Can I still Trek mountain Gorillas if Feeling Sick?

The question of whether visitors can still trek mountain gorillas if feeling sick still perturbs many intending gorilla trekkers. It is undebatable that gorilla trekking is a dream-come-true for many safari lovers but restrictions are placed on “who”, “how” and “when not” these adventures are undertaken because of the “endangered status” of the Giant Apes as well as their close relation with humans.

These Giant Apes are endangered with a total World’s population of only about 1063 individuals (according to the last Gorilla census of 2018) and only live in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. One exciting fact about them is that they are our close relatives, sharing over 98.2% DNA making them vulnerable to many of the diseases that affect us such as flue, cough, colds, scabies, measles, Tuberculosis as well as even Covid-19 and because of this, sick visitors are not allowed to trek them in their natural habitats. Much as the chimpanzees are the closest to humans, mountain gorillas are equally our close cousins hence vulnerable to several human diseases and they are incredible sub-species of the Eastern Gorillas.

Mountain gorillas are gravely affected by respiratory infections and studies show that up to one-fifth of these infections lead to sudden mountain gorilla deaths. This is indeed worrying and alarming thus restrictions on tourism are crucial in reducing these deaths. Some studies have even discovered some traces of human metapneumovirus in mountain gorilla tissues and these viruses have been shown to bring about respiratory infections among humans and can be even severe in the Giant Apes.

Given their susceptibility to human diseases, governing Authorities (Uganda Wildlife Authority, Rwanda Development Board and Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature) jointly came up with several health guidelines to protect the wellbeing of these endangered primates and these include limiting every habituated gorilla family to a 60-minute visit each day, limiting the number of people trekking a single habituated gorilla group to 8, emphasizing the 7-meter distance from the Giant Apes at all times, covering mouths when sneezing to avoid dropping infection particles and most importantly nipping in the bud of gorilla treks by sick travellers.

The question now is; “can a tourist still trek the mountain gorillas if feeling sick?” The answer is “NO” to avoid any possible risks to mountain gorilla lives. However, there should be proof of sickness and if it is on the actual trekking day, the Park warden will confirm and your gorilla trek rescheduled or you will be given a refund (a certain percentage) since it’s not your fault to fall sick and it’s a way of guaranteeing the health and safety of mountain gorillas. Uganda Wildlife Authority and Rwanda Development Board refund at least 50% of the Gorilla Permit fees due to sicknesses and other health-related issues but comes after confirmation by the responsible Park warden. This applies to visitors that had already arrived at the Gorilla trekking National Parks.

The Earlier cancellation of gorilla permits before travelling to the National Parks or even arriving into the countries come with certain refund percentages as well. Uganda for instance refunds 75% of the gorilla permit fees if cancellation is done over 91 days earlier, gives 50% refunds for cancellations done within 46 and 90 days before the trekking date and travellers that cancel within 9 and 45 days before the trekking date are entitled to a 25% refund while those that cancel within 8 days and less are entitled to no refund.

However, other sicknesses/ailments if not very seriously can’t deter you from going ahead with your planned gorilla trek but remember that the adventure is generally challenging and strenuous thus some level of physical fitness is recommended.