Gorilla Trekking Fitness Level (A Guide to Physical Fitness)

Does Gorilla Trekking Require Physical Fitness? (Answered).

Gorilla trekking in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a once in a life time experience, a must do during a visit to the conservation area, the beauty through the trails, the hikes, and caves is incredibly amazing thing to do, it takes 2-8 hours hiking in search of the majestic creatures depending on how far the gorilla families have moved, many travelers wonder if gorilla trekking requires physical fitness? Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is home to half the world’s remaining population of Mountain Gorillas. Itbecame a national park in 1991as a way of protecting the critically endangered species of the Mountain gorillas and other creatures that live within the forest area. Gorilla trekking requires physical fitness, as the whole experience is a tedious activity.

Does gorilla trekking require physical fitness? This keeps almost every traveler wondering what the level of fitness for tracking gorillas is. You do not have to be an expert to do gorilla tracking; however, you need to be able to walk through the forest and return. Gorilla trekking does require physical fitness; it is advisable to train a little for the activity, as it is very strenuous; it involves walking up and down hills through the rugged terrain of Bwindi. Mountain gorillas live within the bamboo-forested area of the park, elevated between 1,160m and 2,000m above sea level, which makes it a tense and dense forest. Bamboo provides most of the food for the gorillas; it is cooler and convenient for the primate species.

Gorilla trekking starts at 7:00 am with a briefing from the Uganda Wildlife Authority team on how to conduct yourself while in the forest. It takes 2-8 hours in search of the gorillas, and an hour is allowed to interact, take pictures, and enjoy the moment with the gentle giants; the time taken is dependent on how far the gorilla families have moved. At the beginning of the tracking, guests are grouped into 8 people per gorilla family.

The cost of the gorilla permit is determined by the Authority managing the forest; the permit is a legal document issued to be able to do the tracking on the ground. This year it costs $800 for foreign residents, $700 for foreign non-residents, and 300,000 shillings for East African citizens. Permits can be purchased through a domestic ground handler. It is advisable to pay for these on time due to availability.

Gorilla tracking can be done throughout the year but best during the dry season in December, January, Feburay, June, July, August, September, during this time the trails of the forest and much direr compared to when it is the wet season, it is less slippery which makes it easy to do the tracking through the well distributed trails of the forest, that mentioned gorillas are can be tracked in the wet season as well, it is a time when they are discounted permits and cheaper accommodation as well as seeing the park at its best green and fruiting season.

Besides tracking Mountain gorillas requiring physical fitness, there are several things to do in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park that require physical fitness, for example,hiking through the forest, guided nature walks like the walk through Bwindi from the Buhoma Sector to the Ivy Trailin Nteko, and waterfall visits in Buhoma and Rushaga Sector. Other things to do include the Batwa cultural experience. The group is among the last short, structured people in Bwindi; they used to live in the forest freely together with other forest creatures; however, due to conservation, they were evicted from the forest.

In conclusion, the gorilla trekking experience requires physical fitness for all travelers.