#theellenfund

Today is World Gorilla Day, and that means something special to us at WorldwideXplorer. We began offering gorilla hiking safari tours to Uganda and Rwanda, where you can hike to see groups of habituated gorillas, in 2014. I went on our first ever safari to this region and had the most delightful time observing and admiring these gentle giants of the misty mountains in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and the Virunga Mountains to name a couple of places.. They were so much more calm than I would have ever pictured. Though the hike to get to them can be daunting, it’s definitely worthwhile.

Calm Silverback Gorilla in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

We also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the wonderful organizations that are working to preserve and help these creatures. When we were in Rwanda, we visited the Gorilla Doctors, wildlife veterinarians who do an amazing job monitoring and caring for the gorillas with as little human intervention as necessary (but they will intervene when required). They’re one of the main reasons why gorilla numbers are increasing! Hats off as well to the relatively new Ellen Degeneres Wildlife Fund which is also helping gorilla conservation efforts.

With a little bit of effort comes a lot of hope!

Young gorilla descending quickly from tree