Gorilla trekking or tracking is the most popular tour activity in Uganda, and it is one of the top things to do in Africa. The gorilla trekking adventure gives you a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the gorillas in the jungles, and coming face to face with a giant gorilla is one of the most fulfilling wildlife experiences! The gorilla trekking adventure involves tracking down a family of habituated gorillas in the mountains and after finding them you are allowed to spend one hour with them.  The gorillas live in families which may have from 6 to 20 members, and a family is led by a dominant male called the Silverback.

The gorillas you are tracking have gone through a process called habituation which is the process of getting the gorillas to tolerate human presence without fleeing from the humans or attacking the humans. The gorilla habituation is done by expert researchers and trained park rangers who make continuous visits to the wild gorillas for a period of time that could take up to four or more years, and after this the gorillas will not perceive the humans as a threat and can tolerate their presence for a short period of time. The gorillas are therefore safe, but in case of any agitation or confrontation the trained park ranger will know how to communicate with the gorillas to calm them and ensure safety of the tourists.

There is also the Gorilla Habituation Experience (GHEX), a new tour activity in Bwindi National Park that allows tourists to join in the habituation process of a gorilla family for 4 hours and thus giving one an opportunity to spend more time with the gorillas and learn more about them and their habitat.

About 1004 mountain gorillas are left in the world and Uganda is home to more than of half of this population. The rest of the mountain gorillas are found in the neighboring countries of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The mountain gorillas live in the mountain forests in the Albertine rift region. Unlike other species of gorillas, the mountain gorillas are not known to survive outside their natural habitat and thus cannot be found even in zoos.

Gorilla trekking in Uganda is done in two parks. The number one park for gorilla trekking in Uganda is Bwindi Impenetrable National Park which has the most number of gorillas in Uganda. The other park in Uganda with gorillas is Mgahinga Gorilla National Park which is a part of the Virunga Mountains – a chain of volcanoes located on the borders of Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. Uganda has about 20 habituated gorilla families available for the gorilla tracking adventure which is the highest for any country. 19 of the habituated families are in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and only 1 family is in Mgahinga National Park.

The gorilla trekking experiences in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park differ a bit. Bwindi is a dense jungle forest with thick undergrowth on rolling highlands. Therefore the trekking in Bwindi involves going up the highlands and down the valleys through thick jungles. While the trek in Mgahinga is up the volcanoes and gorillas can found in mid vegetation which is not dense that you can find the gorillas in an open area offering great views of the gorillas.