Uganda Gorilla Habituation Encounter - 5 Days

Young gorilla encounter, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda

“Being able to spend even longer with a gorilla family that is still getting used to having tourists around made this bucket-list experience even more special!”

Being your 5 day Uganda Gorilla Habituation Encounter with a relaxing night in Entebbe before flying to the remote Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. After settling in, embark on a once-in-a-lifetime full day trek through the forest’s lush terrain to meet the incredible mountain gorillas up close. In the habituation experience you find the gorillas with your guides and spend 4 hours with these majestic creatures as they get used to the presence of tourists. Finish your adventure with a return flight to Entebbe, reflecting on an experience that will stay with you forever.

Choose between two accommodation grades - Standard and Upgrade. Alternatively mix and match accommodation from each grade to create your perfect adventure.

Interactive itineraries for each accommodation grade can be viewed below.

Entebbe - Bwindi Impenetrable Forest - Trekking and the Mountain Gorillas Habituation Experience

Interactive standard itinerary

Interactive upgrade itinerary

Detailed itinerary

After breakfast you will be transferred to Entebbe Airport for your flight to Kisoro (approximate flying time: 1 hour, 15 minutes; 15kg luggage allowance). You will be met on arrival at Kisoro Airstrip and transferred to your lodge where you will be welcomed by the friendly staff and have the rest of the day to enjoy the lodge and lush surroundings.

The next morning you will be transferred from your lodge to Rushaga Tracking Point.

Today will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

The Gorilla Habituation Experience differs from normal Gorilla Trekking in that a maximum of four people participate in the four hour Habituation Experience, which can involve more strenuous trekking at elevations of up to 7,500 feet. Two gorilla families have been set aside for the habituation experience and are located in the Nkuringo and Rushaga side of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. It takes two to three years to habituate a gorilla family, during which time researchers visit the families on a daily basis, observing and recording their behaviour.

Over time these gorillas get used to the presence of the researchers, and once researchers are sure that these gorillas can be trekked, mock exercises are conducted with scientists and journalists visiting them. Once a gorilla family has passed such a test, the family is ready for visitors on the Habituation Experience. These gorillas are now only semi habituated, used to rangers and researchers but not tourists, and they may behave in unusual and unpredictable manners, in which case the experience will be stopped. Since gorillas build new nests every night, you won’t necessarily get more time with the gorillas, as you join the trackers right from the start and find the families with them (unlike traditional trekking where the trackers find the gorillas ahead of time for visitors).

Stay at:
Standard - Chameleon Hill Lodge or similar
Upgrade - Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge or similar

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