If gorilla trekking is already on your bucketlist we can make the experience even more unique and offer the opportunity to interact with local gorilla expert Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka and the communities surrounding Uganda’ Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.
About Dr. Gladys and Conservation Through Public Health
Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka became Uganda’s chief veterinarian at the young age of 26 and aleading gorilla researcher. She is also the founder of Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), an organization she founded after treating Bwindi’s mountain gorillas for scabies they contract through contact with the local communities that live in close proximity to the National Park. The incident helped Dr. Gladys to recognize the link between wildlife and human health. “It made me realize that you can’t protect the gorillas if you don’t think about the people living around the park, who have very little health care.” Today CTPH works with local communities to improve their own health, educate them about gorilla health and ensure that they both understand the importance of gorilla conservation and feel the impact of the income generated from tourism.
Dr. Glady and CTPH have now introduced several programs that give travelers unique and intimate access to on-going gorilla research and CTPH’s community programs. More details about the program itself
Gorilla Research and Health Program
As part of this program, after your gorilla trek a representative from CTPH will meet you and and lead you to a gorilla nest were you will collect dung samples from the next for analysis the next day. The next day you step into the shoes of a gorilla researcher! You will analyze the gorilla dung collected to determine the health of the family.
Community Visit
Visit the communities that border the national park and come into direct contact with the gorillas by accompanying a CTPH volunteer for a day as they provide essential educational information to help these communities improve and maintain their health. The only long-term, sustainable way to maintain the gorilla’s health is to improve the health of the people and livestock who live around the park and CTPH volunteers are on the frontline of that effort. Spending the day with them will give you unique insight into a rural community tackling the complexities of conservation and human-wildlife interaction.
Specialized Guiding from Dr. Gladys
In addition to the above programs, for an additional fee of $1000 per day, Dr. Gladys will join you on your gorilla trek, contributing her incredible in depth knowledge to create a truly once in a lifetime wildlife experience.
