Bwindi Gorilla Trekking: The People Who Protect Gorillas

Bwindi gorilla trekking means walking into the steep, humid forest of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in south-western Uganda, with a ranger guide and trackers, to spend a strictly limited hour with a habituated family of mountain gorillas. Bwindi holds roughly half of the world's mountain gorillas, and the trek is possible only because of a large, mostly local workforce that protects the forest every day of the year.

Most writing about gorilla trekking focuses on the moment of meeting the gorillas. This article looks at the people who make that moment possible: rangers, trackers, porters and the communities around the park, and at the rules designed to keep a fragile population healthy.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in brief

Bwindi covers about 330 square kilometres of montane and lowland forest on a tangle of ridges and valleys close to the borders with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The forest was protected as a reserve in colonial times, became a national park in 1991 and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994, recognised for its exceptional biodiversity. Beyond the gorillas it shelters chimpanzees, many other primates, forest elephants, and a large number of birds and butterflies, including species found only in the mountains of the Albertine Rift.

Trekking takes place from several sectors around the park's edges, commonly known as Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga and Nkuringo. The southern sectors are usually reached by road from Kabale, the highland town that serves as a gateway to this corner of Uganda, while Kisoro is the nearest town for some trailheads.

The people behind a gorilla trek

A trek usually begins with a briefing from Uganda Wildlife Authority staff. Before visitors set off, trackers have already gone into the forest, starting from where the assigned gorilla family nested the night before and following trails, broken stems and fresh dung to find the group. They radio their position to the ranger guide, who leads visitors in, explains the rules and reads the gorillas' behaviour throughout the encounter. Armed rangers often accompany groups, mainly as protection against forest elephants and other wildlife.

Many visitors also hire a porter. Porters are local people, often organised through community associations, who carry bags and help trekkers up and down slopes that can be muddy and very steep. Hiring one is optional, but it is one of the most direct ways visitor money reaches households beside the park, and some porter groups have included people who once hunted in the forest.

Away from the tourist trails, rangers patrol for snares and illegal activity, monitor gorilla groups that are not visited by tourists, and work with veterinarians who keep watch on the animals' health. This is skilled, physically hard work carried out in difficult terrain, and it rarely appears in holiday photographs.

Habituation: why gorillas tolerate visitors

Wild gorillas do not naturally accept humans nearby. Before a family can be visited, a team spends a long period, often around two years, approaching it daily so that the gorillas gradually learn that people pose no threat. Only some of Bwindi's gorilla families are habituated for tourism; others are habituated for research or left entirely alone.

Uganda also offers a longer "habituation experience" in parts of Bwindi, in which a small number of visitors accompany researchers and trackers for several hours with a family still being habituated. It shows the patience behind the standard one-hour visit.

Bwindi gorilla trekking rules that protect the gorillas

Mountain gorillas share most of their DNA with people and are vulnerable to human illnesses, including common respiratory infections that can be serious for them. For that reason the rules are strict:

• Visitors who are ill, with a cold, flu or other transmissible illness, should not trek and are expected to say so.
• Groups are kept small, usually a maximum of eight visitors per gorilla family per day.
• Time with the gorillas is limited, normally to one hour.
• Visitors keep their distance, at least several metres, and face masks are now commonly required near the gorillas.
• No eating, drinking or relieving yourself near the gorillas, and no flash photography.
• There is a minimum age for trekking, currently 15.

Rules and permit conditions change, so anyone planning a visit should check the latest guidance with Uganda Wildlife Authority before booking.

Permits, revenue sharing and a hard history

Gorilla permits are expensive, and that is deliberate: they limit numbers and fund protection. Under Uganda's revenue-sharing arrangements, a share of park entry fees goes to communities neighbouring national parks, and a levy on each gorilla permit adds to it. The money has supported schools, health posts, roads and projects to reduce crop raiding, though people around the park do not always feel the benefits are fairly shared, and gorillas and other animals leaving the forest to eat crops remain a real source of tension.

The creation of Bwindi and nearby Mgahinga as national parks in 1991 also displaced the Batwa, forest people who had lived and gathered in these forests for generations. Many lost their homes and their access to the forest without adequate land or compensation. Some now share their history with visitors through Batwa-led initiatives, and Batwa organisations continue to press for land and recognition. Any honest account of gorilla conservation in Uganda has to hold both facts: the recovery of the gorillas and the cost borne by the people removed from the forest.

Mgahinga and the bigger picture

Bwindi is not the only place in Uganda to see mountain gorillas. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, much smaller, lies on the slopes of the Virunga volcanoes in the far south-west, part of the same volcanic chain that continues into Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is quieter, with fewer habituated families, and also offers volcano hikes.

The wider story is one of the most hopeful in conservation. Mountain gorillas once numbered only a few hundred. Thanks to decades of protection, veterinary care, tourism revenue and the work of rangers in three countries, the total population is now thought to be a little over 1,000, spread between Bwindi and the Virunga massif. In 2018 the IUCN moved the subspecies from Critically Endangered to Endangered. That is real progress, but the population remains small and exposed to disease, habitat loss and conflict.

Why this matters on foot

The walk's route enters Uganda from Rwanda and passes through the Kabale highlands. The current plan includes the hope of a gorilla trek as a side trip from the road, always within Uganda Wildlife Authority rules, and to spend time with guides, rangers and porters before and after the trek rather than treating the gorillas as a single photograph. Walking would resume from exactly the point where it paused, and the public record will show walked and unwalked distance separately. Read more in walking across Uganda, or compare the working lives of mountain crews in Kilimanjaro's porters and guides.

To follow the journey once it begins, see the journal. If you would like to help the walk on its way north, you can back the walk.

Frequently asked questions

How many mountain gorillas are left?

A little over 1,000, living only in Bwindi and the Virunga volcanoes shared by Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

How hard is Bwindi gorilla trekking?

It varies by family and day. Treks can take from under an hour to most of a day on steep, muddy, humid slopes. A reasonable level of fitness helps, and porters can carry bags.

How long do you spend with the gorillas?

Usually one hour, once the family is found. The longer habituation experience allows several hours.

Is Bwindi or Mgahinga better for gorilla trekking?

Bwindi has many more habituated families and so more availability. Mgahinga is smaller and quieter, with volcanic scenery.