We love traveling and getting to experience new opportunities in new places. But there are some experiences that immediately stand out from the rest. One of those moments for us was gorilla trekking in Uganda!
What exactly is gorilla trekking? It’s pretty much exactly like it sounds. A guided trek into the Ugandan forest where we hike until we see a family of gorillas. It was one of the coolest animal interactions we have ever had.
Unfortunately, due to poaching and deforestation there are only an estimated 1,300 mountain gorillas in the world. These incredible primates only live in the mountains of Uganda, Rwanda, and D.R.C. Out of the 1,300 mountain gorillas in the world, 700 of those can be found in the mountain forests of Uganda. This is why it is so rare, difficult, and incredible to be able to see these animals in their wild habitat.
The local government uses the money generated from the tourism permits to help support and protect these amazing animals. In the past 30 years there has been a major effort to stop deforestation and poaching of mountain gorillas in this area of Uganda. However, because of the low numbers and long gestation period, restoring the mountain gorilla population has been an excruciatingly slow process. In the past 30 years the gorilla population has slowly increased. However, conservationists are greatly encouraged that for the first time in many years the gorilla population hasn’t continued to decrease. Local guides, trackers, and forest rangers take great pride in protecting these incredible animals and keeping them from extinction. They do an amazing job of respecting the gorillas and their natural habitat so that this species can continue to exist for future generations.
We love traveling, researching, and figuring out the best way to experience new things. However, gorilla trekking was one of the harder things for us to figure out on our own. There’s so much conflicting information online of how to see the gorillas. Through our research we contacted a local company called Range Land Safaris. Ronald, our guide and cofounder of the company was an incredible help. From lodging, transportation, gorilla permits, and everything in between we couldn’t have done it without Range Land Safaris. If you are interested in learning more about the company or booking with Range Land Safaris, read our blog post about the company or check out their website.
Traveling to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda
Our first steps into Uganda were at 2:00am. We try our best not to travel at night, but a few days before we flew to Uganda our flights were canceled and the only one we could book arrived at 2:00am. In addition to this, we found out that a new regulation was put into place that meant we may need to receive a COVID test upon arrival (in addition to the PCR test we took before entering the country). We contacted our guide Ronald and told him about the change. He said that he would be there at the airport at 2:00am and told us exactly what to do to be approved without having to take the COVID test upon arrival. It was such a relief that someone would be there to take us to our hotel no matter how long we took to get there. The first person we saw as we exited the airport was Ronald, waiting to help us load our bags!
The next morning was an 8 hour drive across the country to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. It was great not having to worry about bus times or arranging private transportation. Instead of being something we dreaded, the drive was actually one of our highlights of Uganda. It was an amazing chance to see the Ugandan countryside and small villages. We were riding in an extended Land Cruiser (the unofficial safari vehicle in Eastern Africa) so it was so nice to have limitless leg room ;) Ronald knew where to go, places to eat, and attractions to point out along the way. It was the first time ever seeing zebras and gazelles freely roaming along the roads! It was really cool getting to see the local trucks filled to the brim with everything from bananas to charcoal. I still have no idea how people balanced the motorcycles loaded with water jugs, bananas, or local livestock! For the most part the roads were actually very straight and smooth. It wasn’t until we hit the mountains that we went off onto the windier dirt paths. In the past few years, I’ve started to feel sick on most long bus or van rides. But between the smooth roads, the Land Cruiser’s amazing suspension, and Ronald’s driving – I was surprised that I never once felt sick!
The second highlight of our Uganda trip was the lodge we stayed at just outside of the national forest. We arrived at Rushaga Gorilla Havens Lodge in the afternoon, which Range Land Safaris had recommended to us, and were blown away by the incredible view! Although we were gorilla trekking, we were far from roughing it! The lodge sits on top of a peak so everywhere we looked we had an amazing view. We had a cabin all to ourselves with a huge porch overlooking the forest. The food was amazing and the staff was so kind to us. Em wrote one of the staff a little note thanking her for her kindness and she wrote us the nicest note back!
The Gorilla Trekking Experience
The morning of the gorilla trek, we ate some breakfast and left our lodge at 6:30 am. We drove about 20 minute down the road into Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Here we received a briefing about the gorillas and were assigned our local guides along with the gorilla family we would be trekking. Something that really amazed us was how certain the guides were that we would see gorillas. They said that as long as we were willing to trek through the forest all day, chances were that we would see the family of gorillas that we were looking for. (The average amount of time they said was between 4-8 hours.) We learned that even before we had arrived that morning, trackers were sent out to the last known location of the gorilla families to help locate them for us. So all we had to do was lace up our shoes and keep on walking!
