Gorilla Tracking on the Central Africa's Best Kept Secret Tour
Dzanga-Sangha Reserve offers the unique experience to track western lowland gorillas...
follows the traces the gorillas have left while moving and feeding. This task could not be achieved without the help of pygmy trackers whose senses are perfectly in tune with the forest.
on the forest floor, leaves you with an unforgettable memory. To do this, one takes elephant paths and narrow trails, sometimes crossing copses. The hike can take up to 3 hours, but is on average 1.5 - 2 hours.
and/or Uganda say that the hike to the gorillas is less strenguous in Dzanga-Sangha.
The terrain is uneven but flat, whereas in Rwanda and Uganda there is more steep climbing involved to get to the gorillas.
Copyright images: Dzanga-Sangha Project, photographers: Andrea Turkalo, Michelle Klailova, David Rouge, Chloé Chipoletta, Angelique Todd and Philipp Roth
Gorilla Tracking at Dzanga-Sangha
Several international researchers are as well as other team members are living permanently in the camp of Bai Hokou who are responsible for locating and following the gorillas each day. Early in the morning, at sunrise, a team leaves the camp with information on the location where the gorillas slept the previous night.
The involvement of Pygmy trackers
As soon as the nest site is found, the team thenfollows the traces the gorillas have left while moving and feeding. This task could not be achieved without the help of pygmy trackers whose senses are perfectly in tune with the forest.
The tracking experience
The tracking experience alone, searching for the gorillas by following their almost imperceptible signs
on the forest floor, leaves you with an unforgettable memory. To do this, one takes elephant paths and narrow trails, sometimes crossing copses. The hike can take up to 3 hours, but is on average 1.5 - 2 hours. Rwanda / Uganda gorilla tracking vs. Dzanga-Sangha gorilla tracking
Visitors who have gone gorilla tracking in Rwandaand/or Uganda say that the hike to the gorillas is less strenguous in Dzanga-Sangha. The terrain is uneven but flat, whereas in Rwanda and Uganda there is more steep climbing involved to get to the gorillas.
90% gorilla viewing guarantee
Encountering the gorillas cannot be guaranteed, but in 2003 and 2004 nearly 90% of the tourists taking part in this activity have seen gorillas in close proximity.| Gorilla Tracking - Rules & Regulations |
| Currently (April 2009) 6 tourists per day can partake in gorilla tracking (3 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon). |
| All participants have to take responsibility for any risk themselves. |
| The park administration has fixed a minimum age of 16 for gorilla tracking. |
| No one with diarrhoea, a cold or other transmittable diseases is allowed to participate, this is so as not to endanger the gorillas’ health. |
| The role of the dominant male gorilla, the silverback, is to defend his family, preventing the group from overly dispersing and other males from leaving with resident females. This role partly explains the mock charges against the pursuing humans. If this occurs, one must wait in a knelt position with the head declined. Charges can be up to only a few meters away. Most of the time, researchers and tourists are within 15 or 20 meters of the animals. |
| Visitors are informed of the rules of conduct at the camp. |
Copyright images: Dzanga-Sangha Project, photographers: Andrea Turkalo, Michelle Klailova, David Rouge, Chloé Chipoletta, Angelique Todd and Philipp Roth
