Gorilla Expeditions Gorilla Expeditions
  • +250 735 08-4672 Tel: +256-774819223
  • info@gorillaexpeditions.com Send us a Message
  • Airport Road. Kigali Rwanda God is Able House
  • Home
  • Gorilla Safaris
    • 1-4 Days Packages
      • 1 Day Uganda Gorilla Tour
      • 2 Days Rwanda Gorilla Trek
      • 3 Days Gorilla Trek Uganda
      • 4 Days Bwindi Gorillas and Lake Mburo
      • 4 Days Gorillas & Golden Monkey Trek
      • 4 Days Primates Expedition Trip
    • 5-10 Days Packages
      • 6 Days Uganda Gorilla Safari
      • Serengeti And Gorilla trek
      • Chimpanzee And Gorilla Habituation
      • 10 Days Uganda Gorilla Safari
      • 12 Days Great Apes of Uganda & Rwanda
    • Last Minute Gorilla Trekking
      • 1 Day Akagera National Park
      • 1 Day Golden Monkey Trekking
      • 1 Day Gorilla Trekking Bwindi
      • 1 Day Bisoke Hike
      • Gorilla Trekking For The Elderly
      • Batwa Cultural Experience
      • Amabere ga Nyina Mwiru
      • Genocide Memorial Sites
      • Gorilla Guardians Village
      • Igongo Cultural Centre
      • Mabamba Swamp
      • Sezibwa Falls
      • The Kabaka’s Palace
  • Rwanda Safaris
    • 1- 4 Days Packages
      • 1 Day Boat Cruise & Cultural
      • 1 Day Gorilla Trekking Rwanda
      • 2 Days Rwanda Gorilla Trek
      • 3 Days Rwanda Gorilla Safari
      • 4 Days Rwanda double Gorilla Safari
      • 4 Days Rwanda Gorilla Trekking Tour
    • 5 – 10 Days Packages
      • 5 Days Rwanda Gorillas Safari
      • Rwenzori and Gorilla Safari
      • Rwanda Primates And Lake Kivu Safari
      • 5 Days Bwindi And Kibale Safari
      • 7 Days Gorillas and Chimpanzee
      • 7 Days Rwanda Gorilla Safari
      • 7 Days Rwanda Safari
      • 8 Days Rwanda Gorilla Tour
      • 8 Days Rwanda Gorilla Safari
      • 9 Days Rwanda Gorilla & wildlife Safari
      • 9 Days Gorilla & Wildlife Tour
    • Useful Links
      • Gorilla Groups of Volcanoes
      • Gorilla Trekking in Volcanoes
    • Rwanda National Park
      • Volcanoes National Park
      • Musanze Caves
  • Congo Safaris
    • 1-4 Safari Packages
      • 2 Days Congo Gorilla Trek
      • 3 Day Congo Gorilla Safari
      • 4 Days Lowland Gorilla Trek
      • 4 Days Congo lowland Gorillas and Lake Kivu.
      • Lowland Gorillas & Idjwi Island
    • 6-10 Days+ Packages
      • 6 Days Congo Gorilla Safari
      • 7 Days Congo Gorilla Safari
    • Useful Links
      • Congo Gorilla Trekking Cost
      • Gorilla Trek in Kahuzi Biega
      • Gorilla Families in Virunga
  • Uganda Safaris
    • 1-4 Days Packages
      • 3 Days Chimpanzee Tracking
      • 3 Days Uganda Gorilla Safari
      • 4 Days Ssese Island Tour
      • 4 Days Double Gorilla Trekking
      • 4 Days Gorilla Trekking
      • 4 Days Honeymoon Tour
    • Uganda Day Trips
      • 1 Day Chimpanzee Trekking Tour
      • 1 Day Mabamba Shoebill Tour
      • Batwa Community Walk
      • Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
      • The Ik Tribe
    • 5-10 Days Packages
      • 5 Days Uganda Safari
      • 5 Days Gorillas & Lake Bunyonyi
      • 5 Days Gorillas & Cultural Safari
      • 5 Days Chimps & Gorillas Tour
      • 7 Days Chimps & Gorilla Trek
      • 7 Days Rwanda Tour
      • 15 Days Uganda Adventure Safari.
    • Quick Links
      • Uganda National Parks
      • Uganda Gorilla Trekking Cost
      • Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi
      • Gorilla Trekking in Mgahinga
  • Multi Country Safaris
    • 5 Days Uganda Rwanda Gorilla Trek
    • 5 Days Gorilla And Golden Monkey Trekking
    • 3 Gorilla Treks
    • Uganda, Rwanda, Congo And Burundi
    • 7 Days Rwanda Uganda Safari
    • 7 Days Rwanda Uganda Safari
    • 8 Days Uganda And Rwanda Safari
    • 8 Days Budget Rwanda Uganda Gorillas & Wildlife Safari
    • 12 Days Rwanda Uganda Double Gorillas & Chimps
    • 12 Days Rwanda Uganda Gorillas, Wildlife & Chimps
  • Blog
  • About US
    • Our Safari vehicles
    • Payment Terms
    • Staff
  • Contact Us

Gorilla Habituation Experience in Uganda

Gorilla Habituation Experience is an exercise aimed at familiarizing humans with gorillas. The process concentrates on quenching the aggressive nature of gorillas for tourists who wish for an encounter. Gorillas are not ready for trekking until they’re fully habituated; this enables a close-up encounter with tourists without any harm from these giants. 

