Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

Meeting a Silverback

The Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is a large primeval forest located in south-western Uganda in the Kanungu District. The forest is on the edge of the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift, at elevations ranging from 1,160 to 2,607 metres. Home to almost half the world’s surviving mountain gorillas, the World Heritage.

The exhilaration attached to first setting eyes on a wild mountain gorilla is difficult to describe. These are enormous animals: up to three times as bulky as the average man, their size exaggerated by a shaggily luxuriant coat. Yet despite their fearsome appearance, gorillas are remarkably peaceable creatures – tracking them would be a considerably more dangerous pursuit were they possessed of
the aggressive temperament of, say, vervet monkeys or baboons, or for that matter human beings. More impressive even than the gorillas’ size and bearing is their unfathomable attitude to people, which differs greatly from that of any other wild animal I’ve encountered.

Gorilla can also be viewed in Mgahinga National Park which has 34-sq-km, features 3 extinct volcanoes, mountain gorillas and golden monkeys.