Gorilla Trekking

You might think you’ve seen it all after a few safaris and some light jungle hikes. Then you find yourself standing ankle-deep in mud, sweating through your third layer of clothing, while a 180-kilogram silverback gorilla gives you a stare that could turn bones to jelly.

Gorilla trekking is an adventure activity that takes you to the thick forests in search of the adorable gentle giants – the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat.

Whether in Congo, Rwanda or Uganda, gorilla trekking is very rewarding, unique and once in a lifetime encounter that takes you to the jungles of the African rainforest to sightsee them play, relate and feed.

Imagine yourself just a few steps from a silverback, observing its calm expression as it rests in the shade. This experience is no fantasy but the real encounter that draws you from your home country to Uganda’s remote, wild and untamed forests.

In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to know about gorilla trekking in Uganda, from where to go and what to expect, to how to plan your trip the right way.

Gorilla Trekking

Why Go Gorilla trekking?

For starters, it’s worth noting that the livelihood of mountain gorillas highly depends on a handful of rain-soaked pockets meaning they can’t survive in zoos.

With that mentioned, you can either meet them in their natural, rugged home in the jungles of East and Central Africa or not at all.

This isn’t a casual “pop in for a quick selfie” kind of deal but a deliberate journey into their world, where patience, stamina, and a suspiciously high tolerance for mud are rewarded with one of life’s most surreal encounters.

With mountain gorilla numbers creeping cautiously upward thanks to tourism revenue and tough conservation efforts, every permit you buy becomes a lifeline for these primates.

Without sounding like a brochure, you genuinely make a difference just by showing up breathless, muddy, and slightly confused about how a silverback can look so unimpressed by human effort

The Siverback Gorilla

Gorilla trekking Destinations

Uganda

With more than half the remaining population of mountain gorillas in the wild, Uganda comes with two options you can choose for your ultimate gorilla trekking experience.

Bwindi feels ancient, moody, and less predictable with a maze of dense vegetation, steep climbs, and hidden clearings where mountain gorillas loaf around, pretending not to notice your presence.

With over four sectors that all offer different trekking experiences, you get to choose the challenge according to your fitness level and interest in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Mgahinga National Park, on the other hand, offers cleaner trails but fewer habituated families. Trekking in Uganda feels honest, you work for your encounter, and when it happens, it feels earned.

Rwanda

Rwanda is the slicker experience with Volcanoes National Park offering better-maintained paths and more polished logistics. You get the feeling Rwanda treats its mountain gorillas like royalty and by extension, you too.

Your trekking might be shorter here, but altitude can still remind you that breathing is, in fact, optional above 2,500 meters.

Silver Back Gorilla

Congo

DR Congo is for the adventurous soul who reads travel warnings like they’re mild suggestions. Virunga National Park is Africa’s oldest park and home to about a third of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas.

The experience is raw, thrilling ,however, it is occasionally interrupted by the reality that DR Congo’s political landscape is as unpredictable as its weather. When open and safe, however, trekking here feels like being let in on a secret the world forgot.

What to Expect During the Trek?

Just after a morning briefing by the park officials, you will be assigned a group of not more than eight other trekkers and an armed ranger guide. The trek can take anywhere from 30 minutes to six hours, depending on the gorillas’ locations family you choose to trek hiking through the thick dense rainforest, up and down slopes and over slippery trails.

Once you come in contact with the gorillas, you have a maximum of an hour to spend with them as observe them feed, relate, and run their daily lives in their natural habitat.

Just the sight of the silverback leads his group, young one’s play, and mothers care for their infants is extremely exciting, calm, close and incredibly personal.