That morning there were a total of 25 tourists headed out for gorilla trekking. Each group could have a max of 8 tourists per group. We were originally put into a group with 9 people, but one of the other tourists did not want to go in a group with one extra person. Because of this, the local guides had to create a new group. Somehow Em and I ended up in a group all to ourselves! For the two of us we had 1 local guide, 2 armed guards (mainly to protect us from forest elephants), and 3 gorilla trackers! We also hired a local porter to help carry our food, so in total there were 7 local Ugandans to help the two of us see the Mishaya gorilla family! The family is named after the silverback. Many years ago, he got into a fight with another silverback and badly hurt his jaw. He has since healed, but his jaw is still disformed due to his injury.
With the groups set, we headed out on our trek. The gorillas stay in a family group. Usually there are somewhere around 8 – 12 gorillas in each family. For each family there is 1 dominant male silverback. These mountain silverbacks can weigh up to 400 lbs and have a wingspan greater than 8 feet! Like people, each one of these gorilla families has their own personality and habits. Us, along with our personal crew of gorilla guides, drove to the trailhead to start our trek. The first 30 minutes of the hike was an easy walk along a riverbed. We hadn’t yet entered the forest so the going was easy and we had beautiful views of the surrounding valley.
Then it was time to enter the forest and start the real trekking. Although the forest is extremely dense, for the most part we would be hiking along a cleared path. But if the gorillas were off the path, the guides would use their machetes to hack a new path for us to follow. After walking through the forest for about 10 minutes, we stopped to look at something. I was eager to get the hike started and wasn’t sure why we were stopping so quickly. But then our guide told us that the family of gorillas we were looking for were right here, about 50 feet off of the trail. I couldn’t believe it!
We were thinking that we would be hiking all day, through the thick forest, with our guides hacking a path for us through the forest. But here we were, 40 minutes from when we started walking and only 10 minutes into the forest and we were already about to see the gorillas! It wasn’t a trek, more like a pleasant stroll! Even the guides couldn’t believe it. They said that they thought the gorillas were going to be headed up the mountain, but instead headed down to the forest entrance! Our guide said in her 12 years as a guide that this was one of the fastest that they had ever found the gorillas! For a second I felt a little bit disappointed. I was expecting this really difficult trek all day through the Ugandan forest, and it was already over before we even started! But then we saw our first glimpse of a gorilla and I totally forgot about the hike!
The gorillas were off the path and up the hill. Our guide hacked a new path for us to get a closer view. This was also the first time we met the three trackers who had left earlier that morning to find the gorilla family for us. These trackers spend from sunrise to sunset with these gorillas to track, learn their habits and make sure that the gorillas are safe to visit. We learned that gorillas are a lot like people. They have some good days and bad days and that it’s best not to get too close to a 400 lbs gorilla on his bad day =) Fortunately for us, the gorillas were in a friendly mood and content in staying in one place.
As we got closer, the first thing I saw was the big silver back of the male gorilla peeking out of the leaves. (Pretty good naming skills of whoever decided to nickname the male gorillas silverbacks ;) I could barely see him through the dense forest, but then our guide pointed out a mom and a little toddler gorilla sitting close by. It was such a cool feeling being in their habitat seeing them munch away on leaves without a care that we were there.
After about 10 minutes, the gorillas moved down closer to the path we had walked on. The trackers made sure that it was safe for us to follow and our guide hacked us a new path. Here we saw more gorillas for a total of 7! The silverback was about 15 feet away from us, just chewing away on some leaves. He was facing away from us so we only could see glimpses of his wounded jaw. At this time the little gorilla started to get playful and show off. First he climbed up a tree and was looking down on us (Our guide said that he was like Zacchaeus in the Bible and wanted to get a better view =) He then climbed down and walked right past me. At first I didn’t see him coming, but then I saw him walk within 1 foot of me. The momma gorilla shortly followed behind him making sure he didn’t get too curious ;) A few minutes later the little gorilla reappeared, beat on his chest, and made a noise. It was so cute! Our guide said that he was trying to show off how strong he was. He rolled on the ground before continuing to find more leaves to eat. The rest of the female gorillas spent most of their time sitting and eating. Every once in a while they would look at us, but for the most part it was as if we weren’t even around.
We had 1 hour with the gorillas and loved every minute. We went from never seeing a wild gorilla to being a foot away from 2 of them! I was really thankful for the trackers, guards, porter, and guide and all of their help to make sure we had the best experience possible! One of the pictures Em took of me shows just how funny it was that there were 7 people there helping just the 2 of us see the gorillas!
After our hour was up we headed back out of the forest and to the vehicles. We were back at our lodge before lunch time! Later we found out that the soonest any of the other three groups returned from their treks was at 5:00pm! We were so thankful for our amazing experience! So far in our travels the only other animal interaction experience that we felt this excited about was swimming with whale sharks! It was definitely an incredible, once in a lifetime experience!
