Gorilla Trekking Safaris

Encounters with mountain gorilla families in the Virunga Volcanoes and the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park...

Overview

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

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, mainly due to conservation. So now there are over 1000 mountain gorillas roaming wild.

Gorilla Trekking Tours & 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. These gorillas are habituated to humans, but the encounter is still carefully regulated. Ever since the mountain gorilla research of Dian Fossy, the pioneering primatologist, people want to emulate her close encounters with these most charismatic apes.

Gorilla trekking terrain

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. The forest will be destroyed, if not for the gorilla trekking fees and the tourism dollars which go to the local communities. 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, people snap up the gorilla tracking permits 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 you have forget your time with them. Perhaps it is the fact that mountain gorillas are notoriously hard to capture on camera? Or the challenging trek to get to them? It all combined to reinforce what an incredible privilege it is!

Gorilla Trekking Tours in search of Mountain Gorillas

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Ginny's advice was spot on

"Ginny’s advice was spot on – the locations, pace of trip and quality of accommodation was superb. The 2 slightly different safari areas also worked out well and it was great that our best viewing was at the second to end the trip on a high. " Mr Matthew Campbell

Couldn’t have been happier…

"Cedarberg and specifically our specialist Peter, have been excellent. Really communicative and just very on the ball. From the planning and payment, all the way through to arriving back home. The transfers, hotels, everything was spot on. Couldn’t have been happier with how our honeymoon went. " Mr Clark Hoy, UK

We enjoyed it all

"Ginny created a holiday that was well-suited to our requirements. The arrangements, timings and itinerary were sensible and all stages of the holiday were faultlessly executed by the chosen representatives. " Mr John Hartley, UK
 

Milandi Joubert

Africa Travel Specialist

Hi I'm Milandi, I'm here to help you plan your ideal holiday experience

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Did you know
  • UniqueBwindi & Volcanoes National Parks are the only place in the world where you can see Mountain Gorillas
  • ConservationGorillas now number over 1,000

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Excellent attention to detail

"This is the second holiday that Ginny and her team have arranged for us, and once again the service and attention to detail were excellent. Ginny put together a wonderful tailor made itinerary for our trip, and her recommendations were absolutely perfect in enhancing the trip. In today’s world of being able to arrange most things yourself, I have no doubt that there is no way we could have put together a trip like this, you need the depth of local knowledge that Cedarberg have. I thoroughly recommend Cedarberg Travel " Mrs Janet Mudge, UK

Vacation of a lifetime

"Milandi and the Cedarberg team not only planned each detail but also gave us helpful tips in advance to help us prepare for our holiday. Once in SA, there was never a need to contact Cedarberg because each day’s activities went off without a hitch " Mr & Mrs La Doe, USA

Great to deal with

"Cedarberg were really great to deal with. The Drakensberg mountains were spectacular. We most enjoyed Victoria Falls that literally took your breath away.  The river boat cruises at Livingstone were well worth it.  Also getting so close to the animals at Umlani in the Timbavati, even the lions and leopards. " Mr Martin Butler, UK

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