Mountain gorillas can only survive in the wild so trekking into their native forests is your only chance to look and them and take photos for memories. Sitting in silence on the cold ground of a Ugandan forest for 60 minutes might be one of life’s greatest privileges. Gorilla trekking provides a rare opportunity to observe the everyday interactions of these gentle, mysterious primates.
Mountain gorillas only live in the dense vegetation of Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and along the dormant volcanic Virunga mountain range that stretches across Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, Uganda’s Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, and Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The small population of gorillas is raising slowly thanks to intense international conservation efforts. Since these critically endangered creatures can’t survive in captivity, the only way to see them is by trekking up to their natural habitat: misty cloud forests that can reach altitudes of 14,763 feet.
There are two gorilla trekking spots in Uganda: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Gorillas don’t pay mind to political borders, so populations across the Virungas are relatively fluid. Uganda has an edge, however, since Bwindi alone is home to half of the world’s mountain gorillas.
Mountain gorillas live only in the dense forests on and around the Virunga mountains in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.