Want to hire Sedan seat chairs in Bwindi? Would you like to know the cost and availability? A mountain gorilla tour in Uganda is the world’s most sought-after wildlife encounter.
These endangered apes inhabit the rugged steeps of East Africa’s towering Virunga volcanoes in Uganda, Rwanda, and D.R. Congo.
Just like their name, these primates dwell in mountainous forests ranging between 2,300 – 4,000 meters above sea level.
Bwindi National Park presents interesting action-packed gorilla expeditions with average to strenuous hikes, depending on the region you visit, and weather conditions with elevations ranging up to 10,000ft.
The length of a gorilla trek in Bwindi lasts between one to eight hours, depending on how quickly you find your destined gorilla family.
Who uses a Sedan Seat Chair in Bwindi?
Whether you are physically handicapped, extremely aged (over 80 years), pregnant, or you just feel too weak to move on your own to the interior of the jungles, never miss your dream adventure to explore Uganda’s most treasured primates.
Sedan seat chairs have come to answer the questions for those who, for one reason or another, cannot make it to the interior of Bwindi’s impenetrable jungles.
Sedan Seat Chairs or Bamboo Stretcher carriers?
A Sedan seat chair is a sophisticated type of chair with two metallic handles on both ends and a long seat tilted between them. A sedan seat chair is the most comfortable, luxurious, and modern way of transporting trekkers to view mountain gorillas.
A Bamboo Stretcher, on the other hand, is made out of bamboo sticks, carefully woven, and presents a comfortable but traditional way of carrying or ferrying visitors to meet a gorilla family.
These are the only methods of carrying tourists who, for many reasons, cannot trek on foot to meet the gorillas. Like other trekkers, a visitor to be carried attends a morning briefing at the park headquarters, where the gorilla trekking rules and regulations will be read out, and gorilla families allocated.
The park guides will try as much as possible to allocate you a gorilla family that is easier to trek.
Thereafter, a group of 12 strong porters will be assembled and assigned to one sedan chair with a visitor. This team will be responsible for ferrying them to and from the jungles where they’ll be able to meet their well-sought-after gorilla family.
Visitors in sedan chairs will be in the company of the other trekkers in a group of 8, the number allowed to trek to a given mountain gorilla family in a given day.
Upon reaching a gorilla family, the porters will set down a sedan chair for the visitor to have clear observation and photography. The best travel season for using sedan seat chairs is the dry season when there is little undergrowth and pathways are clearer.
This includes the months of June to September and mid-December to February. During this season, there are also fewer chances of rainfall that may disrupt the journey.
Cost of Sedan Seat Chairs
Visitors in question have the option to opt for either traditional stretchers or a modern sedan chair. There are various factors that affect the cost of hiring a sedan chair in Bwindi National Park, including the distance from the park headquarters to the allocated gorilla family, the nature of terrain/topography, weather conditions, and the weight of the person.
Normally, the average cost of hiring either a sedan chair or bamboo stretcher ranges from $300 to $500, excluding the cost of a gorilla permit. For any traveler wishing to use a sedan chair on their gorilla tour in Bwindi National Park, one ought to first acquire a gorilla permit well in advance, as this is the only assurance that they’ll participate in this golden activity.
A gorilla permit in Uganda is booked from Uganda Wildlife Authority at $800 per permit per trek, but can also be booked through a professional and trusted tour operator.
