A Ugandan Gorilla Safari is one of the best adventure travel experiences imaginable, offering travelers the chance to spot some of the most amazing wildlife on the planet in its natural habitat.  Gorilla trekking is the driving force of tourism in Uganda even though the country is full of other safari games, many people combine excellent chimpanzees’ treks making this the ultimate country for safari focused on great apes.

Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable dense forests are home to over half of the world’s 480 mountain gorillas and the rest living in the neighbouring Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mountain gorillas were made famous by the film and book called “Gorillas in the Mist”, and they are one of the success stories in conservation having increased from 360 individuals in the early 2000s to 800 today.

Bwindi Forest boosts 120 species of mammals, 348 species of birds, 220 species of butterflies, 27 species of frogs, chameleons, geckos, and many endangered species. Floristically, the park is among the most diverse forests in East Africa, with more than 1,000 flowering plant species, including 163 species of trees and 104 species of ferns. The park is also a sanctuary for colobus monkeys, chimpanzees, and many birds such as hornbills and turaco.

For a complete different kind of unforgettable safari experience, travel to Uganda to trek through the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. The densely thickly-wooded region is home to approximately half of the world’s remaining rare mountain gorillas, species that has on the critically endangered list years. Today Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is home to 480 mountain gorillas with 14 fully habituated gorilla families available for tracking.

The tracking day starts at the park Headquarters, it can in Buhoma, Ruhija, Nkuringo or Rushaga depending which sector you were located. Here guests are allocated their gorilla groups and guide before being briefed in essential rules that help to protect both primates and people.

Visitors travel on foot into the forest where they get chances to not only watch these amazing creatures in their natural habitat, but to actually interact with them as well. Sharing 98% of human DNA, mountain gorillas are susceptible to our infections, so visitors are asked not to trek if they are ill. Only 8 people per day are allowed to trek each gorilla family staying for a maximum of 1 hour in their presence.

When you’re with the gorillas, you keep a distance 7 meters away from them, but occasionally the gorillas may come close to you, always resist the temptation to touch them, and just stay where you are until it walks away and when taking photos or videos, remove the flash light. When tracking mountain gorillas in Bwindi Forest, some groups are just a short walk from these gorilla sectors and others can take as long as 8 hours to reach the gorilla group.

Bwindi is called the Impenetrable Forest for good reason, a dense jungle spanning 321 sq.km, it makes hiking a challenge, with tangled vines and vegetation sprawled across steep muddy terrain. For around $15-$20, you can hire a porter to carry you bag and help you pull and push through the steep slippery trail through the dense forest. Being with these incredible creatures is a truly rewarding experience when you come face to face with these fascinating great apes.

Apart from a gorilla trekking tour, gorillas can also be habituated spending four full hours observing them. Gorillas are not always so placid in the presence of people; it takes time and effort to habituate these creatures.

Bwindi’s new magical gorilla experience allows you to be part of this process by tracking a group that is only semi-habituated. During the habituation experience, trackers visit wild gorillas every day for around 2-3 years gradually getting closer and spending longer in their company. At the semi-habituated stage, the primates are familiar with trackers but not strangers, so this new experience can now help them get used to seeing different people.

You walk with the trackers, learning their social behaviours and getting to know how they carry out their daily activities as they build new nests each night then move on looking for food. The team checks their healthy and counts to now their numbers, so they also collect sample of their hair and dung before continuing their search. The point of habituation is to follow the group and stay in their vision as they move.

You crouch down when they do eat it, and talk to them in gorilla language, a series of vocalizations that have specific meanings. The gorilla habituation experience costs $1500 USD per person and lasts four hours. Whichever option you choose to take part in, tracking mountain gorillas a life changing unforgettable experience with deep connection with our closest cousins.

Take the time to do the Batwa experience. This is a very interesting activity, relatively unknown compared to the gorilla trekking. If you are in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to experience the gorillas, take the time to experience the Batwa. This is a 5 to 6 hour activity and is not suitable for persons unable to hike uphill at steady pace for two hours or so. Once you reach the Batwa, the performance begins and it is full of recreations of how the Batwa Pygmies lived before being forced out if the forest.

The important thing is that part of the fee for this attraction goes to the Batwa Development Program which assists the people with their relocation by the government of Uganda. It is important to be able to maintain and experience lifestyles that have existed for centuries before the heritage gets lost forever.