Uganda is home to the largest and most closely monitored community of mountain gorillas, split across two national parks: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.

Bwindi alone is home to over half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas. Finding these beasts in the dense forest is no easy task, and gorilla treks here can last 7 hours or more.

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is the most popular gorilla trekking destination in Uganda. Within the dense thicket, 20 families of Mountain Gorilla roam. Gorilla trekking is hard work, but the rewards are immense.

The Uganda gorilla tours are limited to groups of eight to keep to gorillas safe from any airborne pathogens, but also to increase the chances of sightings, as larger groups often scare off these timid animals.

Once contact is made, you have up to one hour to spend with the gorillas. If you wanted to spend longer, you can take part in a gorilla habituation experience, and spend up to 4 hours with these gentle giants.

Gorillas can be tracked year-round, although the rainy season makes it more challenging. There are two rainy seasons in Uganda, one from March to May and another from October to November. There are benefits to visiting during the rainy seasons, but the rains do make it harder.

There are also fewer crowds in the park hence allowing visitors more valuable time with the gorillas. It is much better for you to plan for the dry season for the best safari in Bwindi. The dry season falls in the dry months of December to February and June to August. In this dry season, the surface is not slippery and the dense forests are also clearer making it easy for you to see and photograph these apes.

For you to have the best safari, you need to book your $ 700 permit in time so as not to miss out for that great opportunity of mixing with the great apes in the jungle.

Go for the best lodges around to make your trip the best. Bwindi is one of the national parks with the best lodges in Uganda whereby they range from mid-range to luxury. Those best lodges offer the best services with will make your stay a wonderful and memorable in your life time.

You can also visit the Batwa pygmy community, take forest walks, spot birds and view other primates like golden monkeys. Talking about chimpanzees, Bwindi is one of the few national parks in the world where mountain gorillas and chimpanzee live together. The chimps may be sighted while tracking the gorillas.

Visitors who are interested in a gorilla habituation experience can do it from Rushaga. This allows visitors to study a particular gorilla group more closely for four hours under the guidance of Researchers. There is currently only one gorilla group under habituation.

Whereas a gorilla trekking permit costs $700, the gorilla habituation permit costs $ 1500. Only four permits are issued for the gorilla habituation experience each day but over 170 gorilla permits are available daily for normal trekking.