There are roughly 1,060 mountain gorillas alive. They live in two forests — Bwindi in Uganda, and the Virunga massif shared by Uganda, Rwanda and the DR Congo — and nowhere else on earth, including no zoo. Gorilla trekking is the only way to see one, and the permit fees are the main reason the population has grown rather than collapsed.
What gorilla trekking involves
You are given a permit for one habituated gorilla family on one specific date. On the morning, rangers brief you, split visitors into groups of eight, and send each group into the forest with a guide, two armed rangers and trackers who have already gone ahead to find the family. Walking time varies from 40 minutes to five or six hours. When you reach the gorillas you leave your bag, keep seven metres back, and stay for one hour, timed from first sighting.
What surprises most people is how ordinary the hour is for the gorillas. A silverback dozing on his back with a leg in the air; a female stripping bark; a four-year-old repeatedly falling out of a small tree because it keeps trying to. You are not observed as a threat, and after ten minutes you stop feeling like a tourist.
Where you can trek
| Park | Country | Gorillas | Permit | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bwindi Impenetrable NP | Uganda | Mountain — around half the world population | US$800 | Choice of families, best value, most availability |
| Mgahinga Gorilla NP | Uganda | Mountain — one habituated family | US$800 | Quiet parks, golden monkeys, Batwa culture |
| Volcanoes NP | Rwanda | Mountain — 12 habituated families | US$1,500 | Short trips, easy access, comfort |
| Virunga NP | DR Congo | Mountain | US$400 | Budget, adventurous travellers |
| Kahuzi-Biega NP | DR Congo | Eastern lowland (Grauer's) | US$400 | The only place to trek lowland gorillas |
If you are weighing up the two obvious choices, we have written a full Uganda versus Rwanda comparison. The short version: Rwanda is faster and smoother to reach and costs about US$700 more per person for the permit alone; Uganda gives you more families to choose from, a cheaper permit, and a much better wider safari.
What it costs
Permit, transport, lodging, park transfers and guiding are the five lines that matter. A three-day Uganda gorilla safari usually lands between US$1,600 and US$2,200 per person sharing; the equivalent trip in Rwanda is US$2,400–3,000 because of the permit. Add a luxury lodge and either figure roughly doubles. Our permits and costs page breaks every line down.
How fit you need to be
Bwindi sits between 1,160 m and 2,600 m; Volcanoes between 2,400 m and 4,500 m. The walking is steep, often muddy, sometimes through vegetation a ranger cuts a path through with a machete. Anyone who can manage three or four hours of hill walking will be fine. Anyone who can't should still come — sectors are chosen by difficulty, porters carry your bag and pull you up slopes, and a sedan chair carried by eight porters is available in every Uganda sector for around US$300. We go through all of it on how hard gorilla trekking really is.
The rules, and why they exist
- Seven metres minimum distance. Gorillas share around 98% of our DNA and catch our respiratory infections; a human cold can kill an infant.
- Masks are required in Rwanda and recommended in Uganda during the visit.
- Do not trek if you are ill. If you have flu or a stomach bug, tell the rangers. Parks will normally rebook rather than let you infect a family.
- Groups of eight, one hour, once per family per day. This is the entire basis of the conservation model.
- No flash photography, no eating near the gorillas, no pointing.
Habituation: the four-hour alternative
In Uganda's Rushaga sector you can buy a US$1,500 gorilla habituation permit and spend four hours with researchers and a semi-habituated family, in a group of four rather than eight. It is a harder, wilder, less predictable morning, and for repeat visitors and photographers it is the best thing in the region.
Photography in a dark forest
Bwindi's canopy eats light. Expect ISO 3200–6400 even at midday, and shoot at f/4 or wider. A 24–105 mm zoom is more useful than a long lens — you will often be too close for 400 mm. Bring a rain cover, a lens cloth, and spare batteries kept warm in an inside pocket. Phone cameras do surprisingly well because the gorillas are close; video usually beats stills for capturing what the hour felt like.
Booking, step by step
- Pick a month. June–September and December–February are drier and busier; see the best time to trek.
- Pick a country and sector. This decides your permit price, your flights, and how far you drive.
- Secure the permit. We check availability with the Uganda Wildlife Authority or the Rwanda Development Board and hold it in your name. Permits are non-transferable and carry your passport number.
- Build the trip around the permit date, not the other way round.
- Get travel insurance that covers trip cancellation — permit deposits are rarely refundable inside 90 days.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What is gorilla trekking?
Gorilla trekking is a guided walk into montane forest to spend one hour with a habituated family of wild gorillas. You walk with rangers and trackers, groups are capped at eight visitors, and you keep a minimum distance of seven metres. It is not a zoo visit and it is not guaranteed to be easy — but sightings are close to certain because trackers locate the family before you set off.
What is the difference between gorilla trekking and gorilla tracking?
None, in practice. Ugandan operators and the Uganda Wildlife Authority tend to say 'gorilla tracking'; British and American travellers usually say 'gorilla trekking'. Both describe the same permit and the same activity.
How close do you get to the gorillas?
The rule is seven metres in Uganda and Rwanda, ten in the DR Congo. The gorillas have not read the rule. Juveniles regularly walk within a metre or two of visitors, and the ranger's job is then to move you back rather than the other way round.
Are mountain gorillas dangerous?
Habituated families are calm around people, which is exactly what habituation means — several years of daily contact before a family is opened to tourism. Silverbacks will occasionally mock-charge. The instruction is to crouch, look down and stay still; every guide will brief you on it, and injuries are vanishingly rare.
Can children go gorilla trekking?
The minimum age is 15 in Uganda, Rwanda and the DR Congo, and it is enforced at the briefing with passports. Under-15s can do other activities at the same lodges — nature walks, village visits, the Batwa Trail — while the rest of the family treks.
Will I definitely see gorillas?
Success rates in Bwindi and Volcanoes run at roughly 95–99%. Trackers follow each habituated family daily, so the rangers know where the group slept. If you genuinely fail to find them, Uganda and Rwanda will normally offer a repeat trek or a partial permit refund at the park's discretion.
Next
Keep planning
- Gorilla trekking permits and costs — every fee, and what it covers
- Uganda vs Rwanda — which country suits your trip
- Bwindi Impenetrable National Park — the four sectors explained
- Best time for gorilla trekking — month by month
- Gorilla trekking tours — itineraries from 3 to 14 days
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Send us your rough dates and we will tell you within a day what permits are actually available.
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