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Another amazing Great Projects adventure, this time in Uganda to see mountain gorillas.

I had an amazing trip on yet another Great Project’s adventure. This time in Uganda, and once again, I was not disappointed. I had an incredible time and never believed we would be so lucky as to see the gorillas on both our treks. Nothing can really prepare you for the sense of wonder and awe at seeing a group of Gorillas in their natural habitat, it was a very humbling experience and one I will treasure for the rest of my life. We were so privileged to be able to spend time with the Nyakagezi group in Mgahinga National Park, watching these gentle giants enjoying morning brunch, grooming and playing with each other was simply mesmerising. The Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest were a little more elusive, but the fantastic trackers still found them, and after a couple of hours trekking through dense forest, we were able to observe our second group of gorillas (Nkuringo Group) again at close quarters. The Chimpanzee trek in Queen Elizabeth National Park was a different experience, being tree dwelling, they proved to be even more elusive, so you definitely will need to be prepared for a stiff neck after watching them up in the tree canopy. Apart from the treks we also participated in several community based activities. Through the Mgahinga Community Development Organisation (MCDO) we visited local communities, schools and a child crisis centre. We helped paint a classroom, plant bamboo trees and vegetables alongside the children and were shown how community development programmes were supporting the education of girls in school, providing assistance and equipment to the special needs children in school, and met some reformed poachers and their families who were now making a living through tourism and farming. We spent 3 days at Queen Elizabeth National Park and stayed in a beautiful safari lodge near the Kizunga Channel. As if seeing Gorillas and Chimpanzees was not enough, we were incredibly lucky on our game drive and boat trip to see a female leopard, lots of elephants, even more hippos, antelope and buffalo, as well as some pretty amazing colourful birds. Ugandans are very friendly and colourful people, especially the children and by the time you leave the country if you are anything like me, you will return with aching shoulders and jaw muscles from smiling and waving at everyone you see. All the staff involved in organising the trip and arranging our activities and those who looked after us throughout our trip were simply fantastic and made us all feel so welcome. But Denis our driver was “simply the best”, nothing was ever too much for him and his driving skills on some of the most uneven rough roads I have ever been on, are second to none! On this trip we were accompanied by James the videographer for The Great Projects. James was a great ambassador for the Great Projects, and we were extremely lucky to have him join us on the trip. I would highly recommend you lookup his video of our trip to get an even better insight of what it was like. My photos are not a patch on James’s amazing photos, but I hope they give a taster of the magical adventures that await you when you decide to book your own Gorilla trip. You will definitely not be disappointed by this project and I’m sure you will have many awesome memories of your own to look back on.

Date of experience: Sep 04, 2023