Uganda offers two ways to spend time with mountain gorillas. They feel quite different, and the right one depends on your time, your fitness and your budget.
The standard trek
You walk with rangers to a gorilla family that is fully used to people, and spend one hour with them once you find them. Groups are small, and each family receives one group a day.
This is the experience most people mean when they talk about gorilla trekking, and it is available in Uganda and Rwanda.
The habituation experience
In Bwindi, a few families are still being habituated, which means slowly getting used to human presence. A very small group joins the researchers and trackers working with them and can stay with the gorillas for several hours instead of one.
The gorillas are less relaxed around people, the walking is often harder and the days are longer. In return you see far more of how a family behaves and how the work of habituation is done.
How to choose
If you want the classic encounter and a gentler day, choose the trek. If you are fit, patient and want more time, choose habituation. The habituation permit costs more and there are far fewer of them, so it needs to be booked well ahead.
Both have a minimum age of 15, and the same rules apply. Keep your distance, keep your voice down, and stay with your ranger.
Written by the INUMA team in Kampala. Rules and prices change, so we confirm the details when you book.
