Mishaya gorilla family is one of the amazing 20 habituated gorilla groups of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP). It is an interesting family make up the total of about 9 habituated groups within Rushaga sector of BINP alone. Officially, Mishaya group is open for gorilla tourism and it broke away from Nshongi family in July 2010.
Mishaya family was once under the leadership of Mishaya silverback gorilla that also left with about 8 mountain gorillas to create his own group. These comprised of Mwiza, Bakunzi, Rutaro, Mize and Mishaya himself. Currently, this group has a composition of 12 family members and this includes the 2020 newly born baby from Biretwa mother gorilla. Mountain gorillas are endangered and trekking to view a family of these apes is such a mesmerizing wildlife encounter not to be missed in the wild.
Other than Mishaya group, Rushaga region also has additional 8 gorilla families including Kahungye, Bikingi, Nshongi, Kutu, Mucunguzi, Rwingi, Bweza and Busingye families. Each of these can be trekked provided holidaymakers have valid gorilla permits and each of the permits can be booked at US $700 by foreign non-residents, US $600 by foreign residents and Citizens within East Africa Community are charged Shs. 250,000 per person.
When to visit Mishaya gorilla group
Tours to explore this gorilla family of Rushaga can be planned anytime of the year. But you can have the best of your thrilling encounter with these humble apes during the dry season beginning from June to September and December to February. It is also possible to make arrangement for gorilla holiday in Mishaya even during the wet/rainy season; March to May and October to November although these months record the highest rainfall amount.
Places to stay.
There are several comfortable accommodation options in and around Rushaga area for holidaymakers who are interested in trekking Mishaya group can stay. They include Chameleon Hill Lodge, Mutanda Lake Resort, Ichumbi Lodge, Gorilla Safari Lodge or Gorilla Valley Lodge.
How to get there?
To track Mishaya group, holidaymakers must travel to Rushaga sector in the southern Bwindi National Park which is located in Southwestern Uganda. The options to get there are; by road and by air. By road, there are many routes leading to Bwindi but the most popular one takes you from Entebbe/Kampala through Masaka-Mbarara get to Kabale or Kisoro and reach Rushaga to the southern part.
This can be estimated to be 9 to 10 hours’ drive or spend 3 to 4 hours driving from Kigali Rwanda via Katuna/Chanika border. By air, flights connecting to southwestern Uganda are available starting from Entebbe airport or Kajjansi airfield to Kihihi or Kisoro airstrips.
What to carry during your gorilla tour
The essentials to have in order to enjoy your trek to view Mishaya family include rain jacket, camera but it shouldn’t be having flashlight, daypack, hiking boots, long sleeved shirts, insect repellents, gardening gloves, hat, first aid kit, passport-valid, gorilla permit-valid, snacks, bottled drinking water, sweater and others.
