Travelling to Africa to see gorillas in the wild is the ultimate wildlife experience. The sheer majesty of a fully grown male silverback is a thrilling experience, as is the playfulness of the toddlers and tenderness of their mothers.
Most people visit mountain gorillas in Rwanda or Uganda, both of which are safe to visit and have a well-developed tourist infrastructure. Elsewhere, there are a handful of more remote destinations where adventurous travelers can visit eastern and western lowland gorillas. Below are the best places for gorilla safari.
- Volcanoes National Park Rwanda
Volcanoes is Africa’s most celebrated gorilla trekking destination. Thanks to its association with Dian Fossey, the park protects the Rwandan portion of the Virunga Mountains, a chain of beautiful volcanoes whose steep slopes are lined with rainforest and towering stands of bamboo. The mountain gorillas move freely between the countries, with the greatest number of habituated groups residing in Volcanoes National Park, making Rwanda arguably the best place in Africa to go gorilla trekking.
The park has 12 gorilla families available for tracking here. The most famous is the Susa group, which lives high up on Mt Karisimbi and was studied by Fossey when she lived in the area. Other gorilla groups roam lower down the slopes are easier to track, although being wild, they are always on move.
Rwanda gorilla permits cost $1500 for which sim quite expensive compared to Uganda. With a wide range of luxury accommodations now available near the Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda has become a luxury of gorilla trekking offering an unbeatable experience but at a high cost.
While the gorillas are the star attraction at Volcanoes National Park, there are also golden monkeys, birding walks, forest and waterfall hikes, mountain, birding walks, forest and waterfall hikes, mountain climbing including an overnight hike up the 3800m Karisimbi volcano and for the less active less luxury lodges with comfortable views of the gorgeous mountain rainforest scenery.
- Bwindi Impenetrable National Park Uganda
Bwindi Impenetrable is the main destination for gorilla trekking Uganda and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park is home to over 459 mountain gorilla which split across more than 25 families groups which have been habituated to tourist visits.
Bwindi currently has more than 20 groups habituated for tracking with only 8 visitors allowed to visit a group on any one day. Trekking to see the mighty mountain gorillas is something everyone should get to experience at least once in their lifetime. Gorilla permits are certainly not cheap & a gorilla permit costs $800 per person and the hour you get to spend with these gentle giants is a thrilling moment but the experience will linger for a lifetime. When a family of gorillas permits you to enter their safety zone and their guardian silverback allows your group of eight privileged tourists to sit quietly in their presence, it’s the ultimate honor.
The reward makes it all worthwhile when the gorillas are finally located. These big beautiful human like, staring at you amongst lush greenery are spellbinding. And the one hour you get to spend with these gentle giants is just awesome.
Another special activity is the Gorilla Habituation Experience which involves a group that is not fully habituated. Here gorillas are used to their trackers but not seeing different people every day. It is an exciting alternative instead of just one hour, the activity goes for 4 hours.
The objective is to move with them, to stay in their sight so that they gradually get used to having people around and you get to that magical seven meter distance from them. It is expensive $1800.
I would also recommend a day visiting the Batwa Experience, a living museum in the forest for a thrilling insight into the culture of the Batwa Pygmy tribe who lived alongside the gorilla for 4000 years until they were evicted when Bwindi was gazetted as a national park.
- Mgahinga Gorilla National Park Uganda
Just like Volcanoes National Park, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park has a splendid location high in the Virunga Mountains, bordering Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). There is only one habituated group here, so permits are in high demand. But if you manage to get one it is a good location for gorilla trekking.
Gorilla trekking permits for Mgahinga cost $800 per person. Because numbers are limited, the park has a more low-key feel than Bwindi or Volcanoes, at least in terms of tourist traffic. There are also other walking opportunities on offer, from golden monkey trekking and guided bird-watching trails to steep day hikes to the peaks, and the Bata Community Experience, the ancient forest dwelling people who were evicted from the forests apparently to secure protection of the mountain gorillas. Conservationists owe the Batwa an enormous debt. Listen to their stories, their culture is unlike anything you have ever encountered.
- Kahuzi Biega National Park (DRC)
Kahuzi Biega National Park is located in Democratic Republic of Congo and it is the only country that has both mountain and eastern lowland gorillas. There are several habituated mountain gorilla groups that live with Virunga National Park but it was closed due to multiple closures, primarily due to intense security threats and other factors contributing to temporary shutdowns including risks to mountain gorillas from human diseases (COVID-19) and infrastructure damage from the May 2021 eruption of Mount Nyiragongo.
Kahuzi Biega is the only park where you can track the eastern lowland gorillas, which are unique to the DRC and occur in no other country. The park is a short drive from the town of Bukavu which lies on the shore of Lake Kivu and has some good accommodations in old colonial mansions. Compared to Uganda and Rwanda, it is a little visited and rather adventurous option. It is also relatively cheaper than other parks costing $400 per person.
When you find the gorilla, the encounter is amazing and truly memorable with photo opportunities. I recommend you go wearing a long sleeve shirt, long pants and tall socks. Good walking poles are very helpful although they will give a walking stick if you want one.
- Odzala-Kokoua National Park Republic of Congo
The Republic of Congo also presents another specie in Odzala-Kokoua National Park called the western lowland gorillas. This is the best place to see these ape and habituated gorillas can be visited in the tropical rainforest of Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the northwest. Due to its remoteness, this is not a cheap destination, but it does offer an exclusive experience, with small groups and rustic luxury accommodations combined with some tough trekking.
