Gorilla trekking in Bwindi from Rwanda, Uganda, and Rwanda are the best gorilla trekking destination in Africa, Uganda and Rwanda can as well be easily combined on one gorilla safari itinerary, one can also choose to start the trip in Uganda and end in Rwanda or start in Rwanda and end in Uganda depending on where you want to start from using the East Africa tourist visa which allows you multiple entries between the two countries.
Gorilla trekking in Rwanda is much more expensive, gorilla permit at $1,500 per person, compared to Uganda gorilla permit at $700 per person which is half of the price if compared to Rwanda permit price. For those who would like to book Uganda gorilla trekking in Bwindi Forest from coming from Rwanda, Kisoro tours can help you to organize your Uganda gorilla safari that starts or ends in Rwanda.
See below sample itineraries of gorilla trekking in Bwindi from Rwanda to give you an idea of what a gorilla trip from Kigali to Uganda?
2 Days Uganda Gorilla Trekking from Kigali Rwanda
3 Day Fly-in Rwanda Tracking Gorillas in Uganda
5 Days Uganda Gorilla and Chimpanzee Tracking Safari Starting from Kigali Rwanda
6 Days Uganda Gorillas, Chimpanzees, and hiking safari from Rwanda
7 Days Uganda Primates and Wildlife Safari Starting From Kigali Rwanda
8 Days Uganda Primates and Wildlife Safari Starting From Kigali Rwanda
14 Days Gorillas, Chimpanzees, and wildlife safaris from Rwanda
Where to trek gorillas in Uganda?
Uganda has two national parks where you can see mountain gorillas which Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and Mgahinga gorilla national park, Bwindi Forest is more popular and more known to the outside world because Bwindi Forest is home to more than half of the world’s population of mountain gorillas while Mgahinga has only one family.
The two parks also are well situated in that you can even do a fly-in gorilla safari whereby you fly to Nyakabande airstrip in Kisoro town, both parks also have a wide range of accommodation options ranging from camping, budget lodges, mid-range to luxury.
There is no difference in permit price for both parks, the choice of where to trek will depend on gorilla permit availability at the time of booking, the chance of seeing/sightings of gorillas in both parks are at 100% provided you are fit enough to walk/hike between 3 to 6 hours in the high attitude.
How to access Bwindi Forest and Mgahinga from Rwanda
Crossing from Rwanda to Bwindi Forest in Uganda by road takes about 3 hours’ drive from Kigali international airport crossing via Cyanika border in Kisoro or via Katuna border in Kabale, it is very easy to cross from Kigali Rwanda to Uganda for gorilla trekking in Bwindi Forest or in Mgahinga, both parks are located in Kisoro district right on the boater of Uganda, Rwanda, and DR-Congo. It is also very to combine Uganda gorilla trekking in Bwindi from Rwanda with other wildlife safaris in Uganda savannah parks in one single itinerary.
About Bwindi impenetrable forest national park
Bwindi forest is the main gorilla trekking destination in Uganda, Bwindi Forest is divided into four sectors which are the Buhoma sector also known as the park headquarters, Rushaga sector, Nkuringo sector, and Ruhija sector. The four sectors combined have 20 habituated gorilla families open for tourism, each sector can be easily accessed and each has its own characteristics, families, and levels of difficulty but the permit price is the same.
After briefing every morning, a group of tourists joins a group of other trekkers, only a maximum group size of 8 people is allowed to trek each gorilla family per day, trekking is led by an experienced park ranger/guide from Uganda Wildlife Authority.
Bwindi impenetrable forest national park is also the only place where tourists are given the opportunity to participate in the mountain gorilla habituation process in Africa and in the whole world, in Uganda, gorilla habituation is done in the Rushaga sector and habituation permit costs only $1500 per person a maximum of 4 people are allowed to take part in habituation process. Mountain gorilla habituation is a vital process for research that allows primatologists to observe behavioral patterns of mountain gorillas which is the same process for chimpanzees, golden monkeys, and other primates of Africa
The Mountain gorilla habituation process in Bwindi impenetrable forest involves spending more time with a given gorilla family daily as one of the ways of winning their trust before the family is open for tourism, gorilla habituation is led by well-experienced park rangers and researchers as they lean their behavior, sometimes researchers may have to pretend to eat the same food with the gorillas, and even beating one’s chest like them the initial weeks of habituation are fraught with danger for the human habitué, The habituation process can be even longer for chimpanzees, Uganda is also the only country in Africa where one can go for chimpanzee habituation experience. The chimpanzee habituation process usually takes about six to seven years before a chimpanzee family/group or band is fully habituated and open for tourism.
See below sample itineraries for both gorilla and chimpanzee habituation experience?
3 Days Uganda gorilla habituation experience safari in Bwindi Forest
4 Day Double mountain gorilla habituation safari in Bwindi forest
5 Days Gorilla Habituation and Chimp trekking Safari from Kigali
6 Days Uganda gorilla and chimpanzee habituation
About Mgahinga gorilla national park
Mgahinga national park is part of the Virunga mountain range which is shared between three Countries Uganda, Rwanda, and DR-Congo. On the Uganda side, it’s called Mgahinga gorilla national park, on the Rwanda side it’s called Volcanoes national park, and on the DR-Congo side it’s Virunga national park, Virunga mountain range is another popular gorilla trekking destination next to Bwindi forest. Trekking gorillas in Mgahinga is easier than in Bwindi but Mgahinga has fewer gorilla permits available because it has only one gorilla family Nyakagezi and the other two gorilla families which constantly keeps crossing the border from Rwanda to Uganda side. Nyakagazi family is one of the most interesting groups it has four silverbacks living together in one family which is not common in mountain gorilla families.
Golden monkeys trekking in Mgahinga gorilla national park, this is the only place you can go for both golden monkey trekking and golden monkey habituation, golden monkeys are characterized by a gold color on their back and cheeks. This type of monkeys can only be seen in only three countries in Africa which is Uganda, Rwanda, and the DR- Congo.
Golden monkeys live on the slopes of volcanoes where they can find nutritious bamboo shoots. Golden monkeys are very social primates and live-in groups of about 50 to 60 individuals and they like feeding on bamboo shoots, small insects, and other fruits.
Talking about golden monkey trekking, it is one of the top primate trekking safaris in Uganda, in Uganda golden monkeys can only be trekked in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park where they share the same habitat with mountain gorillas.
Best time to go for gorilla trekking in Uganda
Mountain gorillas in Uganda can be visited at any day through the year because Uganda has an equatorial climate which means its temperatures remain consistent throughout the year, but Uganda has two main seasons rain season and dry season, the rain season is during March, April, May October and November while the dry season is in June, July, August, September, December, January, and February. In other words, there is no weather condition in Uganda that can stop you from going gorilla trekking.
