An hour with a family
One hour with a habituated mountain gorilla family is the unit of experience. The hike to find them takes between one and six hours depending on which family the rangers assign you. The hour itself is short, close, and quiet, and stays with you for the rest of your travelling life.
Where this trip starts
Two countries, two slightly different operations. Rwanda runs Volcanoes National Park out of Kigali. The flight is faster, the lodges newer, the permits more expensive at $1,500 each. Uganda runs Bwindi Impenetrable Forest from Kigali or Entebbe. Permits cost $800. The forest is denser, the lodges more rustic, the wider Uganda offering more varied if you build a longer trip.
Most of our gorilla travellers are not coming for the gorillas alone. The right trip pairs three nights at the gorilla lodge with five to seven nights of safari elsewhere. Rwanda combines beautifully with Akagera, the Mara, or Tanzania. Uganda extends naturally into Kibale for chimpanzees, Queen Elizabeth, and Murchison Falls. The gorillas are the chapter the travellers came for. The bush around them is the rest of the book.
Why this kind of trip
Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park offers shorter walks and reliable road access from Kigali. Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is wilder, with sectors that vary significantly in walk length. We match the park to your fitness level and the time of year.
Rwanda and Uganda both charge USD 800 per permit. These are government fees, booked months in advance for peak dates. We hold allocations and fold permit logistics into the itinerary planning from the start, not as an afterthought.
Uganda offers a gorilla habituation experience in addition to the standard trek. You spend four hours with a partially habituated family at USD 1,500 per permit. It is a different quality of time and suits travellers who want to go beyond the hour.
A gorilla trek alone rarely justifies the journey from Europe or North America. We pair it with Lake Kivu, Akagera, or the Serengeti northern circuit so that the trip has more than one reason to exist. The gorilla day is the centrepiece, not the whole story.
Sample journeys
Each one is a starting point. Walk times, permit dates and seasonal considerations are covered in the planning conversation.
01
Two nights in the Virunga foothills with two trek days booked on separate mornings, then three nights on Lake Kivu. The Rwanda-only option for travellers who want a clean itinerary and a short transfer from Kigali. Akagera National Park can replace Lake Kivu for those who want a game-viewing leg alongside the gorillas.
02
Three nights in Bwindi with a standard trek and, if available, a habituation experience on the second day. Then south to the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth for tree-climbing lions, followed by a final leg in Murchison Falls. Uganda moves slowly between regions and rewards travellers who give it time rather than rushing.
03
Three nights in Rwanda around the gorilla trek, then a small charter south into Tanzania. Five nights across the northern Serengeti circuit, including Ngorongoro Crater and the Grumeti area. A big trip, but one that gives the gorillas room to breathe without competing with a packed game-drive schedule in the same country.
From a recent journey
★★★★★
There are so many choices, but the team met with us, helped narrow down our options, and did a superb job at selecting accommodations for us. Each one was beyond our expectations and we loved every minute of it.
Sue W., eight-night South African safari, June 2025
The process
There is no algorithm picking your lodges. From the first message to the day you fly home, you deal with real people who care about this as deeply as you do.
We start with a call or a long message. No commitment, no quote forms. We want to understand the trip you are imagining, your travel history, your budget, and what you have always quietly wanted Africa to give you.
We do not just suggest the obvious. We bring options you would not have found on your own: the newly reopened concession, the off-peak rate at the lodge that is usually full, the combination of regions that works for your dates.
We iterate together. There is no pressure. Some clients take three conversations to land a trip, others take two weeks. We only confirm the booking when you are completely certain.
Pre-trip prep, packing notes, what to expect on the ground. A direct line to us while you are travelling. If anything changes on the trip, we handle it before you have to think about it.
Ready to start?
No commitment. No quote forms. Just a conversation with people who know the continent and know how to get you there in style.
Send a quick WhatsAppCommon questions
It varies from thirty minutes to eight hours depending on where the gorilla family is that morning. The average is two to four hours of walking through steep, sometimes muddy forest. A reasonable base level of fitness helps. We tell you what to expect from each sector and match the permit to your group.
Rwanda has shorter, more predictable walks and is closer to Kigali. Uganda, particularly Bwindi, feels wilder and offers the habituation experience. For first-time trekkers who want reliability, Rwanda is often the easier starting point. For those who want more time with the gorillas, Uganda gives you that option.
It is a Uganda-only permit that allows four hours with a gorilla family that is still in the process of becoming fully comfortable around people. It is more physically demanding and takes longer to reach the family, but the quality of time is different from the standard hour. Permits are USD 1,500 per person and more limited in availability.
June to September and December to February are the drier months and generally the more comfortable walking conditions. The wet seasons are passable with good boots and the right guidance, and some travellers prefer the quieter crowds. Permits in peak months book out six months or more in advance.
Yes, and we recommend it. A standalone gorilla trip is a long way to fly for a single experience. We typically pair Rwanda with Lake Kivu or Akagera, and Uganda with Queen Elizabeth or Murchison Falls. Adding a Tanzania northern circuit works well for those who want a classic game-drive leg alongside the gorilla days.
From the field
Real trips, real travellers, photographed by us in the field.
Plan it properly
Three ways to begin. Pick whichever feels easiest.
By note
Tell us roughly what you are thinking. We come back within a working day, often sooner.
Send a noteBy email
Write to Sian directly, with Vikki copied. Same working-day response, no forms in between.
Email usBy WhatsApp
Quickest if you have a short question. We answer between game drives and meetings, usually within the hour.
Open WhatsAppOne of us will write back.
