We have been waiting for this visit for quite a long time, and now it gives us goose bumps writing & sharing about our experiences. Mountain Gorilla trekking has always been in our bucket list and the thought itself excited us so much. For us it was definitely a lifetime moment getting so close to these beautiful animals and sharing time with them in their natural habitat, and that was so satisfying. We did the Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest which is in south west of Uganda, the team there does an excellent job in preserving the endangered mountain or the Silver Back Gorillas in their environment. This park is composed of 320sqkm and is accessible only by foot. Keep reading The Ultimate Guide To Gorilla Trekking In Uganda 2021 to get all details related to how to get gorilla permits, budget for gorilla trekking, our experience of gorilla trekking, best time to visit Uganda and what to pack for gorilla trekking.
About the Mountain / Silver Back Gorillas : Guide to Gorilla Trekking
The Mountain Gorillas is an endangered species which are only found in the Virunga Mountains, a range of extinct volcanoes that border the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. Gorillas mostly feed on leaves, mushrooms, foliage & fruits. They stay as families which includes 7-12 gorillas in each family. They are mostly active in the morning, and build their own nest at dusk.
Ruhija centre in Bwindi has four Gorilla families as of now, and each family is led by huge a Silver back(only the males after the age of 15 turns into a silver back).
How to reach Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
We reached Bwindi on the third day of our visit to Uganda. We drove from Kampala(capital of Uganda) to Bwindi National park via Queen Elizabeth National Park which took us almost 9 hrs to reach in a safari vehicle. However, you can also board a flight from Entebbe International airport or Kajjansi airfield to Kihihi or Kisoro airstrip. If you wish to avoid long transfers by road getting to Bwindi by air can be the best and the fastest way.
How To Get The Gorilla Permits & Visa
We partnered with African Adventure Travellers (would highly recommend choosing them) and they took care of arranging the permits and everything needed for gorilla trekking for us, which was really helpful and stress free. It would be really easy if you can get the permit done by any tour providers.
Gorilla permits costs around $700 in Uganda. The same costs 1,500$ in Rwanda. As we went during the low business time and also during the Covid-19 pandemic we got our permits for $400 which was a great deal.
Not only we booked the Gorilla trekking with African Adventure Travellers but our entire journey was planned with them. Going around in Uganda by yourself might be a bit challenging, however self-driving is possible with a valid international or East African license. You can also hire a safari vehicle from African Adventure Travellers 100$ – 120$ per day. They are not only trusted agency but are also very quick in deliberating services. These permits are however needed to be booked a month prior, but we got it in couple of days only. For Gorilla permits we had to pay the full amount in advance and hence they are very reliable.
While you may get visa on arrival in Uganda it is best that you get it online prior to arrival. You can get it from here. Single entry visa fee is 50$. If you are planning cover East African countries specially for Safaris then it’s better to get East Africa Tourist Visa at 100$.
Budget for Gorilla Trekking : Guide to Gorilla Trekking
Gorilla trekking becomes expensive because of permits. If you are doing in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda then you should budget for a 3 days Gorilla Trekking Return Trip from Kampala at around 1000$-1200$ per person for budget stays. It is best to club you Gorilla Trekking with Queen Elizabeth National Park with one additional day. Check our experience of Queen Elizabeth here(blog coming soon) and perfect Uganda Itinerary here(blog coming soon).
Our Experience of Gorilla Trekking At Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
We reached Bwindi by 4 in the evening after a long drive from Queen Elizabeth National Park and called it a day after a warm supper. The next morning, we left the property by 7.30am which took us around 15-20 min to reach the tracking centre. As we reached the orientation ground by 7.50, we had a briefing for about 20 mins to get us all prepared with all the do’s & dont’s once we meet the Gorillas. We sat in circles near the concrete stage and listened to the ranger who was supposed to guide us into the forest. It’s really important to listen to the rangers carefully, specifically to all the don’ts and if not abided, might bring serious problems. Bwindi(Ruhija Centre) has 4 gorilla family(Mukiza, Oruzogo, Bitukara & Kyagurilo).
