Mountain Gorilla Trekking is preferably the most captivating adventure activities attracting thousands of tourists in Africa. With over 10 Gorilla Tracking Groups in Rwanda, this amazing itinerary can be done in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National park in Musanze (former Ruhengeri) and In Uganda (Bwindi Forest and Mgahinga highlands) whereas tourists can also perform this adventurous activity in the Virunga massifs. For one to involve in the gorilla trekking activity, you must obtain a valid gorilla permitfrom Rwanda Development through a registered tour agency. A maximum of 8 permits are issued on a daily basis for each of gorilla tracking groups. Each and every group has something unique to offer which may be in terms of character, size, dominance and more. Some groups are led by Silverbacks that are very peaceful and if you indeed portray the same then it would be recommended to bond with a peaceful family.
Lets explore more about the gorilla tracking groups in Rwanda below;
1. Susa Group (Susa A Family)
This is the gorilla tracking group that was researched by Dian Fossey.
It derived its name from River Susa which flows in the home range of these gorillas. The family is the most challenging to trek since it normally stays up in the higher ranges of the mountains however the RDB’s Tourism and Conservation trackers will know in advance how the group is located the day before in advance for the next trackers. Sometimes tourists have been barred from tracking the group because of its distant location. This group is very impressive with a family size of 28 gorilla individuals with three Silver-backs. This was the biggest gorilla group prior to separating into two. The group had 42 individuals and when visited people would see so many gorillas scattered in the entire area. This group is renowned for its infant twins; Byishimo and Impano which are pretty playful. This group has one of Rwanda’s oldest habituated gorillas like Poppy who was born in 1976. Poppy is thought to be among the gorillas which were in the initial gorilla group that Dian Fossey’s conducted her research.
2. Karisimbi Gorilla Group (Susa B Family)
Just like the name, this group resides on the slopes of Mountain Karisimbi. It has 16 members with one silverback. It’s a breakaway faction of Susa family reason why they also call it Susa B. Tracking this gorilla family at times can be stopped due to its faraway location. This family separated from the initial Susa (Susa-A) family and today it is referred to as Susa-B or the Karisimbi Group. The Karisimbi Group is better appropriate for serious hikers. It seems that they have formed their home in the higher mountain slopes of Karisimbi caldera. So visiting this group may take a full day hike. The group at times moves to higher altitude making the tracking pretty challenging.
3. Sabinyo Gorilla Group
Sabyinyo can easily be reached and it is led by a strong silverback Guhonda. This is the biggest silverback of all the gorilla tracking groups since it is very massive in physical appearance. Actually, Guhonda has maintained his main competitor, Ryango, from his group as a solitary silverback. In comparison to other gorilla families, Sabyinyo has fewer members although it is similarly impressive.
This group derived its name from Sabyinyo volcano and it actually means an “old man’s teeth”. The Sabyinyo is among the groups found nearest to the border of the park with 8 individuals that include one Silverback (which is the biggest in the entire park); three Adult females; a youthful female; two Juveniles as well as a Baby gorilla.
4. Amahoro Gorilla Group
Amahoro which means “peaceful group”, is the calmest gorilla groups. this group has seventeen individuals: a Silverback; two Black-backs; five Adult females; 2 Sub-adult males; 2 Juveniles as well as 5 Babies. Nonetheless, the peace comes at a good price. Ubumwe, the silverback of this group is peaceful, really easy going as well as serene, he has sadly lost some group members to the Umubano group led by Charles.
To see the Amahoro you should maneuver over the somewhat steep climb but the climb is worth it when you finally find this amazing group. Amahoro Gorilla Group currently resides on the slopes of Mountain Visoke and has about 18 members with 2 Silverbacks. If you have a peaceful character in nature and love peace as well then you might have to book your permits for trekking this gorilla group.
5. Umubano Group
Umubano is a Kinyarwanda word Which means “neighborliness”, the Umubano family comprises of eleven individuals: a Silverback; a Sub-adult male; three Adult females as well as six Babies. Umubano were initially members of Amahoro group however separated following Ubumwe the then dominant silverback being overpowered by Charles who is the current leader of Umubano.
As Charles grew into an adult silverback just as Ubumwe, he couldn’t stand taking orders around so he decided to fight and eventually challenged Ubumwe. this fight went on for some weeks and nearly months. Eventually, Charles was able to take a couple of females from Ubumwe hence forming a group; the Umubano. From that time, he commands a lot of respect and appreciated by Ubumwe. On a number of occasions interactions between these two silverbacks have been witnessed, however, no fights have been witnessed since that big fight.
6. Agasha Gorilla Group
During its first habituated the group had 13 members. Today the group has nearly 25 members: a Silverback; twelve Adult females; two Sub adult female; three Juvenile as well as seven Babies. previously this group was led by Nyakarima who was overpowered by Agashya whose name means “the news”. In fact, Agashya made headlines by first observing and estimating the strengths of Nyakarima and finally challenged him to a brutal fight taking away his entire group. This greatly shocked Nyakarima and was an extraordinary event in witnessed gorilla history. Then Agashya shifted up the volcano to safe guard his group and ensure that Nyakarima didn’t find them. Since then, Agashya has increased the number of members in his group by snatching some from other groups and incorporating other solitary gorillas, speedily the group expanded from 12 up to 25 individuals.
Agashya is also known, at any first sign of danger, to take his entire group to the peak of the volcano.
7. The Kwitonda Gorilla Group
This group has 18 members and it is led by Kwitonda the silverback whose name means the “humble one” it also has 2 silverbacks plus a blackback. This is a migrant group from the Democratic Republic of Congo which was named after its dominant silverback called Kwitonda which means the ‘Humble one’.
Because of its migration background, the group wonders in the lower slopes of Mt. Muhabura and like Karisimbi group, it is onerous to track as it sometimes moves to the upper slopes. The gorilla group settled in the area between Mount Sabyinyo and Mount Gahinga. This group suddenly became a popular one for tourists to visit up to date.
8. The Hirwa Gorilla Group
This group became renowned on 17th June 2006 after trackers witnessed its creation when some members from 2 separate families the Group 13 and the Sabyinyo group joined to form a smaller group at the time. Fortunately, some other gorillas also joined this group and today the Hirwa group has nine individuals: one Silverback; three Adult females; two Sub adult females as well as 3 Babies.
The word ‘Hirwa’ means ‘Lucky One’. Need some luck or rather are you lucky? You might need to trek to see this family. Although it is the newest gorilla group, Hirwa shows strength and well safeguards its members.
9. Ugenda Family
This Group lives in Rwanda’s Karisimbi area. it comprises of 11 gorillas including 2 silverbacks. Its acquired this mane which means “being on the move” since the family was constantly moving from one place to another. Because it is constantly moving, tracking it is normally challenging and involves prolonged movement to find them.
10. Titus Family
Titus Family was named after the Silverback – Titus, a primate that was born during the time Dian Fossey was still carrying out her research at Karisoke Research Center. Titus’ family got murdered by poachers leaving him as the only survivor. He went through a lot of hardships growing up but managed to overcome all those obstacles and emerge as one of the most successful Silverbacks to ever inhabit Volcanoes Park Rwanda. This group apparently inhabits the slopes of Karisimbi and Visoke volcanoes.