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At Mashariki Tours, we offer incredible gorilla trekking safaris for our guests. Because our focus is on providing visitors with sustainable eco-tourism that supports local communities, economies, and ecosystems, we feel that educating our guests is all a part of creating a memorable experience. Get to know the different golden money and gorilla families you can observe while on one of our unforgettable gorilla trekking safaris.
A species endemic to the Virunga Massif, Golden Monkeys are found in the Volcanoes National Park, in the Mgahinga National Park, in the Gishwati forest, and in Virunga National Park in Congo.
Golden monkeys live in families of 100 to 125 individuals, including one dominant male, females, juveniles, and babies. Dominant males and adult females are charged with protecting the territory and the resources found therein, and the females are generally the ones who defend the food.
Meet an immigrant family of mountain gorillas that settled in our park some 12 years ago, but keeps crossing the border every chance it gets. The Kwitonda Group are a bashful bunch of border bandits who love nothing more than to cross from Rwanda to Congo and Uganda.
This family was brought over from the Democratic Republic of Congo. It arrived in 2005, when there were 16 members in the group, all of which were habituated. They were very popular with the tourists even then. Today, the group has grown tremendously. There are now 23 individuals, including one silverback, two black backs, females, and young ones. Much like a human, the leading silverback is very shy. These last mountain gorillas travel freely across the borders of three neighbouring countries, without any passport or visa. Join us on a gorilla tour, and let’s have a look at these free-traveller gorillas in their natural habitat!
Meet the Hirwa Family, a peaceful brotherhood of underdogs. Come see the twins in action, and marvel at the innocence of these fabulous creatures, unaware of just how special they are to the world. This is a group formed by one silverback. All its members came from other established and habituated groups. Its main feature is that it is more peaceful than others. As of this moment, there are 17 individuals in the group, following the very special birth of Kabatwa’s twins on June 2, 2011.
This is a mountain gorilla group that’s been blessed with a very special brood. Come meet the proud mothers, and witness some of the rarest twins on the face of the planet!
This is currently the second largest group of Mountain Gorillas in the park. It boasts 35 individuals, four of whom are silverbacks. Studied by Dian Fossey, this group is quite famous. It lives on the slopes of mountain Karisimbi. The Susa Gorilla family is an incredible gorilla group!
Fun fact: rare twin gorilla babies were born in this group — not once, but twice! It first happened on May 19, 2004, when 12-year-old Nyabitondore gave birth to twins, one male and one female. Then, on May 27, 2011, another old female, Ruvumu, produced two twins, male and female. Both have been successfully raising these twins. These might be the first ever twins to survive in the history of Mountain Gorillas! However, the Susa family has recently separated from this group to form one of their own, with 17 individuals in total. If you are interested in seeing mountain gorilla twins grow and thrive, come and see these beautiful babies for yourself!