Trip of lifetime gorilla trekking in Africa

The mountain gorilla safari is one of the great experiences that you can experience the mountain gorilla. There are two populations. One is found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central Africa, within three National Parks: Mgahinga, in south-west Uganda; Volcanoes, in north-west Rwanda; and Virunga in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The other is found in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Some primatologists say that the Bwindi population in Uganda may be a separate subspecies, though no description has been finished. As of November 2012, the estimated total number of mountain gorillas is 880.

Mountain gorillas are descendants of ancestral monkeys and apes found in Africa and Arabia during the start of the Oligocene epoch (34-24 million years ago). The fossil record provides evidence of the hominoid primates (apes) found in east Africa about 18–22 million years ago. The fossil record of the area where mountain gorillas live is particularly poor and so its evolutionary history is not clear. It was about 9 million years ago that the group of primates that were to evolve into gorillas split from their common ancestor with humans and chimps; this is when the genus Gorilla emerged.

It is not certain what this early relative of the gorilla was, but it is traced back to the early ape Proconsul Africanus. Mountain gorillas have been isolated from eastern lowland gorillas for about 400,000 years and these two taxa separated from their western counterparts approximately 2 million years ago. There has been considerable and as yet the unresolved debate over the classification of mountain gorillas.

The genus was first referenced as Troglodytes in 1847, but renamed to Gorilla in 1852. It was not until 1967 that the taxonomist Colin Groves proposed that all gorillas be regarded as one species (Gorilla gorilla) with three sub-species Gorilla gorilla (western lowland gorilla), Gorilla gorillagraueri (lowland gorillas found west of the Virunga) and Gorilla gorillaberingei (mountain gorillas including, Gorilla beringei found in the Virunga and Bwindi). In 2003 after a review they were divided into two species (Gorilla gorilla and Gorilla beringei) by The World Conservation Union (IUCN).

Trip of lifetime.Was very anxious if I would be able to physically do this trip. We went two days and requested an easy hike. Both days were 2 hrs. One way with some uphill climbing. We did it with no issues. Suggest you hired a porter if you need one or not. These are former poachers who now act as porters. It is suggested you tip 10 dollars we gave more. On the second day it rained and my porter helped me with downhill in the mud. The first day we visited a group who were in the open and had twins. We were very close. It was well worth the effort to see these amazing gorillas up close and running and playing. It felt mystical.