The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has taken a team of influencers and tour operators on gorilla and golden monkey treks in south-western Uganda to promote the Gorilla Marathon and Mountain Gorilla Festival 2026, scheduled for November 20 to 22 in Kisoro District.
The group trekked mountain gorillas in the Rushaga sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, then moved to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Kisoro District for golden monkey trekking.
Mr Niyongabo Laban, a tour guide and tour operator travelling with the team, said the group came on the invitation of UWA to try some of the activities the region offers.
“We are here with a team of influencers on the invitation of the Uganda Wildlife Authority to popularise the Virunga Gorilla Marathon and also the Gorilla Festival,”.” He said
He said the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), which Uganda hosts next year, could bring more visitors to the area.
“Uganda is hosting Afcon next year, It’s a very great opportunity for us to get more people to come to travel as some of them will definitely come to see the gorillas,” he said.
Before the group set out on the golden monkey trek, Mr Ochola Juventus, the warden in charge of tourism at Mgahinga, briefed them at the park headquarters in Ntebeko.
He said the golden monkey is what sets the park apart from other destinations in Uganda.
“Golden monkeys in Uganda are only found here in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park,” he said.
Outside Uganda, Mr Ochola said, the species is found only in Volcanoes National Park and Gishwati-Mukura National Park in Rwanda, and Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He added that the trek relies on several teams, where Advance trackers follow the troop and use phones to direct the group through shortcuts, while armed rangers walk with visitors for safety.
“Here in the forest, we have got the forest elephants and the buffaloes. Sometimes, in an encounter with them, they tend to be so aggressive,” he said.
When that happens, he said, the rangers fire warning shots into the air so that the group can continue with the hike.
Ms Hellen Namitala, a content creator also known as Lenz, who was in the group, said the trip has been a great experience and that she was going to trek golden monkeys for the first time.
“I didn’t know that Uganda had all this beauty because I’ve been just seeing it from afar, but now I’m experiencing it,, this is my first time” she said.
She named Uganda’s culture and its tourist attractions as the things she loves about the country.
Hellen also had a message for people who have never travelled.
“If you have never travelled like me, guys, start travelling. It is very enjoyable, it is very nice. Come and explore Uganda,” she said.
During the briefing, visitors were told to carry all waste, including water bottles and food wrappers, out of the forest, and to keep their voices low because forest animals are shy. Anyone who needs to relieve themselves must tell the lead guide, who points out a spot behind a tree. For solid waste, a hole 30 centimetres deep must be dug and covered afterwards.
Mgahinga was gazetted a national park in 1991 and opened to tourists in 1993. At 33.7 square kilometres, it is small but varied. It has three extinct volcanoes: Muhavura, the highest at 4,127 metres above sea level with a crater lake at the summit; Gahinga, the smallest at 3,474 metres with a swamp at the top; and Sabinyo, where Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo meet.
The park has about 180 bird species, 17 of them Albertine Rift endemics. Gorilla trekking is its main activity, Mr Ochola said, and it has one habituated group of 11 members, including three silverbacks.
Batwa guides show how their community lived in the forest before leaving it, including how they laid traps, practised traditional medicine and made fire by rubbing two sticks together. The trail ends at Garama Cave, believed to have been the residence of the Batwa king.
