Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi National Park, Uganda: What to Expect, Pack & More

I’ve been a lot of places and seen a lot of things, but gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda is definitely one of the top 3 travel experiences of my life.  

They are unbelievable creatures and getting to spend time with them was a magical experience.  We share 98% of our DNA with them and you really feel it when you stare into their eyes.  They are animals, sure, but you can feel there is more behind their eyes. So much of how they behave feels – well – human. 
The way they carry their babies, or use tools, or even just chew their food will leave you with your jaw on the floor and a huge smile from amazement.  It’s one of the top travel experiences I would recommend to anyone who loves wildlife and adventure.

Right now there are 3 places you can see gorillas in the wild – Uganda, Rwanda, and Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Now Congo is not the safest place for tourists, so that narrows it down to Uganda and Rwanda.  

However, the price difference is pretty significant between the two – Uganda gorilla trekking permits are $600 vs a whooping $1500 in Rwanda.  Apparently Warren Buffet bought up all the Rwanda gorilla trekking permits for 10 years, so they are already making money and not concerned that no one is actually coming in to use the permits. 

Uganda has WAY more gorilla families than in Rwanda.  In fact, I’ve heard rumors that in Rwanda, multiple groups will set out at the same time but since there aren’t enough gorilla families to go around, groups will be taken to the SAME gorilla family but at different times (for example, group 1 finds the gorillas at 9am….then once they are gone, they have group 2 come in and “find” the gorillas at 11am, etc.). So the groups never cross paths, and it’s not obvious that they trekked the same family.

Baby gorilla in Bwindi

Uganda has two different gorilla safari experiences in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park: Gorilla Trekking (1 hour) & Gorilla Habituation (4 hours).

Most people do gorilla trekking, since there are far more permits for that.  We actually did the “Chimp Habituation” – same thing but with chimps – and our chimp community was 70% habituated.  However, that meant that they weren’t fully comfortable with humans yet and as a result, stayed high up in trees for the entire 4 hours.  I’m not sure if it’s 100% the same situation with gorillas, but just a recommendation you may just want to check with your agency about how “habituated” the primate family is before booking.  Personally, I’d rather spend 1 hour with a more habituated group, than 4 hours with a less habituated group.

While a gorilla tour has always been a bucket list item for me, but truth be told, I didn’t know a ton about what to expect going into the experience and there were a lot of surprises throughout the day.

This is why I wanted to put together a recap of my experience so you know what to expect, as well as share a packing list of things to make sure you have before leaving home.

First off, we chose to fly into Kigali, Rwanda since it was a 5 hours drive to Bwindi vs 9 hours from Kampala, Uganda to Bwindi. However, crossing the border had a huge line, so we probably spent 90 min. So in the end, the creative route didn't save us a ton of time. Although our guide did say it was unusually busy at the border that day, since we go there right after two big tour buses.

Another reason our our delayed arrival at the hotel - and this one is a good one - is that my boyfriend’s mother screamed STOP as we were driving thru Bwindi. GO BACK. GORILLAS IN THE TREES. And she was right! We all got out and spent at least half an hour watching a family of gorillas. We saw 2 cross the road, several in trees, and a baby in the bush! It was incredible and our driver guide had a huge smile — apparently it’s super rare to see gorillas from the road….we got a bonus gorilla sighting for the price of 1 (ahead of our official trek)!! This rare occurrence is called “double gorilla tracking” he told us.

Once we were dragged from the gorillas, we made our way to the hotel. That evening, our guide shared a list of thing we should be sure to bring on our trek.  Unfortunately, not everyone in our group had all of these items, but by sharing we were able to make it work (and luckily we didn’t have any rain as not everyone in our group had rain gear with them).  

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been one of those types to plan to buy certain items once I get to my destination (I hate a heavy pack).  But please note: UGANDA IS NOT THE PLACE TO DO THAT.  Once you leave the big cities, there is very little in terms of shopping and resources.  Things like contact solution proved impossible to find.  And we often found that the nearest ATM was 30+ minutes away. So I would strongly recommend getting cash at the airport, or bringing USD with you into Uganda (that seemed to be an acceptable currency everywhere).

So here are a few things you’ll want to make sure you have with you for gorilla trek:

·     Long pants & long sleeved-shirt (the bush you walk thru to find the gorillas is EXTREMELY thick, there is no path, and many spiked plants)

·     High rise socks (worn layered OVER your pants so no ants/bugs can get in)

·     Hiking boots / durable shoes

·     Gloves (I didn’t have these and was ok, but you do push thru a lot of very thick brush by the time you get to the gorillas)

·     Rain jacket / rain gear (rain is unpredictable and since you never know how long the trek will be….you trek until you find the gorillas…here’s my favorite raincoat.)

·     Backpack (big enough to carry 2-3 water bottles, packed lunch, and any camera/lenses you plan to take)

·     Bug spray (there are A LOT of bugs in the forest where the gorillas live….make sure you are well prepared so you don’t spend your hour with the gorillas itching incessantly)

·     Sunscreen

·     Camera (our gorilla family was on the floor / very close, but if your gorillas are found in trees, you may want to have a long lens with you)

·     Cash (to tip your guide, as well as hire porters for $15 USD if desired)

 As always, make sure you are traveling safely with TRAVEL MEDICAL INSURANCE

In Bwindi, there are 18 gorilla families in various areas of the park.  And your gorilla permit at the time of booking will determine your launch point for your trek.  For example, our permit was for a family in northern Bwindi – so that dictated the hotel our agency put us in and the morning of our trek, we were grouped in an orientation with the other northern Bwindi gorilla family groups.

