Gorilla trekking is the highlight of any primate’s trip especially in one of their habituating country. So every tourist would like not to miss this tourist activity. Much as every tourist would like to go for the gorilla trek, many of these are underprivileged and marginalized and others are incapacitated for this memorable activity. Such people include the elderly and physically impaired people.
However, whichever state one is in, cannot deter him/her from having a successful gorilla trekking experience. So Gorilla Safaris Adventure has you covered as it has designed a unique mode of transportation that is intended to enable these less privileged tourists to have a successful gorilla trekking expedition. So to begin with the elderly, are people who are over the age of 70 years and cannot manage to trek up the steep hills and the general topography of the Impenetrable Bwindi forest and the great Virunga massif. So in order for these people to be able to trek to these primates, we do organize for them a luxurious stretcher that is lifted by four porters each on one end who carry him or her into this forest. This mode of movement is very secure as one has even the laxity of seating on this stretcher when up there and taking memorable photos with a lot of ease.
More still, we do also employ the services of the porters who are very experienced and helpful to the tourists. There are some tourists that are elderly but want to experience this expedition on their own without being carried on these stretchers. So we employ the assistance of these porters who help with carrying their backpackers and during the movement, they do help these tourists by pushing them up the hilly spots and as well pull them down the slopping scenes. So with this kind of service, these elderly people are able to realize their dreams of a mouthwatering experience.
As if that is not helpful enough, this company has very knowledgeable and down-to-earth guides that are very friendly and when it comes to taking care of these elderly tourists, they are a force to reckon with. Our guides go ahead and liaise with the park officials during the allocation of gorilla groups such that this kind of people get and trek the groups that are nearer and not very strenuous. Rwanda has several nearer and easy groups to trek like Sabinyo, Susa, Kwitonda and Umubano.So our guides get you these groups such that you realize your dream vacation even though you are under privileged compared to the others.
For the case of Uganda,there are gorilla trekking sectors of Bwindi impenetrable forest that are easier to trek than the others. For instance, we make sure that such incapacitated people get gorilla permits for easier sectors like Buhoma or Rushaga compared to Nkuringo which is very steep and needs one with a high level of fitness.In such a scenario they will be able to realize their dream of a life time.
So all said and done, a gorilla trek has various players that play a very pivotal role in making this experience achievable. In other words a very successful gorilla trekking experience is a made possible with the help of very many players of which some are unsung heroes. So here we highlight some of the plight of these unsung heroes as well as how these people impact the life of the less privileged tourists on a gorilla trek.
Gorilla trackers
Gorilla trackers are known to be experts in tracking gorilla whereabouts. The trackers happen to have studied and practically been frequently associating with the gorillas in the wilderness. Therefore from the knowledge they have about gorillas they can be able to study and tell what the gorilla is up to and thus they can trace the where a bouts of gorillas by analyzing the gorilla remains like the gorilla nests and dung. They can interpret the gorilla language hence be there to advise you on what to do in case the gorilla charges. Gorilla trackers are being sent into the impenetrable forest hours earlier before the tourists can set off for the gorilla trekking tour trails deep into the impenetrable forest. This is done so that they can be able to track down different allocated gorilla groups as they set off their day from their respective nests since they build nest on a daily basis which makes it hard to track them down. Trackers carry telecommunication devices especially radio calls which enable them to communicate with the gorilla guides who guide the tourists through the impenetrable forest.
Gorilla trekking guides
Gorilla trekking guides are always assigned according to number of gorilla trekking groups. Each gorilla trekking group contains eight tourists. Therefore these gorilla trekking guides direct the tourists throughout the entire impenetrable forest so as to easily connect with the gorilla trackers that had gone on the track earlier ago. Normally this impenetrable forest just like the name suggests, it is really impenetrable to especially the first time entrant. So this necessitates the expertise of these people that have been in this forest on numerous occasions thus knowing all the best routes to take. Therefore with the help of the gorilla trekking guides who have been to this impenetrable forest several times, trailing throughout the forest is made easy hence enabling tourists to have a story to tell after the gorilla trekking tour to the impenetrable forest.
Gorilla trekking game rangers
The fact being that gorillas are always in forested areas, there is a possibility of various other animals being found in the same habitat which might prove dangerous to the lives of the trekking tourists. So this brings in the need for armed people whose work is to protect these trekkers from such eventualities and such safety is manned by people we call game rangers.
Game rangers are well trained staff members of the authority that are always armed so as to ensure total protection from aggressive animals deep down into the forest. This forest also happens to habituate a number of different mammal species that go up to 120 in number,346 species of birds, 202 species of butterflies, 163 species of trees, 100 species of ferns, 27 species chameleons, geckos, frogs and over 400 species of plants. The forest elephants tend to be aggressive when met in the most cases therefore the game rangers take some few gun shots in the sky so as to scare them away hence proceed with the gorilla trekking trails.
Gorilla trekking porters
Porters are put in place to help carry luggage for the tourists who might want to do the gorilla trekking trail without any heavy item on them. This is majorly for the underprivileged tourists like the elderly and the physically impaired people. Tourists of such caliber can’t trek down gorillas but would like to go for gorilla trekking tours can hire the porters who will take the initiatives to carry you down and up hills as you trail gorillas throughout the forest; these are privately hired by a specified tourist.
How to get prepared for a great gorilla trekking tour in any of the countries where the activity is done includes doing a medical checkup so as not to be denied a chance of encountering a gorilla trekking experience. Therefore it’s of help to know your medical status before you encounter the gorilla trek.
Scientifically it’s proven that human beings share up to 98% genes with gorillas, therefore any related healthy issues like diarrhea, cough, flu and any kind of skin disease, you’re not allowed to go for a gorilla trail deep inside the impenetrable forest as it can be the only way to get reed of spreading the diseases to the mountain gorillas.
Gorilla trekking is an activity that takes an entire day but on average it takes you 2:30hrs to trek down gorillas, therefore this means that you almost spend the entire day in the jungle with the gorillas.
So gorilla safaris advgenture would like to inform you that gorilla trekking in Bwindi, Mgahinga and Volcanoes National Park can be strenuous and requires a certain level of fitness something that may be lacking with the elderly people. To make sure that the old people can come to Uganda and see mountain gorillas, we have put measures in place to make sure that gorilla trekking for the old are successful.
When organizing gorilla trekking for the old, we ensure that if the old people can walk, our guides will try to explain this to the respective authority staff so that an easier family is allocated to our old person. In this case, the ranger guide tends to move at the pace of the slowest person and as such, old people are able to cope and make it to the gorillas.
Gorilla trekking safaris for the elderly also take into consideration those that can walk for a short time and require a push or a pull. In this case, we advise that such old people should take porters who are always available at the park headquarters. These porters are very helpful since they will give you a push or a pull when it is required to ensure that you make it to the gorillas. We therefore call on all International Tour operators interested in gorilla trekking for the old to contact Active African vacations for more details.
Gorilla trekking for old people has been made possible by hiring sedan chairs to carry those who are old or disabled. Sedan chairs are available in Bwindi and Volcanoes National Park and should be booked in advance to guarantee their availability. Make sure that you contact us in time for a sedan chair to be booked for you. For any questions about gorilla trekking for the old, elderly do not hesitate to contact one of our safari designer.