For most people who visit Uganda for a safari tour, gorilla trekking tour is the highlight of any wildlife safari in Uganda. It is an activity not to be missed and it is one of the main reasons why most travelers come to Uganda. Gorilla trekking safari has received a lot of publicity in the recent years and is it is one of the highlights of any African travel.

Most budget travelers and even backpackers will fork out a relatively high price for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. We offer gorilla safaris tours and we can plan your Ugandan safari and make it a memorable one.

You might even want to consider doing two gorilla treks as there are many different gorilla groups in Uganda, and each visit tends to be different. The composition of all the groups is different as well. Some groups have more than one silver back and some have a lot of babies plus some even have twin babies.

The two national parks in Uganda that offer gorilla trekking expeditions have a very different feel. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is a thickly vegetated rain forest. And the gorillas in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park are mostly found in the bamboo zone on the Virunga Mountain slopes.

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is located at the south western Uganda at the edge of the Rift Valley with four gorilla tracking sectors; Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga and Nkuringo sectors. It is most notable for the 459 as per the last 2019 Gorilla Census (Gorilla Fund) (Gorilla beringei beringei), known as the Bwindi population, which makes up almost half of all the mountain gorillas in the world.

Over 18 habituated mountain gorilla groups are open to tourism in four different sectors of Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga and the Nkuringo in the Districts of Kanungu, Kabale and Kisoro respectively all under the management of Uganda Wildlife Authority.

The rest of the worldwide mountain gorilla population lives in the nearby Virunga Mountains. And in Uganda, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is the second park where you can track mountain gorillas. It is located in the Virunga Mountains and encompasses three inactive volcanoes, namely Mount Muhavura, Mount Gahinga, and Mount Sabyinyo. It is contiguous with Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park and the southern sector of Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mgahinga is Uganda’s smallest national park receiving one of the fewest annual visitor numbers of any national park in Uganda. Popular tourist activities include mountain gorilla tracking, golden monkey tracking, and volcano hiking, nature walks including to the gorge platform, bird watching and meeting the Batwa community tour.

Tourists visiting Mgahinga Gorilla National Park make a 9 hours’ drive from Kampala to reach the park.  Unless when you are coming from Kigali Rwanda, that when you can like 5 hours to reach Mgahinga park. The park is also connected by daily domestic flights from Entebbe International Airport and on to Kihihi Airstrip, which land at Kisoro Airport.

The gorilla safaris tours in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park are a lifetime dream for almost every traveler and has been dubbed by some as the best wildlife experience found nowhere else in this world. Coming face to face with mountain gorillas in their natural habitat, seeing the sheer might yet gentleness of the silver backs and the playful nature of the juveniles and infants is an unforgettable experience.

The gorilla treks begin at 8:00 AM at the park headquarters every day with a briefing after which groups of a maximum of eight tourists trek into the jungle that protects close to half of the world’s surviving mountain gorillas. Led by our expert rangers and an experienced team of advance trackers, the trek can last anywhere from 1 hour to 8 hours depending on where the gorillas will be on a specific day.

There is the opportunity to see several other fauna and flora species along the way climaxing in 60 incredible minutes in the company of one of our habituated mountain gorilla groups. All tourists on gorilla tracking safaris to Bwindi will need a gorilla permit at a cost of US$ 700 per person.

For those who prefer gorilla habituation experience, it done only in Uganda and in Bwindi Forest. Unlike gorilla tracking, the habituation experience follows one of the families that are in the process of being accustomed to tourist visits. Habituation is important in ensuring that the families are made relatively used to tourist visits both for their safety as well as to reduce their shyness.

The habituation experience also means that a maximum of 4 tourists will spend more time with the family of gorillas a total of 4 hours is allowed as our team of rangers and researchers perform their daily tasks of grooming the family. All tourists visiting Bwindi for the Gorilla Habituation Experience will need a gorilla habituation permit at a cost of US$ 1500 per person.

The variety of habitats in Uganda makes for a balanced safari, with game drives, boat trips and forest hikes. There isn’t really a typical day, as it depends on the activities planned. A day on safari in one of the Savannah reserves usually starts with a wake-up call before sunrise.

After a steaming cup of coffee, you will be on your way to look for the big cats and other predators. Mid-morning, you might come back to the lodge for lunch. You’ll also get some time to rest during the midday heat, taking advantage of your luxurious surrounds. Then you’ll go out again wildlife viewing on an afternoon drive, or maybe a boat trip.

Other days, you might take a day trip into the park to reach interesting wildlife areas further away from your base. Days in the forest, where chimpanzee and gorilla tours are the main activities, will be different. You will usually depart for the trekking after breakfast and return to your lodge or camp for a late lunch. After a morning clambering around slippery forest slopes, leisure is the priority in the afternoon. We as Gorilla Safari Tours make it happen when you book with us.