Bageni Gorilla Family
The Bageni gorilla family is one of the habituated mountain gorilla families in Virunga national park, the family can be trekked in Bukima and Gatovu areas of the park. The Bageni gorilla family I’d dominated by a silverback known as Bageni. The dominating silverback Bageni split from Kabirizi gorilla family in January 2013 to form his own family, Bageni left the Kabirizi group with 20 individuals including his mother Mapendo. A female gorilla in the Bageni family once gave birth to a set of twins that unfortunately passed away before making their first birth day.
Bageni gorilla family is one of the largest in Virunga national park though there are high chances of the group splitting due to many members and presence of other silverbacks struggling to make their own families. There are a lot of other tourists activities that can be done while in Congo and this can be seen below:
Visit orphaned gorillas at Senkwekwe
The Senkwekwe gorilla center is the only one of its kind in the world caring for orphaned mountain gorillas; this was opened in 2010 with support of donations worldwide the center is near the parks headquarters they care for gorillas victimized by poachers and animal traffickers.
Explore the Tchegera island
This island is an oasis of its own where you can relax from after hectic gorilla trekking, tourists can engage in recreational activities like swimming and there’s also abundant birdlife to be watched.
Climb mount Nyiragongo
Mount Nyiragongo is one of the most visited places in Congo, tourists hike through jungle tropical forests, craggy rocks and finally arrive to the active magnificent lava lake the climb can take 5-6 hours depending on the climbers phase and fitness. Experience the red glowing gases clearly seen in the night.
Explore D’odzola national park
D’odzola national park in Congo can only be accessed by fly in safaris, the park is an habitat to the great lowland mountain gorilla families and a number of other primates. Its also one of Africa’s oldest national parks.
Visit Conkouati – Douli national park
This national park is very rich in diversity, tourists can trek mountain gorillas, explore animals like forest elephants, chimpanzees and buffaloes. Tourists can also relax and sand bath in the crystal clear beaches.
Tourists trekking mountain gorillas can obtain permits at only $450 per person and a maximum of eight permits are sold for each gorilla family in a day. The minimum age for gorilla trekking is 15 years of age.
