For most visitors to Uganda, Bwindi Impenetrable Park is the highest destination on the list. I have to agree. Uganda has many fantastic things to offer, but Bwindi is the most important one. This is the park where you can find mountain gorillas in their natural environment, which is such a unique experience. Standing close to these gentle giants is something you will remember for the rest of your life. For me, it was one of the best experiences of my life. Keep reading if you want to know everything about doing a gorilla tracking in Bwindi.

Tourist occurrence: High

Price: $ 800

How to get here: 4 hour from Mweya and 12 hours from Kampala. 

How much time needed: Depends on the group visiting. You can stay 1 hour with the gorillas. The can take 1-8 hours. 

Permit

First I will start with the most important thing: to visit the gorillas. You will need to have a permit. Otherwise, you are not allowed to get into the forest. These permits can be sold out quickly, so make sure you get one as soon as you know the date you want to visit Bwindi. The permit can be arranged by the travel agency, or you have to do it with UWA yourself. The price is high, as it is $800 per person, but know that in Rwanda in Volcanoes National Park it is $1500. With these permits you will have a guide, trackers and the whole experience. The high price is mostly good for conservation purposes, as they invest a lot in the safety of these endangered species, and the population has been growing since the price is this high. 

Different locations

Bwindi is a park with four different locations to do gorilla tracking. You can go from Buhoma (North), Rushaga (South), Nkuringo (South), and Ruhija (East). I went from Buhoma, which is the most popular. When getting a permit, you will have a permit from one of the specific locations. Buhoma has 7 different habituated gorilla families to discover, Ruhija 4, Nkuringo 3, and Rushaga 8. 

Are these gorillas wild?

A short answer: yes. The mountain gorillas you will track are wild and are not being fed. However, they are habituated, which means that they are used to human presence. Before tourists will go to a certain family group, they will be visited for years by rangers for about 3 years, so they are used to humans. There are also gorillas, which are not habituated and are wild. There is a small chance that you will encounter them, which can be a bit less safe.

Group

At the visitor centre you will be pointed to a group and guide. With the guide, there will also be trackers, rangers, porters, and maybe an additional guide. The group consists of 8 people (tourists), and with this group you will go to a certain gorilla family, and you will not see other groups of tourists.  The guide will keep an eye out to see if everyone in the group sees the gorillas properly and the safety. 

The terrain 

The terrain is pretty tough, and you will need at least a basic condition to walk (or be carried; more information later). It depends on the hike, but often you have to go up on a mountain. I can only speak of my own trekking. The terrain is gorgeous, as it is tropical rainforest, and do not hesitate to stop and enjoy your surroundings. Often there are paths in the beginning, and to get to the gorillas, you will have to go through dense forest, where the guides and rangers will clear the path with machetes. 

My hike

At first you will go to the visitor centre, where there will be a briefing and performances. Afterwards you will be divided into a group, and you will meet the guide and rangers. Most groups will drive for a small bit before you start the hike, but we started straight from the visitor centre. Our hike was mostly going up from the start on a natural path, and it was pretty strenuous. After around 2 hours we were at the top, and the path was flat (see picture). At some point we had to go through dense forest, which was a very cool experience. At some point we were very close to the gorillas. After one hour with the gorillas, you will go back the same way. The way down is a bit more slippery, so be careful. The whole hike, including an hour with the gorillas and lunch, took around 6 hours. 

At the gorillas

Being close to the gorillas, you will stand and get some more information about your behaviour. Then we went to them, and they were only 10 metres away from the short information! You can get around 5-7 metres from these incredible creatures. They sometimes come even closer, as the silverback and a female were around 10 centimetres from me. Of course, you should make space for them. The guide will make noises to comfort the mountain gorillas. In our case they were first lying still for around half an hour, and then they were moving around a bit, and for the last 20 minutes the group consisting of 5 females, a silverback, and an infant moved around, which gave a very cool extra experience. This was absolutely great and one of the best things I did in my life!

Porters

The hike can be challenging, so you can hire a porter for $20 to help you during the hike. They will take your bag and give you a hand throughout the hike. It is not necessary to do so, but I can recommend it for some people. I was with my mom, and we both took a porter. For me, it was nice not having a bag, but for the rest, I could do without. For my mom, it was necessary, as the hike was long and she slipped. On the way back, my and her porter helped her fantastically (see picture) throughout the hike.  If you are fit, it is not necessary, but I would always recommend doing it, as I do not want to take the risk of not getting to the gorillas. 

Different levels of difficulty

As there are multiple mountain gorilla families, you will be pointed to a family. Beforehand your guide throughout Uganda (or you) can go to the visitor centre to tell the rangers your preference for which level of difficulty you want to do. You can have easy, medium or hard, but it is not a guarantee that you will be pointed to that preference. Besides, the difficulty is measured by where the gorillas were the day before, but during the rest of the day and night they could have moved farther away, so it is not guaranteed. I still recommend asking the difficulty if you have a certain preference. 

Age

The minimum age for doing a gorilla trekking is 15 years. You have to be this old, as kids do not always listen to the guides, and the chances of spreading diseases are higher towards the gorillas. 

Other wildlife

Of course, the main focus is finding gorillas, but that does not mean that it is the only wildlife you can encounter. I already told you about the non-habituated gorillas, but there are bigger chances of seeing monkey species like l'Hoest monkeys (the bad photo) and black and white colobus monkeys. The guide will stop for it, but not for too long, because there is another goal for them (and you)! There are also elephants; there was even one very close when we were there. 

Is it safe?

You are visiting wild animals, but this is a safe activity. The gorillas are habituated to humans and are used to having them around, so they will not attack you. However, the elephants and non-habituated gorillas can be a bit more of an issue, but the chances of encountering them are small, but just in case there are guards with guns. They will not shoot the animals, but in the air to get more space. I want to say it again: this happens on a rare occasion, so do not worry; it is safe.

Accommodation

You will have nice accommodations at every entrance for a gorilla permit. Some people sleep at Lake Mutanda, which is an hour away. I do NOT recommend staying there, as it is an hour's drive from the entrance, and if something happens on the road, you will be late for the gorilla trekking and possibly miss it. We stayed at Mahogany Springs, which is a very nice accommodation, close to the Buhoma entrance. Other accommodation options in Buhoma Lodge are Engagi Lodge and Buhoma Lodge.

What to bring

There are some things to bring, although you will not be away for long:

• Water
• Lunchbox from your accommodation
• Backpack
• Hiking shoes
• Long sleeves and trousers (for the insects)
• Sunscreen, but you are mostly in the shade, so less important
• Insect repellant (do not forget  to spray your ankles)
• Cash money (to tip the guides an pay the porters)
• Hat or cap
• Camera or phone
• Binoculars (but there is a good chance you will see them close)
• Face mask (see below)

Face mask

Face masks are obligatory to take with you. The DNA of gorillas is so close to humans that diseases can be transferable, and we do not want to give the gorillas any diseases. You do not have to wear it during the whole hike, but you do when you are close to the gorillas. Note that the guides do not have spare face masks, so bring them yourselves!

Final Thoughts

Bwindi is one of the best places in the world where I have been, as I saw the amazing mountain gorillas so close. These magical creatures are some of the coolest to find on this planet, and Bwindi is one of the best places in the world. This park cannot be missed when you are in Uganda. What an experience.

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