The process of gorilla trekking normally starts with an early morning briefing at respective park headquarters, then a hike or walk into the forest following the trail used by mountain gorillas and once found, you spend only one hour with the mountain gorillas. You will then return back and be offered a certificate.
Gorilla Trekking at the Park
The moment you visit the park, the welcoming atmosphere is an evidence of adventure filled of natural beauty. A day’ trek through the forests of Bwindi and Mgahinga with a well-trained guide who explains the gorillas’ behaviors along the way is a lifetime experience.
Normally, Gorilla trekking Safari starts from the park headquarters at around 8:00am in the morning daily taking 2-6 hours. A visitor is expected to budget for his/her time well while with a gorilla family since the maximum time allowed to spend with them is one hour.
When to Trek Gorillas?
The best time to visit the place for tracking is during the two dry seasons when the park is easily accessed. It is during this time that the thick forests can be penetrated easily and when the paths are not as muddy as it is in the rainy season. The two dry Seasons best for Gorilla Safari are; mid-December to end of February and June to October. However, gorilla tracking tourism is possible throughout the year.
How to get there?
By road, one can access the park by use of a car from Kampala via Kabale to Kisoro. This journey takes about 8 hours.
By air, one can board a plane from Entebbe to Kisoro Airstrip which is near the park. This is the quickest mode of access and it takes about 1 hour. There are daily scheduled flights which must be booked long in advance with your local Uganda safari operator.
Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is best known for its Mountain Gorilla populations and gorilla tracking.
There are 4 locations for tracking gorillas in BINP these are Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga, and Nkuringo. The 4 locations have a total of about 18 families as of December 2018. Tracking permits need to be bought prior to tracking by booking directly with the reservations office at Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) Headquarters or through a reputable tour agent. Permits can be paid for up to two years in advance.
Only 8 visitors are allowed to view the gorillas for one hour per day, participants must be aged 15 or over and they will be accompanied by UWA guides while with the Gorillas.
Tracking the gorillas can last from a few hours to a whole day, depending on how far the group has moved since it was observed nesting up the previous evening.
Gorilla Trekking in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is located in the southwestern Uganda on the border with Congo and Rwanda. Covering an area of about 33.7 sq kilometers, the park is a habitat for man’s closest, the mountain gorillas which roam about the whole forest in search for food. This park is one of the few places in the world where the endangered mountain gorillas live and it attracts people from different countries to come on Uganda Gorilla Safari. There is no doubt that Mgahinga Gorilla national park is one of the leading tourism sites in Uganda since it harbors these rare primates.
One may wonder why gorilla Safari should be done in Mgahinga and not other places but the secret behind it is that this park has a thick rain forest with a wide variety of tree species and gorillas are known to be vegetarians. There is enough food for them in the park and this is the reason why some even migrate from Congo and Rwanda to this place. Though not in large numbers, gorillas of Mgahinga are easily seen in their natural habitats and this makes tracking more easy compared to other parks.
Before Gorilla Trekking
You need to start planning for your gorilla trekking trip way in advance. Gorilla permits which are sold through Uganda Wildlife Authority Head offices in Kampala tend to sell out quickly so we advise that you contact us at least 5-6 months or even a year in advance so that we check availability of gorilla permits for the particular dates you are interested in and if we agree, we will pre purchase them for you and send you scanned copies for your records. The price for gorilla permits keep changing year in year out and it is different in Uganda and Rwanda. Once we manage to secure your gorilla permit, you will let us know your preferred accommodation choice (up market, mid-range and or budget) and then we will send you a quote for a fully inclusive tour since we only buy gorilla permits for those clients that book a whole tour with Saso Uganda Safaris.
During Gorilla Trekking
Every day, an advanced team of trekkers sets off into the forest to find where the gorillas are. They normally start from where they slept last night following their footsteps until they find them. The reason for doing this is to make it easier for tourists to find them. Habituated Gorillas can move for long distance most especially if they are searching for food or water. Sometimes, if there is a fight between habituated and non-habituated gorillas, they will tend to move far and sometimes become hostile. The work of this advanced team is to establish the state in which these gorillas will be and then, they will communicate to the Park Head Quarters to tell them where the gorillas are. Because of this, chances of seeing gorillas is approximately 95%.
Early in the morning, you will wake up, most lodges in Bwindi and Rwanda provide packed lunch, enough drinking water and walking sticks to facilitate your gorilla trek. You will then walk or be driven to the park headquarters for briefing about the do’s and don’ts while you are with the gorillas. At the Park headquarters, you will be divided into a group of eight people since the maximum number of people to trek a give gorilla family is eight. Uganda wildlife Authority Guide will take you through a session of briefing and if you have any question, this is the time you need to ask it. Please note that our office staff will meet you on arrival for briefing but our briefing is all about make sure that what you booked is what we have and also to make sure that you have all that is needed for gorilla trekking. After briefing, you will then be driven to the starting point and off you will start your trek. Gorilla trekking can be fairly strenuous so a certain level of fitness is always required. We encourage our clients to do gym work, some jogging before coming for their trek. Gorilla treks can take from 30 minutes to 8 hours to find the gorillas. Once you find these mountain gorillas, you will be allowed to spend one hour with them and then return to your lodge for relaxation and other activities of the day.
What to do after Gorilla Trekking?
Uganda has many national Parks of Interest where you could extend your holiday. These include, Queen Elizabeth National Park popular for its boat cruise on Kazinga Channel and game drives, Kibale Forest National Park for chimpanzee trekking, Murchison Falls National Park and other parks which in total are 10. We can combine wildlife viewing with culture, community visits, and volunteer work to make you holiday truly authentic and memorable.