Kisoro District “The Home Of Gorillas”
Kisoro district will open up a new world to you as you explore a number of features, attractions that will make your trip to the area worthy of all your time and energy. With a number of attractions that will be eye-catching, it is clear to assert that Kisoro is a hidden gem hidden in western Uganda ready to be discovered by people.
- Virunga Mountains: In Uganda, the Virunga Mountains can be found in Kisoro district which means it is not only the home of gorillas but also a number of tourist attractions. In the district, you will be able to see mount sabyinyo, mount Muhabura, and Mount Gahinga. The mountains are part of the Virunga Mountains chain which consists of 8 mountains found in Rwanda, Congo, and Uganda. Some of the mountains are shared among the different countries. Other mountains include mountain karisimbi, mountain Bisoke, mount Mikeno, mount Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo. While in Kisoro, you can hike the Virunga mountains where you will see a number of attractions like the golden monkeys that are usually found in the bamboo forest of the mountains because they are a delicacy to them and usually you can find different gorilla families on the different mountain slopes and on the Ugandan side, you will find the Nyakagezi gorilla family on the slopes of mount sabyinyo.
- Garama caves: The Garama caves have a rich history ready to be told by the guide at the site, Garama caves way go back in the early years during the Bantu and the Batwa when they were fighting for the fertile lands and because the Bantu were mainly farmers, they wanted to settle in the fertile lands which didn’t settle well in the ears of the Batwa who fought against them in order to keep the land but because the Bantu were many in number, they were able to case them away but in the process the Batwa flee and disappeared in the forest which was not the case because they hid in the Garama caves were they lived and made their home and the forest which meant they survived on the forest products, fruit gathering, hunting small creatures in the forest which is quite an interesting story once told.
- Batwa people: While on your trip to mgahinga national park, you can opt to visit the forest people the Batwa who have an interesting lifestyle if compared to today’s lifestyle. Even with modernity, the group of people has not changed much which is quite a unique trait about them which is a great aspect to people interested in the authenticity of culture, the group of people will take you into their daily lives when you pay them a visit. The Batwa are mainly forest people that carry out fruit gathering, hunting small creatures in the forest for survival and have also adopted farming where they carry out small scale farming where different food crops are grown just for home consumption. The Batwa will perform cultural dances, skits among others as a way of entertaining you. On your next Uganda tour, you should not miss out on carrying out a trip to the Kisoro district.
- Golden monkeys: The golden monkeys are part of the different primates that can be found in Kisoro’s mgahinga national park. While on your primate safari, you can combine golden monkey tracking and gorilla trekking to have the best experience. Usually, the golden monkeys are found in the same territory with the gorillas because they also use bamboo as a form of food just like the gorillas which is easy to spot them with the gorillas feeding in the same area
Kisoro the Home of Gorillas
Visiting Kisoro district will give you a number of options when it comes to activities and attractions to look at but the most popular of them all and the one that should not be missed out are the gorillas. The district is the home to the eastern gorillas to be specific the mountain gorillas that can be trekked and habituated at any given time of the year and these are found in two different national parks mgahinga national park and Bwindi impenetrable national park.
- Mgahinga gorilla national park: Mgahinga gorilla national park located in the south western part of Uganda is one of the lucky homes of gorillas in Uganda. The park is a home to the Nyakagezi gorilla family which can be seen as you carry out your mgahinga gorilla national park tour where you will have a chance to go gorilla trekking. Interesting about the gorilla group is the fact that its dominant silverback by the time known as Bugingo who was defeated by Mark the current dominant silverback when he was defeated e didn’t leave the group like other defeated gorillas who leave in search of females to make new groups, he stayed behind and he is now able to leave with the rest of other gorilla family members. In mgahinga gorilla national park, there has also been migration of gorillas from the Hirwa group of Rwanda with over 20 gorillas that have migrated from Rwanda to Uganda’s mgahinga national park, come have a chance and look at the Hirwa family members that came into the park, usually the gorillas move from country to country because of different reasons which may be the search for food, stress from within the gorilla family and a number of different reasons. The Hirwa gorilla family is one of the gorilla groups in volcanoes national park Rwanda. The Hirwa family is one of the few gorilla groups that bore twins that can be seen on your visit. On the different Virunga mountains in mgahinga national park, different gorilla groups can be found for instance on mountain sabyinyo where you can see the Agashya gorilla family mountain Gahinga Ugenda gorilla family and mountain Muhabura where you can find the kwitonda, gorilla family.
- Bwindi impenetrable national park: Another place to find the gorillas in Uganda, the park is located in different parts of Uganda including the Kisoro district. The park has a number of gorilla families that can be seen in the different sectors of the park namely: nkuringo that is found in Kisoro district, Rushaga, Buhoma and Ruhija where a number of gorilla families can be found. You carry out gorilla trekking and gorilla habituation in the park as you get to know more about the primates and understanding their everyday lives their feeding patterns, their grooming patterns and so on. Which can be an exciting and engaging activity once carried out. Aside from gorilla trekking and habituations, you can also participate in nature walks within the park, birding and a number of different activities that can be carried out at the different trails which lead to an exciting adventure.