At the orientation center, we were given a briefing on what to expect with the gorillas….for example, we were told to always keep a 7 meter distance from the animals, as well as not have any food or drink around the animals.  

We then split into our groups of 8 and met our guide.  After an introduction to our gorilla family—we were trekking the Mubare family that consisted of 1 Silverback (male), 5 females, and 3 babies, our guide offered us the opportunity to hire porters for $15.  Our group of 6 decided not to get porters, but the 2 others we were paired with got them (and those porters actually kindly ended up helping some from our group!)

In retrospect, I would highly recommend hiring porters if you have a heavy bag, if you aren’t in great shape, or even if you are in good shape but a little older (as this hike can be very exhausting on the way up, and hard on knees/hips/etc on the way down). These guys are strong and will literally help push/pull you up and down the mountain.  It’s only $15 (and you get to feel good about giving a local wages for the day), so honestly there isn’t much downside in my opinion….better to have them there as an option and not need them than to have difficulties and later regret not getting one! 

The route up the mountain to find the gorillas was steep and challenging.  Not the hardest hike I’ve been on.  But my heart rate was probably at 140 at times—and I would definitely label it hard (and I’m someone who works out everyday at home).  So this isn’t to discourage you, but just go into it knowing that it’s a little trek to get to the good stuff J

While we hiked the mountain, our guide shared bits about the history of the park, flora/fauna facts, and details about our specific gorilla family.  The time passed relatively quickly and within an hour, we found ourselves at the top of the mountain.

We also had an armed guard with us on the hike.  Just in case we run into any rouge elephant.  Don’t worry, they don’t shoot the elephant—just fire in the air to scare it away.

Now once we were up the mountain, we were told the gorillas were nearby and we should put down our bags and only take our cameras from that point on.  The porters remained with the bags, as our gorilla family tracker appeared to lead us the rest of the way.

The trackers monitor the gorilla family all day long, tracking their movements and helping to habituate them.  Habituate is the term used to describe the process of getting the gorillas used to humans. While it is never encouraged to feed the gorillas or disrupt their interaction with each other and the environment, they do want them to learn to be comfortable with humans around and not fear them / run away / act aggressively.

The tracker led us thru VERY thick brush, hacking away with his machete to clear a “path”.  It’s at this point that I realized how important the long pants, long sleeves and hiking boots were.  They saved me.  It’s part adventure, part nightmare.  But if you didn’t have the right clothing, it would probably be pure torture lol.  Some of the plants in the park are VERY prickly and sharp.  There are also tiny flies EVERYWHERE.  

First site of the silverback

Not gonna lie, those initial moments at the top of the mountain with prickly plants attacking me and flies surrounding my body made me pretty anxious.  But all that disappeared when the tracker was like – “we’re close” – and I look up – AND THERE IS THE SILVERBACK.  Just staring at me.  10 feet away. In plain site.  OH MY GOD.

From there, we continued following the guide as he showed us several of the females feeding in the area. At this point I wasn’t paying any attention to the prickly plants and flies and was totally enraptured in the adventure of seeing gorillas in the wild!!  

They didn’t care that we were there at all and just went about their business.  The guides would grunt and talk to them, which was kind of cool.  I wished I could speak gorilla.

Not to get anyone in trouble, but we were definitely closer than 7 meters away too lol.  We were SO CLOSE.  Since the brush was so thick, often times there were so nowhere to backup to.  The gorillas would walk right by us without a care in the world.

And seeing the mommas with their infants was the sweetest thing ever!!!  I could have watched them for hours and hours.

The gorillas moved continuously, but they didn’t ever go far….just moved a few feet away to get a new branch to eat off.  So throughout the hour we just sort of moved in circles with them.  Some of us taking pictures of one while others were looking at another, but always staying very close to the tracker.  

Honestly the whole experience felt like 10 minutes.  We were all so enraptured in the amazing creatures surrounding us.

I also didn’t feel scared or unsafe even for a second.  The gorillas weren’t threatening at all, just did their own thing and tolerant of our presence.

I didn’t want to leave the gorillas, but all good things must come to an end.  And so it was time to head down the mountain again.  The downhill was a little tricky at times and as a result, felt just as long as the way up (usually I think going down is shorter). I slipped and skid in the mud a few times, as did my companions.  

At the bottom of the hill, there will be vendors selling wooden gorillas and other souvenirs.  As well as tons of kids selling their hand drawn pictures of gorillas – it was so cute.  I wished I had had any cash to buy one.  

I arrived back at the gorilla center muddy, bloody, sweaty and exhausted—but with a smile that lasted for days!  As we devoured our boxed lunches, our guide handed out our gorilla trekking certificates (lol) and that wrapped up the experience.  Everything lasted about 4-5 hours.  

All in all, it was an amazing experience and I would highly, highly recommend anyone include this on their East Africa itinerary.  It was the highlight of my trip and something I will remember forever.  And definitely be back again someday to do again – maybe the Mubare gorillas will even remember me :)