Gorilla Trekking Safaris

Gorilla Trekking Tours in search of Mountain Gorillas

The rare and elusive Mountain gorillas live in small family groups in the high-altitude cloud forests of equatorial Africa. They live in only two areas. One is the Virunga Volcanoes which straddle Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The other is the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest  in Uganda.

But their numbers declined dramatically in the last few decades of the 20th century. This is mainly due to the erosion of their habitat. However their numbers have increased by over 40% since 1989, due to conservation. So there are now over 1000 mountain gorillas roaming wild.

We offer gorilla trekking tours to both the Virunga and Bwindi rainforests.

Gorilla Trekking Tours and conservation

Gorilla trekking tours, with small numbers of people, play a vital role in this form of conservation. It allows for a carefully managed and minimally-intrusive encounter between you and a few gorilla families, which have been habituated to humans. Ever since the mountain gorilla research of Dian Fossey, pioneering primatologist, people have wanted to emulate her close encounters with these most charismatic apes. So the gorilla tracking permit prices are deliberately very high. As this vital revenue is what enables environmentalists to preserve the remaining unique montane and bamboo forest. Without the gorilla trekking fees and the tourism dollars to the local communities, it will be destroyed. They will plough up or burn the forests to create more land for subsistence farming.

Why it's worth the price?

Despite the high fees, gorilla tracking permits are snapped up many months ahead. For the committed world adventurer, devoted photographer or wildlife lover, there is nothing to beat the thrill of an encounter with a male 'silverback'. An hour passes in a flash but the time is never forgotten. Perhaps it is the fact that mountain gorillas are notoriously hard to capture on camera? Or the challenging trek to get to them that adds to the feeling that this is an incredible privilege!