Hiring a Porter for a Gorilla trekking experience : Hiring a porter for Bwindi Gorilla Trekking is advisable for a number of reasons, one of which is the economy, given the fact that most of these people are from humble economic backgrounds. Who is a porter? This is someone from the nearby village or community who offers a hand in carrying your backpack while you are on your Bwindi Gorilla Trekking adventure. The majority of these people are former poachers who are trying to take a new lease on life and most interestingly, they have lived all their lives around the Gorilla National Parks. For this reason, they are strong as well as capable of lifting heavy backpacks as you have a lighter and stress-free gorilla trekking adventure.
For a new person, hiking through the rugged terrains and steep slopes towering to between 2500 and 4000 meters above sea level is difficult but for the porters, who have lived in the area thus are familiar with the natural environment of mountain gorillas.
Cost of hiring a porter for Gorilla Trekking safaris
Gorilla Trekking Experience in Uganda – Porters around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park come at a cheap and affordable cost, going for $20 to $25 each day. This small amount includes their wage on a daily basis as well as meals (normally breakfast and lunch) but excludes tips.
Reasons for hiring a porter for Gorilla Trekking safaris
Most people that work as porters in the Mountain gorillas’ national parks in Uganda, Rwanda and Congo are conversant with the natural environment but the interesting reasons for hiring them include;
The chance to experience the culture of aboriginal people – If you simply trek through Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to see the mountain gorillas, you are most likely to miss out on the riveting cultures of the people, their traditions and lifestyles yet they spice up gorilla trekking experiences. Having a porter beside you means he will offer information on the culture of the region.
Porters offer mental and physical support during Gorilla trekking experience
It is undeniable that trekking the mountain gorillas especially within Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is challenging, to a point of almost giving up but the porters will from time to time boost your morale in addition to showing some basic ways of finalizing the gorilla trek. There is also a point where you push yourself too hard to finalize the gorilla trek and therefore, your porter will make it possible to maintain an ideal pace without pushing your physical limits too far.
Your backpack sometimes becomes too heavy for carrying during Bwindi Gorilla Trekking adventures and in such instances, the porter offers support in sharing your heavy load.
Hiring a porter is a way of boosting the local economy
As earlier mentioned, the local economy is one of the reasons why you have to hire a porter for gorillas trekking tours, as majority of these people come from struggling backgrounds which makes it a challenge to earn only from their agricultural practices. Therefore by hiring a porter, you will be directly boosting the local economy improving their standard of living and overall development of the community.
Besides hiring a porter, other requirements for a successful gorilla trekking tour in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park include acquiring a walking stick that is provided at the Park headquarters.
The ideal time for enjoying Gorilla trekking tours
The dry season from June to September, even December to February is undeniably the ideal time for enjoying Bwindi Gorilla Trekking Tours because hiking trails are drier, not muddy or slippery, due to the absence or reduction in rainfall levels. This makes treks less challenging but visitors looking for discounted rates (especially for accommodation) can enjoy the adventure in rainy season-March to May and October to November. However, the rains are heavy and trails are muddy or slippery.
