.

Gorillas are not, of course, the only species in the park! So, tracking gorillas is not the only trekking in Volcanoes National Park, and there are plenty of other interesting hiking trails available. Before your visit the gorillas, a guided walk into the mountains is a fantastic idea; gaining a better overall understanding of the ecosystem, while getting better acclimatised, and seeing other wildlife species.

Additionally, if you're interested in tracing the footsteps of Dian Fossey, her grave is a 30-minute drive from the park headquarters and then two to three hours hike through the forest, to a cool 3,000m altitude. YOUR TREKKING IN DETAIL

There are twelve families of mountain gorilla that may be visited. These families (or troops) are known as Susa, Igisha, Karisimbi, Sabyinyo, Amahoro, Agashya, Kwitonda, Umubano, Hirwa, Bwenge, Ugyenda and Muhoza. Each troop generally sticks to their preferred area in the mountains, and are continuously monitored and protected by park rangers, thus making success with tracking a near certainty.

Each group of guests, once locating their allocated troop, will spend a maximum of one hour per day - this is by order from the Rwanda Development Board. And to protect the gorillas from widespread obtrusion and to maintain their health, only eight trekking permits are issued to visitors per troop per day. This keeps your experience intimate but certainly means you should book in advance – through an experienced primate safari tour operator, such as Safari Guru or online with Rwanda Tourism.

Primate safari-goers will gather at the HQ of the Volcanoes National Park headquarters in Kinigi at 7am, and at this point, each visitors fitness levels are assessed and allocated; grouped with others of a similar level for the day. After a briefing as to the protocols and rules for visiting the gorillas, you'll begin your hike / walk to your allocated gorilla family.

Hikes to the various family groups, living out their natural lives in the various locations last anything from 30 minutes to four plus hours, reaching an altitude of 2,500m to 4,000m. Experienced porters are available to carry backpacks and cameras, as well as to offer a helping hand along the route.

The price of the gorilla trekking permits includes channelling of funds to the local communities. These funds help to build local infrastructures such as schools, roads and health centres. Some monies also go to local farmers whose crops may be destroyed by the gorillas – all to ensure a more peaceful future co-existence. So your visit will genuinely make a positive impact, over and above providing much needed meaningful employment for local people – employed in roles from rangers and trackers to porters, drivers and staff at eco-tourist lodges.

Tourism in Rwanda is a vital, symbiotic relationship. Today, Ba'Aka people, indigenous to the Congo Basin, are employed as animal trackers, a life-giving role as many Ba'Aka are natural-born animal trackers. Each were raised learning the ways of the forest from their relatives and taught to hunt for game, collect honey, and forage for medicinal plants and mushrooms. However, interestingly traditionally Ba'Aka tended to avoid gorillas as their elders were generally frightened of them. These traditional skills were being lost to agriculture, as was the agricultural demand for land having a catastrophic effect on wildlife.

Today, the local traditional skills are once again valued, and through these skills, providing income from tourists and aiding conservation. The tourism needs the local trackers, the local trackers need the income from the tourists, and the gorillas need to survive. "They (the Ba'Aka trackers) are really, really respected back in their villages," says Terrence Fou, who runs the gorilla habituation program. "Everyone wants to work in the program.”

MORE ABOUT GORILLAS

Gorillas are the largest living primate. These are gentle giants, displaying so many human-like behaviours and emotions, such as laughter and sadness. It shouldn't come as a surprise that gorillas share 98.3% of humans' genetic code, making them our closest cousins after chimpanzees.

The largest of the great apes, gorillas are stocky animals with broad chests and shoulders, an arm span stretching from 2.3 to 2.6 meters, and large, human-like hands. They have small eyes set into hairless faces/heads.

There are two gorilla species living in equatorial Africa, separated by about 560 miles of Congo Basin forest. Again, each subspecies is divided into lowland and upland. Standing nearly 5'5" on two feet and weighing up to 440 lbs these are big beasts! Broadly speaking the species is split into lowland and mountain gorillas spread across much of the equatorial African rainforest. The critically endangered mountain gorilla has its home in the volcanic range spanning Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Humans have decimated numbers; and they have been victims to war, poaching, habitat loss and disease. Things were looking desperately bleak for this beautiful species. At a low point, there were thought to be only 250 individuals remaining in the world; however, on a positive note and thanks to intense conservation efforts (including visitors to the troops, community, NGOs and government efforts ) the numbers of these intelligent primates have been slowly increasing to just over 1000 in the wild today, with 604 in the Virunga Massif. As mentioned previously, there are twelve fully habituated gorilla families living in the Volcanoes National Park, yet there are a few others habituated solely for scientific research. Gorillas are famously intelligent and are fascinating animals, and it is really worth getting to know more about our fascinating relatives before making your trek to visit them.

Living in 'family' groups typically of up to ten individuals, but sometimes two to more than 50. Each troop is led by at least one silverback (an adult male so-called because a "saddle" of grey or silver-coloured hair develops on their backs with age) along with several females and youngsters. The dominant silverback is very important to the troop, and the bond between the silverback and his females forms the basis of gorilla social life. He generally determines the movements to good feeding sites throughout the year. His role also extends to protecting the troop from threats from humans/leopards/other gorillas even to death and mediating conflicts within the group. If a mother dies or leaves the group, the silverback is usually the one who looks after her abandoned offspring, even allowing them to sleep in his space. Understandably he is the centre of attention of the troop and young gorillas frequently stay close to him and include him in their games. Quite amazingly, sadly but wonderfully, some experienced silverbacks have been witnessed being able to remove poachers' snares from the hands or feet of their group members — quite remarkable animals.

Contact Safari Guru for further information and ideas on the how, when and where to piece together the very best safari experience. You can also download this information in PDF for reading later, otherwise visit our Rwanda page for recommendations of safari camps and lodges in the various regions.

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