This unique Uganda gorilla trekking safari is a real gem, offering an intimate gorilla habituation experience in Bwindi Forest. Spend up to four hours with a family of endangered African mountain gorillas on your trek with four guests, rangers and a researcher – an extraordinary primate encounter!

Unlike other gorilla trekking safaris, this Gorilla Habituation Experience enables you to spend up to four hours with these majestic primates, visiting one of the two gorilla groups being habituated in the Rushaga area of Bwindi National Park. You also get to trek in smaller groups of four guests, instead of the usual eight, with UWA rangers and a researcher.

This short Uganda gorilla tour offers a particularly rare and special mountain gorilla experience – truly one of the most poignant wildlife encounters on earth!

On other mountain gorilla treks visitors get to spend only one hour with the gorillas, but the habituation process allows you to spend more time in the company of these majestic apes. You will be trekking in small groups, consisting of only four guests, the guides and the researcher. Gorilla trekking is usually done in groups of eight, so the small group size is another remarkable aspect of the gorilla habituation experience in Uganda.

Our intimate gorilla encounter gives you the chance to watch the gorillas go about their daily activities. We observe the mountain gorillas feeding, dozing off and interacting with each other on the forest floor – an extraordinary wildlife experience. Spending extra time with these gentle giants is an incredible privilege providing greater insight into the social primates, and is only possible during the two-year period of habituation.

Trekking through the forests and swamps of Bwindi can be challenging and tiring, especially in the rainy season (March to May), but spending time with the gorillas is worth every bit of effort.

You can also head off into the lush vegetation of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for endangered gorilla trekking, the highlight of visiting Uganda, if not Africa. This gorilla walk can take up to six hours, so a reasonable degree of fitness and a sturdy pair of walking shoes are required. The thrill of encountering these gentle primates in the wild is well worth the sometimes-challenging trek through the thick undergrowth.

Once you find the Mountain Gorillas you spend one hour watching them feed, groom and interact with each other. We get to hear the gorillas communicating with one another and marvel at the sheer size of the dominant adult male gorillas, called Silver backs. Encountering these giant apes is one of Africa’s most poignant wildlife experiences. Each gorilla encounter is unique, offering its own rewards. You generally get up close to the adult gorillas to watch them feeding, grooming and resting, as well as witnessing the young gorillas at play.