Bill Gates to Track Mountain Gorillas in Africa

Co-founder and current chairman of Microsoft, Bill Gates is set for another visit to Uganda between August 9 and 12. Also popular for being one of the richest people in the world, Gates's trip here will be to track mountain gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

An advance team to prepare for the visit has already arrived in Kisoro district where Gates and his wife, Mellinda Gates, are expected to launch their gorilla-tracking expedition. The 56-year-old entrepreneur was last in Uganda in 2004 for his first ever visit. Then, he had come to track gorillas too. The proprietor of Nshongi Resort Centre in Nteko village said the centre was fully booked for the next two weeks. The tourist centre is adjacent to the park.

A Uganda Wildlife Authority official in Kisoro who preferred anonymity declined to divulge more details about the visit. Uganda boasts of being home to almost half of the world's population of mountain gorillas. There are about 300 mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The country first opened up its doors to tourists to track the gorillas at Bwindi in April 1993. Since then, Uganda's tourism industry has been substantially boosted by annual revenue from the national park tucked away in western Uganda.