We went during the low season so for that our group comprised only 5 people and we moved as one. Generally, if there are more travelers, a group of 8 people are formed, and they will split up to different directions see any one of those four families. We proceeded with two rangers at the front and one ranger at our back who guided as all time, and nobody is allowed to enter the forest without a ranger. We started our trek by gradually entering the dense rainforest and at times we really felt short of breath. There is no such rule to compete with others and you can listen to your own heart pace. You can also stop for small breaks if you feel like.
There is no specific marked route to track the Gorillas, so the rangers took us through the dense bushes chopping them down and making paths for us. That was difficult. We carried packed lunch and 2-3 litres of water as we were informed the hike might take hours.
Another group of trackers go out in the forest hours before you do to make sure they can locate the gorillas and then can communicate with the rangers guiding the visitors. The most interesting part was to see the rangers communicating through a weird sound from one location to the other which echoed through the entire forest.
Chances of tracking the Gorillas are really high and as of now there are no such travelers who had returned heart broken. The rangers have a very good knowledge about the locations of the Gorilla families, who tracks them till the dusk so that they can have a better idea of where they might be found the next morning.
After a 2.5-hour trek into the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, from the starting point finally we met the Mukiza Gorilla family. Mukiza is the silver back and is the lead of the family which has 12 members in total. We couldn’t have asked for a more incredible encounter than this and it was so much fun watching the little ones play, climb and explore their surroundings yet so close to us. The experience was incredible and words are short to describe our emotions.
People who can’t walk for long or with any physical challenges can also go for the track. The rangers would carry them in stretcher if needed. So it’s important that you have to organize and pay for this beforehand. We were really so impressed knowing that they had this level of accessibility available there.
You May Want to Hire A Porter
We hired a porter once we reached and this doesn’t need any advance booking and completely depends on your choice. These porters come from local villages and neighboring areas and also have a very minimal earning. So it would be great to support them to earn for their living. Our porter named Martin was a great help to us and honestly without him this trek would have been much more difficult. So we highly recommend hiring one. A single porter can only assist one person in a group carrying the belonging (only one bag). He carried our back pack which had cameras, meals & water, travel essentials and that was so helpful to us. Martin was very helpful at times when we had to climb the slippery mud and other challenging dense areas pushing and pulling, ha-ha….
Even we could have carried our own back packs but the climb would have been really difficult and more tiring, but with Martin we moved with ease. Price for porter service is 15$. We would also request you all to definitely tip the rangers as well with whatever suits your budget.
What To Expect during Gorilla Trekking
Once we went close to the gorilla family, all of the porters stayed behind and only our group of 5 people along with the 4 rangers approached the gorillas. We were only allowed to spend one hour with the Gorilla family considering their privacy as well. The gorillas have been habituated, and they have the understanding that humans are part of their natural environment. So the rangers make sure they see humans and spend at least one hour with them on daily basis, so that they understand that humans are not a threat to them. In that one hour we were allowed to use cameras and phones but without flash, as that might make them uncomfortable. We sat on the ground and moved our lenses from one position to another for some perfect images. It was splendid. We wish we could have spent more than an hour with them, but we guess one hour was also enough.
Also our guide also told us if in any case a Gorilla attacks (it’s possible but very rare) not to panic (that’s not possible and we would have definitely gotten a heart attack for sure) and to avoid any eye contact with them.
We were asked to maintain a minimum of 7m distance from them for our own safety and even theirs specially during the times of COVID. Ultimately they are wild animals and might transmit any disease or might catch some as well. Gorillas are extremely intelligent creatures. We found it very strange observing their behavior that after an hour they themselves moved away from us and went lost into the forest.
So finally when the meet was over we sat down on the neighboring ground and finished our lunch. It took us another 1hr to get back to the base.
Later we were handed over a Gorilla Trekking Certificate as a souvenir, which we would look at and cherish the moments forever that we had spent.
Best time to visit Uganda : Guide to Gorilla Trekking
Check out when to go for Gorilla trekking in Uganda here!!
What to pack for Gorilla Trekking
Check our detailed blog on what to pack for Gorilla Trekking.
