Rushaga Sector | Bwindi’s Largest Gorilla Trekking Zone
Rushaga sector is the only sector in Bwindi impenetrable national park where you can spend more time with mountain gorillas on gorilla habituation experience, Rushaga is located in the South region of Bwindi impenetrable national park with 4 trailheads open for daily gorilla trekking excursions.
Rushaga sector is lies on a beautiful hills looking across the vast, rugged rift valley landscapes with all the Virunga Mountains in sight. The area boasts spectacular sights to enjoy while sitting on top of any ridge area, these spectacular views will leave you spellbound and make you feel like you are living in paradise.
Gorilla Groups in Rushaga Sector
Rushaga sector of Bwindi impenetrable national park has 8 gorilla groups available for gorilla trekking and 2 gorilla groups for research and habituation experience, Rushaga sector has more fully habituated gorilla groups when compared to any other sector in Bwindi impenetrable national park and is currently the only sector in Bwindi offering habituation experiences.
Gorilla groups in Rusaga sector include Nshongi Gorilla Family, Mishaya Gorilla Family, Busingye Gorilla Family, Bweeza Gorilla Family, Kahungye Gorilla Family, Bikingi Gorilla Family, Mucunguzi Gorilla Family and Rwiigi Gorilla Family.
Nshongi Gorilla Family
Nshongi Gorilla family is a fully habituated gorilla group in Rushaga sector with 8 members under the leadership of dominant silverback Bweza, initially this gorilla group had 34 members including several males. However overtime intra – male rivalry caused dispersal of individuals and the splitting of the group, in July 2010 the Nshongi gorilla group split to form the Mishaya family and again split to form the Bweza group in August 2012.
Today, the Nshongi gorilla family is composed of 8 members including 1 Silverback, 1 Black back, 3 Adult females, 1 Sub-adults and 2 Infants.
The name Nshongi is adopted from the Nshongi River found in the range where the group’s members were found.
Mishaya Gorilla Family — 10 Members
Mishaya gorilla family is one of the lately gorilla groups on Rushaga sector, Mishaya gorilla family was initially formed in July 2010 when the Nshogi group split to form another family lead by Silverback Mishaya.
Mishaya the sole dominant silverback died on 3rd February 2014 from an obstruction of the intestinal gut, his death resulted in an unmonitored dispersal of the remnant group members as they had no other adult male to guide and protect the group.
Some of the members of Mishaya, sought solace with the Bweza gorilla family and other members joined the Bikingi group, in May 2018 rediscovered the remnants of Mishaya group under the leadership of Silverback Tinfayo – a former member of the Nshongi gorilla family. Tinfayo left the Nshongi group in 2012 with one Adult female (Shida) and her infant (Rotary).
Mishaya gorilla group is the latest addition to the gorilla families in Rushaga sector open for gorilla trekking, currently Mishaya gorilla group is under the leadership of the dominant silverback Tinfayo – known for his carefree demeanor and brutal encounters with other silverbacks in the jungle of Bwindi.
Mishaya gorilla family comprises of 10 members including 1 Silverback, 1 Blackback, 4 Adult females, and 1 Sub-adult female and 3 infants
Busingye Gorilla Family
Busingye gorilla family is a gorilla group of 12 members including 1 silverback, 1 black back, 5 adult females, 3 juveniles and 2 infants under the leadership of dominant silverback Busingye, the name of this gorilla family is a local dialect meaning peaceful however it is opposite to his demeanor as he has been observed to lead brutal attacks on other gorilla families as a way of expanding the size of his family.
Most of the members of the Busingye gorilla family were habituated as members of the Kahungye gorilla group until they split to form the Busingye Gorilla family in march 2012 and the split was lead by silverback Busingye,
Busingye gorilla family is known for being one of the most entertaining gorilla groups in Rushaga sector, its 5 young ones are exceptionally playful and their father let them play around them in close proximity where we can watch them closely.
Bweza Gorilla Family
Bweza Gorilla family is a family of 11 members of 3 silverbacks, 4 adult females, 1 juvenile and 3 infants under the leadership of dominant silverback Kakono, in 2013 some of the Nshongi gorilla family members trusted Kakono to lead them from silverback Bweza’s leadership and split to form their own family “Bweza group”
Bweza group is famous for foraging on community land adjacent to the park where the vegetation is more disturbed than deep inside the canopy.
Kahungye Gorilla Family
Kahungye Gorilla Family is a family 13 members under the leadership of silverback Ruziika, at the time of its habituation this group had about 29 individuals including 3 adult males – silverbacks Riziika, Busigye and Rwiigi. These silverbacks frequently got involved in intra-male rivalry and in march 2012, silverback Busingye split from the group and left with 19 members to form his own group , after a short period of time, silverback Rwiigi also split from the family with some females to create his troop.
Bikingi Gorilla Family
Bikingi Gorilla Family is a family of 10 members including 1 silverback, 1 black back, 4 adult females 2 juveniles and 2 infants. This gorilla family was founded by silverback Bikingi who died on 09th June 2018 after a brutal encounter with a lone wild silverback, currently this gorilla group is under the leadership of unnamed silverback.
Mucunguzi Gorilla family
Mucunguzi Gorilla Family is a family of 12 members under the leadership of dominant silverback Mucunguzi from who it gets its name, the name Mucunguzi is a local dialect meaning “redeemer”.
