Nkuringo’s baby gorilla : On the 16th of May 2022, Nkuringo’s Christmas family got a baby gorilla an addition to the sector’s and group’s gorilla population. The birth of baby gorilla is one of many that have been happening in Bwindi National Park since late last year. The mother of the baby is an adult female Kiiza and at time of the news last week she and the baby were both in health and stable condition. The other group members and the father were all in a cheerful mood. Kiiza the mother’s a name is a name given to children in Uganda who are born after twins.
The birth of this baby gorilla now makes the number of gorillas in Christmas group 8.
Nkuringo sector is one of the four mountain gorilla trekking sectors in Bwindi National Park. It’s located in the southern part of the park. It was famously known for one of its dominant silverbacks – Rafiki. Unfortunately in 2020 Rafiki was killed by poachers, none the less Nkuringo is still popular trekking sector in Bwindi National Park.
The Nkuringo sector was established in 2004, almost 10 years after Buhoma sector was established. At first it was used for habituation but with time as the gorilla groups grew, it became a regular mountain gorilla trekking sector. Compared to Buhoma, this sector is more challenging to trek but offers the most scenic views and sights on a trekking experience.
Nkuringo currently has a total of 4 mountain gorilla families, which are:- Christmas, Nkuringo, Posho and Bushaho families. Nkuringo and Bushaho families both have 12 members, Christmas has 8 and Posho has 14 members as per the time of writing this article.
All the four gorilla families are available for trekking all through out the year. Each family receives a group of 8 individuals visiting it on a daily. The individuals spend an hour with the gorillas.
For a mountain gorilla trekking experience in Nkuringo Sector, one needs a trekking permit that costs $700. This permit gives you a chance to spend one hour with one of the four mountain gorilla families in the sector. Trekking experiences in this sector can last between 6 to 8 hours or more depending on other factors.
The sector is open to visitors all year round and its visitors on top of mountain gorilla trekking, they get to engage in different activities that include but not limited to:-
- Forest and Nature Walks; walks into the forest to enjoy the variety of tree species in the forest as you observe the other natural wonders in the forest.
- Birding: this sector is also home to a number of birds over 100 species, so people who visit the sector usually use the opportunity to view the array of birds in the sector and forest at large.
- Mountain biking: This is between a sport and an adventurous activity that you can have on some of the trails of nkuringo sector.
- Hiking: If you feel challenged, you can also opt to take a hike. The hike gives you an opportunity to enjoy the forest and the surrounding sceneries even more.
- Community visits: outside the forested area of the sector, there are people communities you can visit to learn more about the people and the culture at large.
You can access the Nkuringo sector, from Kampala in Uganda or from Kigali in Rwanda. The sector is actually closer to Kigali than Kampala. From Kigali to Nkuringo it will take you between 4 to 5 hours well as from Kampala to Nkuringo will take you between 8 to 10 hours.
