Social distancing from gorillas—Uganda to welcome tourists with some quirky, some serious guidelines

Uganda is set to welcome international tourists, and all the gorgeous national parks in the country are reopened to visitors. All that’s required is a negative COVID-19 PCR test report (taken within 72 hours of entering the country). For those planning to visit the national parks, there is an important thing to remember one must keep in mind which is physical distancing, not only from humans but also from chimpanzees and gorillas in the parks.

National park authorities in the country have advised adventure seekers and gorilla trackers to maintain a 32 ft distance from the primates and 6.5 ft from other visitors in the park. Apparently, Uganda is known to be a natural habitat for more than half the world’s population of endangered mountain gorillas.
These animals are extremely dear to the country and are highly protected. Thus, the administration doesn’t want to risk animal’s safety at any cost. Uganda is renowned for its beautiful national parks such as the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Murchison Falls National Park, Rwenzori Mountains National Park, and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to list a few.

Tourism Uganda has advised travellers from other nations to arrive at the airport at least four hours before departure so that there’s enough time for COVID-19 screenings. Moreover, Coronavirus negative results are required at both the times, arrival and departure.
Other than these rules, wearing a face mask is mandatory at all times in the airport and while exploring the country’s national parks. The park admin in their advisory has asked visitors to bring two N95, surgical, or double-layer cloth masks with filters if they want to explore the parks. Temperature checks will also take place at the entrances. Anyone with symptoms will be immediately transferred to an isolation center.

The African country has reported 9945 COVID-19 positive cases and 95 deaths till now.