Silverback Mucunguzi split from the Bweza family at maturity and roamed in the jungle of Bwindi on his own, after a few year of solitary, he attacked the Bikingi gorilla family and snatched away some females enough to start his own family.
Rwingi gorilla family
Rwingi gorilla family is newly formed gorilla family that split from the Kahungye gorilla family, this group has 10 members under dominant silverback Rwingi and the group gets his name from this silverback. The name Rwingi is a local dialect meaning “an entrance or door”.
All members in Rwiigi group were fully habituated in the Kahungye before forming Rwiigi group, so when the group was formed by Rwiigi there was no need to take them through another habituation process. However UWA closely monitored its movements and opened the group for trekking in the Rushaga sector.
Members in Rwingi gorilla family include
- 1 Silverback
- 5 Adult Females
- 2 Juveniles
- 2 Infants
Gorilla Trekking in Rushaga Sector
Gorilla trekking in Rushaga Sector starts at the head office with briefing and allocation of gorilla groups, then spread out on various trailheads which lead to the gorilla groups scattered around the Nkuringo Sector.
Caution. Before you embark on a gorilla trekking safari in Rushaga sector, you must have a gorilla permit. In Rushaga sector there is 8 gorilla families available for gorilla trekking and on a daily 64 gorilla permits are issued.
A gorilla permit in Rushaga sector and Bwindi impenetrable national park is a follows
- Foreign non-residents – US$ 700 per person
- Foreign residents – US$ 600 per person
- East Africa nationals – Ugx 250,000.
Gorilla Habituation Experience in Rushaga
Rushaga sector is the only sector in Bwindi impenetrable national park offering gorilla habituation experience offering tourists an opportunity to spend more hours with remarkable wild primates, observing, connecting and taking photos of them at a gentler pace.
Unlike Mountain gorilla trekking, the habituation experience offers a more extensive, intimate and powerful connection, it gives you more time to relax and understand the everyday life of gorillas. This experience is perfect for photographers offering them a more relaxed environment to capture great shots in a challenging wild scene.
There are only 2 gorilla groups in Rushaga sector and Bwindi impenetrable national park reserved for research and habituation experiences.
Gorilla habituation experience
Gorilla habituation experience offers tourists more time in the presence of gorillas, trekkers are lead by highly trained trackers and guides into the jungle very early in the morning before sunrise. The trackers and guides follow gorilla spoor and clues left on the trail behind by the gorillas as they roam through the jungle, the search for gorillas begins when you find the gorilla nests from the night before and since you start early, you usually see the gorilla soon after find the nests.
Mountain gorillas build nests on the ground and occasionally in a tree every night, the gorillas never use the same nest. Young gorillas (infants) who do not have a skill to build their own nests stay with their months, on the average gorillas move less than one mile each day and because of this they are never too far away from their previous night’s nest.
When you locate the gorillas, approach the gorillas cautiously. Getting close to gorillas is powerful yet intimidating mostly for first – timer, your guide will instruct you on how to use non – threatening body language to put the dominant silverback at ease and allow him to assert his dominance.
Visitors stay amongst the wild gorilla family, watching them as they slowly relax to the presence of humans and move with them in case they decided to relocate. Still these gorillas are not yet familiar with your presence, so do not be surprised when they display unexpected behavior which your guide will know how to handle. This intensive approach is the only way through which these wild gorillas will eventually become entirely comfortable in the presence humans.
Gorilla Habituation Permit
A gorilla habituation is only offered in Bwindi impenetrable national park in the Rushaga Sector and the gorilla habituation permit costs $1,500 for Foreign non-residents Foreign Residents pay – $1.000 and 750,000 Uganda shilling for East Africa Citizens , this price seems to be high but it is worth the experience.
A gorilla habituation permit can be purchased from Uganda Wildlife Authority or through your tour operator.
Best Time To Go gorilla trekking in Rushaga sector
Rushaga sector is open for gorilla trekking all year round, however the best time to go are from June to August and December to February, in these period of the year which is a dry season, the trails in the jungle are drier, less slippery and chances of not getting wet while on gorilla trekking are less. Also offers great photography experience.
Note: The dry seasons of June – August and December to February are peak season in Uganda, gorilla permits are in high demand during this season and it is strongly recommend you book your permit months in advance. You can take advantage of the low season to purchase your permit and book your gorilla trekking permit.
March, April, May, October and November are wet season, in this period the roads may be challenging for some vehicles to pass through, a 4×4 wheel vehicle is the recommended vehicle to use.
Generally, gorilla trekking safaris in Rushaga sector are carried out every day irrespective of the weather or public holidays. Kindly note that weather in Bwindi impenetrable national park is unpredictable
Where To Stay in Rushaga sector
Rushaga sector of Bwindi impenetrable national park has some of the most outstanding luxury accommodations with some of these lodges situated approximately 14 kilometers outside of the sector and they include
- Nkurigo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge
- Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge
- Mutanda Lake Resort
- Chameleon Hill Lodge
In addition to luxury accommodations, there are budget accommodations including
- Rushaga Gorilla Camp
- Gorilla Valley Lodge
- Nshongi Camp
- Gorilla Safari Lodge
- Wagtail Eco Safari Camp
- Bwindi Jungle Lodge
- Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge
If you are planning to travel to Africa for a mountain gorilla safari, Rushaga sector – Bwindi impenetrable national park should be on top of your bucket list most especially for those wishing to spend more time with mountain gorillas.
