You'd better believe it!

30 years ago there was estimated to be 250 Mountain Gorillas in the wild.
The recent census in the Virunga Massif gives a total of 480 Gorillas & with the census of 2006 in The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park of 302 a total of 782 Gorillas in the wild!

73% of these Gorillas are habituated which I believe proves that tourism works especially when local people can see the benefits of our dollar!
The pride & interest in the Gorillas by the local people was a very pleasent surprise when I visited a few years back.

Interesting news!

Thanks for sharing.

This seems to be the only way it works and it does! I went gorilla trekking in Rwanda and Bwindi and it seemed to me very sensitive tourism - no masses of people, community based tourism, the trekkers take care of the animals, always keep a healthy distance,.. . I agree, Kipper! If you speak to the people and feel their proud and interest in the gorillas you get the feeling that their future looks brighter than decades ago!

No idea on how such a safari is as I have never gone on a gorilla safari... from what I understand maybe it is a little like the Masai Mara that you basically drive very close - jump out of a car and there they are? Snap shot and off you go with a lot of dollars paid for?
It is obviosluty doing well for them due to the growth of numbers and also becuase civil war is less but is it worth the safari?

Cody, it's definitely different! I did this 4 times so far, twice in Uganda's Bwindi National Park and twice in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park. Experiences were very different and depended on the group we followed. Of course these habituated families are completely wild and roam over huge areas inside the parks. So sometimes it may last just one or two hours by foot until you reach them. In Rwanda we trekked Susa group, a very bifg group with over 30 individuals that is known to roam around an area that's quite far from the park headquarter. So it took us a strenuous 6 hour climb to reach them. We had two visitors who thought they couldn't make it further and we were truly exhausted at the end of the day. The climb is part of the experience, the scenery breath taking and you should be reasonably fit (If not you should ask at the headquarter to change into a group that has a closer territory so that the walk is not that strenuous). But once you reach these incredible creatures all the effort was worth it!

It's true! It costs a huge amount of money and I'm usually not on this budget and prefer camping or low budget accommodation. But this I would do again and again and definitely think it's worth it! I also recognize the positive effects of the high price level. The places are not that overrun with people and the communities benefit from the fees...

Thanks for that Tobi; sounds very interesting especially as you have done it 4 times!! The treck should not be a problem as I am quite fit. Plus the more adventurous the better!!!
There is a cheaper way of doing a gorilla safari - all you have to do is set up a meeting with Simba and way you go... he is a photocopy of one with a cigar in his mouth!!