Tracking the Umubona Gorilla Family in Rwanda. Complete Gorilla Trekking Guide to see the Umubona Gorilla Family.
Tracking the Umubona Gorilla Family.
Gorilla trekking in Rwanda is one of the most adventurous and unforgettable wildlife encounters while on a Safari in Rwanda, and one of the most inspiring and thrilling adventure experiences in the whole world. Located deep in the green jungles of Volcano’s National Park is the Umbona gorilla family resting along lush green bamboo and mist-covered mountains of the Virunga Mountains.
The Umubona gorilla family is among the few habituated gorilla families that can be visited in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park. Umubona, in the local Kinyarwanda language, means “living together in harmony.” Umubona reflects Social bonds that are strong and also peaceful in nature.
Umubona gorilla family originally split from Amahoro family after a series of intense fights over dominance between two leading silverbacks, that’s Ubumwe, the dominant silverback leading Amahoro gorilla family, and Charles, the silverback leading Umubona gorilla family. After these fights, Charles gave in and left with several female members of the Amahoro family to form his own Umubona Gorilla family, where he himself could also lead and offer protection without being challenged at all.
Umubona Gorilla Family Size and Structure.
Umbona Gorilla family is the comprised of a number of gorilla family members, about 11 to 13 members. Those individuals include one dominant Silver backs knowns as Charles, and Several adult female gorillas.
Mountain Gorilla Trekking to see the Umubona Gorilla Family?
Umubona gorilla family is known for being so gentle, calm, and so friendly towards visiting tourists, making it a favourite gorilla family to track in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.
This particular family is found in the Rwanda volcanoes national game park, one of Rwanda’s most popular safari destinations. The trek starts very early in the morning with a transfer from your lodge to the park headquarters for a briefing about the dos and don’ts of gorilla trekking.
You will then enter the forest with the leadership of the ranger guide and start looking for the gorilla giants. This trek can take anything between 1 and 6 hours, depending on the location of the Mountain Gorillas.
After encountering them, you will be allowed to spend a full hour in the company of mountain gorillas, taking pictures and videos before walking back to the park headquarters for your transfer back to the lodge. While on this trekking adventure, you will be travelling through dense vegetation and volcanic terrains while enjoying incredible views of the Virunga Mountains.
Acquiring a gorilla trekking permit for tracking the Umubona Gorilla Family in Rwanda.
Every tourist with an interest in tracking Mountain gorilla is required to have a gorilla permit. That allows only clients to track a single mountain gorilla family in a Day. This is part of Rwanda`s remarkable strides towards gorilla conservation in East Africa.
The gorilla permits are issued by the Rwanda Development Board on behalf of the Rwandan government. Every visit to the Umubona gorilla family helps in supporting and funding gorilla conservation programmes like anti-poaching patrols, but also provides direct incomes and support to local communities and families around Volcanoes National Park:
Visiting the Umbonao gorilla family is more than just a wildlife safari experience but rather an encounter with humanity closset relatives right in the middle of their national habituat
Regardless of whether you are a photographer, researcher, or just a nature lover, an encounter of one hour with the Umubona gorilla family will leave you with such unforgettable memories with a deep appreciation of nature and the wild in General.
