From funding rhino and chimpanzee conservation, billionaire Sudhir Ruparelia and his wife can’t have enough of Uganda’s gorillas Billionaire businessman who is trekking gorillas for the second time describes gorilla trekking as a “must for all” and a “once in a life time”- an experience like no other.

This week, billionaire businessman and philanthropist, Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia, his wife Jyotsna and several of his Asian friends and their families descended on Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for a lifetime experience with the gorillas.

Writing on his social media platforms, Sudhir said: “Gorilla trekking is a must for all; once in a life time”.

This is not Sudhir’s first time to trek the gorillas.

“This is my third time and Jyotsna fifth,” he told online news publication, Watchdog Uganda.

This time round, Sudhir’s team trekked Habinyanja group in Buhoma sector and stayed at the luxurious Volcanoes Bwindi Lodge.

Bwindi has 15 gorrilla groups.

“Gorilla trekking is an experience like no other,” he said after the experience, which saw him climb steep grounds on their way up the mountain through the forest, to locate gorillas.

“It is a must do activity for anyone who loves tourism and conservation.” He told Africa Tembelea website, which covers tourism experiences.

Before heading out to Bwindi, Dr Sudhir and friends went for a tour at the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary and were seen later taking a swim in the fresh waters of Lake Victoria- Africa’s largest fresh water lake.

At Ngamba, amongst many others chimpanzees they met Ruparelia, an orphaned chimp to whom Dr. Sudhir is a guardian.

The Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary is home to 49 orphaned chimpanzees rescued from across East Africa and is run by the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust (Chimpanzee Trust), an NGO.

The Ruparelias are avid animal lovers. In 2009, the family through Kabira Club, sponsored Kabira a female Rhino named after one of their businesses from Kenya that was reintroduced at the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre and later transferred to the Ziwa Rhino & Wildlife Ranch.

Dr. Sudhir was in 2018 appointed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) as an honorary wildlife ambassadors in recognition of his conservation efforts. In March 2019, the businessman was also recognised as a Lifetime Tourism Achiever by the organisers of the Ekkula Pearl of Africa Tourism Awards.

He is also Uganda largest investor in the hospitality sector. The Speke of Group Hotels, a member of Ruparelia Group boasts of a  portfolio of luxury and budget hospitality facilities that include: Speke Resort and Conference Centre, Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort, Kabira Country Club, Speke Hotel, Dolphin Suites, Tourist Hotel, Forest Cottages, Speke Resort Bujagali Falls and the recently expanded Speke Apartments Wampewo and Speke Apartments Kitante.

Recently, the Ruparelia Group announced plans to construct a 5-star Speke Resort and Convention Centre, in Entebbe.

About Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Measuring 321km2 at an altituted of 1,160m – 2,607m above sea level, Bwindi was gazetted as a National Park in 1991 and declared a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site in 1994. The park lies in southwestern Uganda on the edge of the Rift Valley. Its mist-covered hillsides are blanketed by one of Uganda’s oldest and most biologically diverse rainforests, which dates back over 25,000 years and contains almost 400 species of plants. More famously, this “impenetrable forest” also protects an estimated 400 mountain gorillas – roughly half of the world’s population, including several habituated groups, which can be tracked.

This biologically diverse region also provides shelter to a further 120 mammals, including several primate species such as baboons and chimpanzees, as well as elephants and antelopes. There are around 350 species of birds hosted in this forest, including 23 Albertine Rift endemics