Gorilla trekking in Uganda 2024/2025
Gorilla trekking in Uganda 2024–2025: Gorilla trekking is one of Uganda’s most remarkable and well-liked activities, drawing large crowds of visitors. In Uganda, gorilla trekking is conducted in two national parks: Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, which is situated in the country’s southwest, and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which is renowned for housing the greatest number of mountain gorillas.
There are approximately 22 habituated gorilla families spread across four sectors: Buhoma in the north, Rushaga in the south, Ruhija in the east, and Nkuringo in the south. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is home to one habituated gorilla family, Nyakagezi, and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Other places where gorilla trekking is practiced include the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Kahuzi Biega National Park, Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, and the Virunga National Park.
Gorilla trekking experience in Uganda in 2024–2025
In Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, gorilla trekking begins very early in the morning with a briefing on the guidelines to be followed. Following the briefing, you will be split up into groups of eight, each of which will be assigned a habituated gorilla family to travel with and a knowledgeable park guide who is familiar with the gorilla trekking routes.
Because mountain gorillas like to roam about in search of food, trekking with them in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park may take anywhere from 30 minutes to 7 hours, depending on the gorillas’ location.
You can see other primates, birds, various plant and tree species, and more while trekking. After you locate the chimpanzees, you can spend an hour with them in their natural habitat, where you can learn more about their habits and behaviors, watch them feed, nurse, groom their young, play, take pictures, and document the amazing moments to share with people back home.
Ugandan gorilla trekking in 2024–2025
The gorilla habituation experience, which involves training the wild mountain gorillas to get used to human presence for hiking, is another service provided by Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The gorilla habituation experience takes two to three years to complete and is only available in the southern Rushaga area of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
The gorilla habituation experience begins at park headquarters with a briefing on the laws and restrictions, much like gorilla trekking. Following the briefing, a group of researchers, park rangers, and guides will begin your trip into the forest in search of the gorillas. Along the way, you will be able to see several primate species and birds.
After the gorillas are located, you will be permitted to spend four hours with them in their natural environment. During this time, you will be able to observe and track their routines, see how they behave, participate in the naming process, take pictures, and more.
The price of Ugandan gorilla trekking licenses in 2024–2025
Visitors who are above 15 years old are granted gorilla trekking permits, which are legal cards or paperwork that let them visit any habituated gorilla family and spend an hour with the mountain gorillas in their natural environment. In Uganda, gorilla trekking licenses cost 800 USD per person for non-resident foreigners, 700 USD per person for locals, and 300,000 UGX per person for inhabitants of East Africa.
In Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a gorilla habituation permit costs 1,500 USD per person for non-resident foreigners, 1,000 USD per person for locals, and 750,000 UGX per person for inhabitants of East Africa.
How to reserve permits for gorilla trekking in Uganda in 2024–2025
Gorilla trekking permits at Mgahinga Gorilla National Park and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park may be reserved directly via the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), which requires you to get in touch with the park’s Kampala headquarters by phone or email.
You may also reserve gorilla trekking routes in Uganda by contacting a reputable tour operator, such as Maseke Adventure Co.Ltd, and providing the day, month, year, and gorilla location you want to visit. After getting in touch with us, we will verify if permits are available on the dates you have selected. If they are, you will be required to pay a deposit. After payment is received, we will buy the permit for you and confirm with a scanned copy of the receipt.
Because gorilla trekking permits are competitive and typically sell out quickly, especially during the dry season in June to September and December to February, reservations should be made three to six months prior to the trekking date in both Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.
The ideal time of year to visit Uganda for gorilla trekking
Although gorilla trekking is possible throughout the year in both Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, the ideal time to go is in the dry season, which runs from June to February. In contrast to the rainy season, when the paths are muddy and slippery, making hiking challenging, the gorilla trekking routes will be doable during the dry season since the gorilla locations get less rainfall.
Because gorilla trekking permits are easily obtained and the national parks are less crowded during the wet season, which runs from March to May and October to November, gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is also possible during these months.
Things to bring for Ugandan gorilla trekking in 2024–2025
When embarking on your gorilla trekking adventure, you should bring a variety of items, such as a long-sleeved shirt and pants, hiking shoes, insect repellent, a waterproof rain jacket, energy snacks and water, a camera and extra batteries, a warm sweater, a walking stick, binoculars, and a backpack.
