Gorilla Trekking in East Africa: Uganda vs Rwanda and How to Choose

Mountain gorillas live in just two places on Earth: the Virunga volcanoes, shared by Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. For almost all travellers, the choice comes down to Uganda or Rwanda. Both offer the same experience at its heart, one hour with a habituated gorilla family, but the cost, the travel and the style of trip are quite different.

The experience in both countries

Treks start in the morning with a briefing by park rangers. Small groups of up to eight people each visit one gorilla family, guided by rangers and trackers who know where the family spent the night. The walk can take from under an hour to several hours, on steep, muddy, forested slopes. When you reach the gorillas, you spend one hour with them, keeping your distance and wearing a mask. Minimum age is 15 in both countries. Sightings are very reliable.

Uganda

• Permit: US$800 per person for foreign non-residents.
• Where: mostly Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, with four trekking sectors, plus Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in the Virungas.
• Getting there: from Entebbe, a long drive of eight to ten hours or a short domestic flight to an airstrip near the park. From Kigali in Rwanda, the southern sectors of Bwindi are four to five hours by road.
• Trekking: often steeper and longer than in Rwanda, through dense forest.
• Combine with: chimpanzees in Kibale, savanna game and boat trips in Queen Elizabeth, and Murchison Falls.

Rwanda

• Permit: US$1,500 per person.
• Where: Volcanoes National Park, on the slopes of the Virunga volcanoes.
• Getting there: about two and a half hours by road from Kigali international airport, on good roads.
• Trekking: often shorter, through farmland and then bamboo and forest on the volcano slopes.
• Combine with: golden monkeys in Volcanoes, chimpanzees in Nyungwe, and the Big Five in Akagera.

Which should you choose?

Choose Rwanda if your time is short, you want the easiest logistics, and the higher permit price is within your budget. A gorilla trek can be done in as little as two or three nights from Kigali, and it fits neatly at the end of a Kenya or Tanzania safari.

Choose Uganda if you want better value, more choice of permits, the option of a longer habituation experience, or a fuller primate and wildlife trip with chimpanzees and savanna parks. Uganda rewards travellers with a week or more.

Many travellers also fly into Kigali and drive across the border to trek in Uganda’s southern Bwindi sectors, combining Rwanda’s easy access with Uganda’s lower permit cost.

When to go

Gorilla trekking runs year round. The drier months, roughly June to September and December to February, make trails less slippery and are most popular, so permits sell out early. The rainy months bring fewer visitors and easier permit availability.

Booking permits

Permits are limited and sell out months ahead for the peak seasons. Book four to six months in advance if you can, and treat permits as non-refundable. We secure permits as soon as your dates are confirmed and plan the rest of your trip around them.

Read our Bwindi guide, our Rwanda safari overview and our Big Five plus gorillas itinerary to plan your trek.

Big Five Wildlife planning team

We plan private safaris across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, and write from time spent in these parks.