Tracking Mountain Gorillas in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Sharing time with mountain gorillas in the wilds of Africa’s rainforests is utterly magical. Nothing prepares you for their sheer beauty and strength, those soulful brown eyes, their astonishingly human-like expressions, or their extraordinarily gentle demeanor. This unique encounter typically lasts just one precious hour; however, Uganda is offering a new extended experience in an exciting evolution of gorilla tracking.

Mountain Gorillas

Only around 900 mountain gorillas inhabit the rainforests of western Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and the Virunga Mountains, spanning the borders of southern Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. They are found nowhere else in the wild on Earth. Once on the verge of extinction, their survival is now one of Africa’s greatest conservation success stories.

The renowned mammologist George Schaller first researched gorillas in the late 1950s. However, it was Dian Fossey who brought their plight to international attention, conducting an 18-year study in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park. Living with them in the forest, she raised funds for rangers and protected the gorillas despite extreme dangers from poachers, culminating in her unsolved murder in 1985. During this time, Fossey estimated that only 250 gorillas survived, threatened by habitat loss, extensive poaching, and civil wars.

In Bwindi, gorilla tourism began in 1993 to fund conservation efforts, with the Mubare group becoming the first family fully habituated to human presence. Now the park is setting a new precedent by creating an experience for visitors to track semi-habituated groups, offering a fascinating insight into one of the world’s most endangered animals.

Traditional Encounters

Today, Bwindi is home to approximately 400 gorillas, with 12 fully habituated families available for tracking. The day starts at the Park Headquarters in Buhoma, where guests are allocated their gorilla group and guide before receiving important rules that help protect both the primates and people.

Sharing 98% of human DNA, gorillas are extremely susceptible to our infections; therefore, visitors are asked not to trek if they are ill. Only eight people are allowed to track each gorilla family, with a strict rule of staying no closer than 7 meters from these giant apes. Occasionally, the gorillas may approach you, but it is crucial to resist the temptation to touch them, as they can easily be startled by flash photography, loud noises, or sudden movements.

Some groups are just a short walk from Buhoma, while others can take as long as five hours to reach. Bwindi is termed the Impenetrable Forest for good reason: a dense jungle spanning 321 sq km makes hiking a challenge with tangled vines and steep muddy terrain. For around US$15, you can hire a porter to carry your bags and aid in navigating the tough, slippery trails, and they are worth every cent.

The reward of observing the gorillas more than compensates for the effort to reach them. Being with these incredible gentle giants is a profoundly moving experience. Your hour flies by, and you witness their daily activities—eating, sleeping, preening, and playing—often paying little attention to onlookers. Young gorillas chase each other, swing in trees, and laugh like children, while mothers tend to their babies, and the silverback watches over them all.

The Gorilla Habituation Experience

Gorillas aren’t always so placid around people; it takes time and effort to achieve this relaxed attitude in a process known as habituation. Bwindi’s exciting new gorilla experience allows you to participate in this process by tracking a group that is only semi-habituated. During habituation, trackers visit wild gorilla groups daily for about three years, gradually getting closer and spending longer in their company. At the semi-habituated stage, the gorillas are familiar with trackers but not strangers, making this new experience critical for their acclimatization to different people.

In traditional encounters, trackers have located your gorillas and lead you directly to them. Instead, this four-hour experience begins from where the gorillas were last seen the previous evening. You walk with the trackers, learning to identify signs that lead to the primates’ nests, such as knuckle prints, bent vegetation, and discarded food. Gorillas build new nests each night and move on in search of food, leaving vital clues for monitoring their health and population.

Finding the gorillas marks the beginning of the real challenge. The goal of habituation is to follow the group and remain in their line of vision as they move closer, trying to reach that magical 7-meter cutoff point. However, these semi-habituated gorillas move quickly to feed, navigating through dense rainforest, racing up and down slippery slopes, and crawling through brush, with you and the tracker team in pursuit. It’s a rainforest adventure and not for the unfit or fainthearted.

Although all gorillas are wild, some exhibit more wildness than others; these semi-habituated gorillas possess an air of unpredictability. There is a relatively higher risk of the silverback charging; however, it’s usually a warning rather than an attack. Your trackers will advise you to remain calm, crouch down, and avoid direct eye contact, which may be easier said than done.

When the gorillas remain still, you also stay still, mimicking their behavior to help them feel more at ease. You crouch when they do, pretend to eat grass, and communicate with them in a series of vocalizations that carry specific meanings. The thrill of having a gorilla respond to your low throaty rumble, signifying contentment, is utterly spine-tingling.

Which is the Best?

Traditional tracking, costing US$600 per permit at Bwindi (now US$1500 in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park), almost guarantees that you’ll see gorillas up close in a more relaxed, docile state for one unforgettable hour. On the other hand, the Gorilla Habituation Experience costs US$1500 and lasts four hours; however, the duration spent with the gorillas depends on how long it takes to locate them. You may not get very close and being in pursuit can be physically demanding. Alternatively, you might spend time merely watching them sleep, but you gain invaluable insights into these incredible creatures in this more immersive and thrilling encounter.

Regardless of the option you choose, tracking mountain gorillas is extraordinary, fostering a deep connection with our closest cousins in a truly enriching and unforgettable experience.

Sue Watt travelled with support from the Uganda Wildlife Authority, Tourism Uganda, and Steppes Travel.