Minimum Age for Gorilla Trekking

Minimum Age for Gorilla Trekking

Minimum Age for Gorilla Trekking : Gorilla trekking is one of the most sought after tourist activities on the African continent. This lures guests of different ages – young and old longing to experience a face-to-face adventure with these great apes of Africa. Mountain gorillas are subspecies of the genus Gorilla and can only be found in a tiny stretch of land shared between only three countries. This is located between the countries of D.R. Congo, Uganda and Rwanda.

This stretch of land is mostly found in the Virunga ranges, a chain of 8 volcanoes that run across the borders of 3 countries with one of these volcanoes sharing borders with all 3 nations. The other place to find mountain gorillas is in Uganda’s Bwindi impenetrable forest, located adjacent to the Virunga massif. These two places are the only destinations that accommodate thousands of mountain gorillas and their survival in the wild.

Where to do gorilla trekking from?

There are only 4 national parks where interested visitors can trek the mountain gorillas in the whole world. These are the Virunga national park of Congo, Volcanoes national park in Rwanda, and lastly the Bwindi impenetrable and Mgahinga National Park in Uganda. It’s only here that lucky guests can relish the pleasure of trekking and finally meeting a gorilla within a few meters in its habitat.

Mountain gorilla experience.

It’s a conservation success story and continued gorilla trekking tourism is vital to the species’ continued existence. Gorilla trekking in the wild is perhaps the most up-close and life-changing wildlife experience you can have in Africa. An adventure that starts at the park headquarters with a briefing as you feel the excitement building up among the group volcanoes-national-park visitors huddled together to list the guidelines for trekking the gentle giants of Africa.

This includes but is not limited to not littering, keeping together with the group at all times, making minimal noise, keeping a safe distance of 7meters for the gorillas, and also no one with flu or contagious disease can trek the gorillas. This is because the gorillas are also susceptible to such diseases and it can be fatal for them. This then proceeds with guests being grouped in groups of 8 and then heading into the misty jungle to have an adventure of a lifetime.

The trekking might take 2 to 3 hours before you encounter the gorillas but once you find them you are privileged to have one hour of wonderful stirring memories of these creatures as they bond, eat, groom, and play with each other. After this short exciting hour, you will start on your journey back to your lodge for resting and reminiscing about the great time you had.

Minimum age for gorilla trekking.

The experience is an exciting adventure that everyone loves and would like even their loved ones to take pleasure in this activity. However, this cannot be possible as their a few limitations that can prevent one from trekking gorillas. One of these requirements is the age of a guest. Gorilla trekking requires persons going to trek the mountain gorillas to be with a minimum of age of 15.

The age minimum is implemented to aid in the control of the gorilla trekking expedition. This is the light that individuals aged 15 and above can listen and adhere to guidelines set up as the experience isn’t just for fun but the conservation for the gorillas is more important. For example, most guests under 15 find it hard to keep their voices low which can turn off the gorillas and interpret it as an aggressive gesture to their safety.

Guests under this age limit unfortunately, cannot meet gorillas and have to wait until they are of age to undertake this great adventure. Anyone who is 15 years of age and meets the requirements for example free from cold, flu, or any other contagious disease is free to trek the gorillas.

Best time to do gorilla trekking.

The gorilla trekking destinations have almost identical or related climatic conditions. This therefore allows for gorilla trekking throughout the whole year. However, a few months are outstanding and considered excellent to trek these gorillas. During the months of mid-December to late February and from early June to mid-September. These months fall within the dry seasons and offer the most comfortable conditions for gorilla trekking.