Gorilla Trekking Advice
What a trek day involves, who can go, and how permits work.
Gorilla Trekking travel advice
For health questions, a travel clinic has the final word. For visas, check the embassy of each country on the route.
1.Permits
A permit is issued per person per trek and is limited to eight visitors per gorilla family per day. Rwanda's permits cost more than Uganda's. The itineraries here include one permit per person unless the page says two. Permits are confirmed on the quote and are non-refundable once issued.
2.Fitness and age
Treks run from one hour to six, on steep, muddy ground above 2,000 metres. The minimum age is 15 in both countries. Porters are available and worth hiring; they carry your bag and steady you on the slopes.
3.Health rules
You will not be allowed to trek with a cold or any infectious illness, because gorillas catch human diseases. Masks are often required during the hour with the family. Keep seven metres back; the rangers enforce it.
4.When to go
Treks run all year. June to September and December to February are drier and easier underfoot; the rains make the slopes harder but the forest greener and the lodges quieter.
Travel by month5.What to pack
Boots with grip, long trousers and sleeves, gardening gloves for the nettles, a rain jacket, and a small daypack with water. The lodge will brief you the evening before.
Quick facts
Gorilla routes are the Uganda and Rwanda itineraries that include a gorilla permit. One trek uses one permit per person, unless that page says two permits are included.
Read the permit line
The included text is the source. If it says a gorilla permit, that permit is part of the published rate.
The trek is one day
A typical gorilla day is the briefing, the walk, and one hour with the group when the rangers allow it. The page does not promise a particular family.
Other nights are still a safari
Most of these trips add forest lodges or a savannah park around the trek. Those nights are listed with their own meals.
Fitness and age sit with you
The trek can be steep and wet. Say who is travelling when you ask for the quote, including children.
What every trip on this site includes
- Published rates are per person sharing, in US dollars, shown in the currency you choose while browsing.
- Nights, meals and the activities named on each stay are inside the rate. International flights, visas, insurance, tips and unlisted drinks are not.
- No single-room supplement is charged, and children pay the same per-person rate as adults.
- Wildlife sightings are never promised. Guides, parks and seasons are chosen to give the best chance; the animals decide the rest.
- Gorilla itineraries include one permit per person per trek unless the page says two.
- A written quote comes first. Nothing is booked and nothing is paid until you accept it.
From the journal
Planning
What to Pack for Gorilla Trekking
What to Pack for Gorilla Trekking is a planning note from Safari Continents Travel. It sits beside the destination guides for the parks and coasts already on this site. Published trip prices are a guide. You receive a quote before anything is paid.
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Our Favourite African Gorilla Tours
Our Favourite African Gorilla Tours is a planning note from Safari Continents Travel. It sits beside the destination guides for the parks and coasts already on this site. Published trip prices are a guide. You receive a quote before anything is paid.
Wildlife
Where to Go in Africa to See Gorillas
Where to Go in Africa to See Gorillas is a planning note from Safari Continents Travel. It sits beside the destination guides for the parks and coasts already on this site. Published trip prices are a guide. You receive a quote before anything is paid.
Wildlife
Gorilla Trekking 101
Gorilla Trekking 101 is a planning note from Safari Continents Travel. It sits beside the destination guides for the parks and coasts already on this site. Published trip prices are a guide. You receive a quote before anything is paid.