Habituation is the multi-year process of accustoming a wild gorilla family to human presence. In one place on earth — Uganda's Rushaga sector — you can buy a permit to join it.
- Where
- Rushaga and Nkuringo, Bwindi — nowhere else
- Cost
- US$1,500 per person
- Duration
- Four hours with the family
- Group size
- Four visitors maximum
- Permits per day
- Four
- Book
- As far ahead as you possibly can
How it differs from a standard trek
On a standard permit, eight visitors spend one hour with a fully habituated family. On a habituation permit, four visitors spend four hours with a semi-habituated one, alongside the researchers and trackers doing the work.
The difference is not simply more time. A semi-habituated family behaves differently — more wary, more mobile, less willing to sit in a clearing while you photograph it. You spend the morning moving, waiting and watching, and the researchers explain what they are recording and why.
What the morning involves
An earlier briefing, a longer and rougher walk, and a family that may move several times. There is more standing in undergrowth than sitting in a glade. Four hours sounds generous until the group moves for the third time.
Take a porter, a packed lunch and more water than for a standard trek. Expect to be out for most of the day.
Who should buy it
- Repeat visitors. If you have trekked before, this is the obvious next step.
- Serious photographers. Four hours and four people gives you room and repeated opportunities.
- Anyone who suspects one hour will feel short. Many people do, afterwards.
Who should not: first-time trekkers on a tight budget. The standard hour is extraordinary and US$700 cheaper. If the choice is between habituation and a second standard trek in a different sector, we usually recommend the second trek.
Booking
Four permits a day, sold by the Uganda Wildlife Authority, in a single sector. They go earlier than any other permit in the region — six to twelve months for peak season is realistic. We hold them in your name against your passport number.
Questions
Frequently asked
Is the gorilla habituation experience worth US$1,500?
For a second visit, for photographers, and for anyone who wants to understand how habituation actually works — yes, and it is the best thing we sell. For a first trek on a limited budget, no.
Where can I do gorilla habituation?
Only in Bwindi, and in practice only from the Rushaga and Nkuringo sectors. Rwanda and the DR Congo do not offer it.
Is the habituation trek harder?
Usually. Semi-habituated families range more widely and are less predictable, so walks tend to be longer and rougher. Take a porter.
Next
Keep planning
- Rushaga sector — where it runs
- Permits and costs — how it compares on price
- 6-day double gorilla trek — the alternative way to get more time
- How hard is the trek? — before you commit