When I joined the tourism industry, I didn’t understand much about Gorilla trekking as a business but I also didn’t understand tourism in its entirety. But when I became a tour guide, it started making sense. At the time, every tour guide used to accompany tourists they got.
I used to guide Dutch people. They often used to be in groups of 15-20 persons. Guiding them didn’t come easy. Being the newbie I was, I didn’t understand how strenuous it was to track Gorillas. The journey was through an impenetrable forest and the terrain was so challenging to maneuver but I was very fit as a young man.
My very first gorilla tracking experience was shocking. Surprisingly, I was not personally interested in the experience because, to me, it was nothing but work. However, I was shocked that regardless of how tiring the process was, especially for the tourists, when they encountered the mountain gorillas, they got super energized. With a lot of astonishment, you’d think they are kids. Some of them would be about 50 to 60 years of age, but a mere encounter with the beautiful mountain gorillas turned them so mischievous and curious.
As I continued with my work, I frequented the forests in search of gorillas. Most of the walks were very tough. Some days it would be easier. Maybe you would have a walk for one hour, some days three hours, sometimes ten hours before you see the gorillas. Quite often, you’d spend ten hours, and one hour with the gorillas themselves.
Gorilla tracking was much cheaper at the time. It was about $250 to see the gorillas for an hour. Now it’s over and about $750. Much cheaper than in Rwanda. Rwanda is more than $1500 to see the gorillas for an hour. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they have better gorillas. It is because they have done much better marketing than we have as a country.
With more work, it was a fantastic opportunity for me as I encountered the gorillas so many times that it became normal. With time, I later started my own business and started marketing the gorillas over the years and we’ve not stopped as a business.
I think we have Gold in all these primates. But gold is useless if you don’t use it to get out of poverty.
How the government of Uganda can reap from the mountain gorillas
I think the government of Uganda needs to first of all appreciate Gorilla tourism and tourism at large. This country needs money, especially foreign money. And God has gifted us so much in so many aspects including the mountain Gorillas.
I don’t believe that mountain Gorillas are the biggest attraction Uganda has. I think our biggest attraction is the good weather. The others are the water bodies, the Nile, Lake Victoria, mountains Rwenzori, Elgon, Morroto, and Muhavura.
All these are among the biggest attractions that this country has got. Our culture is also another big one. It’s fantastic that our culture is so rich. It is one of the top three factors that make people attracted to a country.
However, the mountain Gorillas are high in terms of income per person. You know, spending one hour and being able to pay over two million shillings just to see the mountain Gorillas at a distance of seven meters. It is incredible. I don’t know how many farmers can grow tomatoes to earn two million shillings and for how long. So Gorilla tourism is a low-hanging fruit for this country.
This could also be combined with chimpanzee tracking because Uganda has many forests with chimpanzees across the country. And again, it is over 500,000 shillings to see chimpanzees across for an hour. And there are many forests. So if we did marketing, we would get all the type of money that we need. And of course, the tourists would also be spending on other aspects.
Now, we need to appreciate that countries like Rwanda have done a fantastic job. We need to copy them and see how we could also increase our pricing. Increasing the pricing of the mountain gorillas to the Rwanda level needs two things. One is that we have improved the products, so we need to do a few things around product development with the gorillas. And number two, that the demand is high. That’s how you increase your pricing. And I’m glad that there’s a bit of appreciation from the government, though not yet so practical. There is a verbal appreciation of what mountain gorillas or tourism can do, but there is no proper practical investment that is being seen.
What the local population can do
I think one way in which the local population will appreciate tourism is by making sure that we change the education system. A lot of Ugandans study the prairies, the Rhine lands, and all other things, but they never study what good weather means. Or even what having sweet pineapple means, or nice mangoes, oranges, whatever it is. They never study these things. They never understand what Lake Victoria means via education. They don’t. And to many Ugandans, when you say, ‘Oh! Let’s market the country,’ they even argue with you because they’re not sure.
They are not aware of what the attributes God has naturally given to us can bring to the country. So it is, first of all, changing the education syllabus to have an area that focuses on Uganda’s uniqueness and potential which encourages kids and scholars to embrace and understand them. So for me, that’s a very key. Then also, of course, the marketing entities like the Uganda Tourism Board should be able to put in more effort in positioning Uganda as a top tourism country on both the international and national scale. Once successful, this would directly or indirectly influence the locals who would trade services or even invest in the tourism industry.
As Narrated by
Amos Wekesa, CEO Great Lakes Safaris