The habituation exercise included primatologists, zoologists, and researchers, together with park rangers. These groups of experts always bump into the thick, misty afro tropical forests and launch a follow-up activity for a newly discovered or splintered wild gorilla family. The follow-up exercise continued for a period of not more than 2 years until these experts realized that the gorillas were ready for trekking. 

When tracking gorillas, trekkers have to go closer to the apes within the limits of 7m. This is a shorter distance in case a silverback charges to attack, but because human presence is sometimes common to them, they may cause no harm to their charges. 

gorilla trekking

gorilla habituation in Bwindi

Why gorilla habituation 

Mountain gorillas are giant apes that can weigh between 120 kg for an adult female and about 200kg for a silverback, and they may have a height of about 6 feet standing upright. The gorillas possess almost all human characteristics, as they are claimed to have a DNA similarity to humans of about 9%. The apes have a lot of human imitations, among which are taking care, emotions, and the way they do all their activities. 

All these features position gorillas as dangerous animals when they activate their aggressiveness. Gorillas, especially silverbacks, are very determined to defend their family members, even up to the edge of death. Their determination makes them threatening creatures to encounter in their wild homes. It makes it very necessary to initiate the habituation exercise, which helps extinguish this kind of aggressiveness. 

During the habituation exercise, researchers take time to study each and every individual in the family. This activity enables rangers to know how each and every family can be approached during trekking. So, you should not trek with fear; all the power points are known by rangers, and there are set trekking etiquette guidelines for each and every family. At the moment of trekking, gorillas are free; actually, they are expecting your visitation. Remember, gorilla trekking is a way of tracing human evolution, which is believed to have happened about 7 million years ago, so just feel at home. 

Gorilla habituation experience 

Gorillas are residents of two major forests, which are extensions of the central African forests aligned within the arrays of the Albertine Rift. These are Virunga Conservation Areas (VCAs). The VCA is further splintered into three parks: Virunga National Park (DR Congo), Volcanoes National Park (Rwanda), and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park (Uganda). And the other destination is Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which is home to half of the world’s mountain gorillas in the wild. 

Unfortunately, all these endemic gorilla homes are open for gorilla habituation. Habitation exercise is open at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which gives guests the feeling of staying all day with the gorillas. 

Gorilla habituation exercise starts earlier, at 6 a.m. With your full day’s pack, join the team of researchers doing habituation. 

Habituation experiences are only available at Rushaga Sector, south of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Guests join a team of rangers, grouped with a limited number of only four trekkers, to do a habituation experience. Then, early at 6 a.m., join the team of researchers and start searching for where the gorilla family under habituation had their night. Finding this family under habituation means you have a full day of following the gorillas. 

The gorilla follow-up is aimed at studying the behaviors of such a family and all the characteristics of each individual in the group. 

For trekkers who feel they can’t complete a full day following the gorillas, they can spend about 4 hours with the gorillas and then return to their starting points or lodge and rest. When going for gorilla habituation, it’s advisable to go with the all-day pack. 

Gorilla habituation is an unbeatable and comparable adventure in the wild. It’s not for the faint-hearted, as it involves trekking through the volcanic tropics, bamboos, valley slopes, and hill hiking until the exercise is done. Remember, you keep following the movements of gorillas, and in a day, gorillas can wander for about 3 kilometers from where they spent their previous night. 

Gorilla habituation experience

Gorilla habituation experience

The cost of a gorilla habituation permit 

Gorilla habitation is limited to only the Rushaga sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The adventure is highly priced; to trek, one must have a habituation permit. The permit costs $1,500 per day. There is only one gorilla family under habituation at Bwindi, and this means only a limited number of four permits are issued to trek gorillas on a given day. 

GORILLA SAFARIS

  • 2 Days Rwanda Gorilla Trekking Tour
  • 3 Days Rwanda Gorilla & Golden Monkeys Trek
  • 4 Days Bwindi Gorillas and Lake Mburo Trek 
  • 4 Days Gorillas & Golden Monkey Trek
  • 6 Days Uganda Chimps & Gorilla Trek
  • 10 Days Uganda Primates & Wildlife Safari

GORILLA SAFARIS

  • 2 Days Rwanda Gorilla Trekking Tour
  • 3 Days Rwanda Gorilla & Golden Monkeys Trek
  • 4 Days Bwindi Gorillas and Lake Mburo Trek 
  • 4 Days Gorillas & Golden Monkey Trek
  • 6 Days Uganda Chimps & Gorilla Trek
  • 10 Days Uganda Primates & Wildlife Safari

UGANDA SAFARIS

  • 3 Days Chimpanzee Trek Kibale
  • 3 Days Gorilla Trekking Safari
  • 4 Days Bwindi Gorillas & Lake Bunyonyi Safari
  • 4 Days Double Uganda Gorilla Safari
  • 5 Days Bwindi Gorillas & Cultural Safari
  • 5 Days Kibale Chimps & Bwindi Gorilla Safari
  • 7 Days Uganda Chimpanzee and Gorilla Safari

MULTI COUNTRY SAFARIS

  • 5 Days (Bwindi & Volcanoes) Gorillas
  • 7 Days Budget Rwanda Uganda Safari
  • 7 Days Budget Rwanda Uganda Safari
  • 8 Days Uganda Rwanda Double Gorilla Tour 
  • 8 Days Budget Rwanda Uganda Gorillas & Wildlife Safari
  • 12 Days Double Gorilla and Chimpanzee Tour

OUR ADDRESS

Gorilla Expeditions.com is Managed by Active African Vacations Limited a Gorilla Trekking Company based in Uganda.

Uganda Office
P.O. Box 25543 Kampala, Uganda
Mobile: +250735084672 /+256-774819223
E-mail: info@gorillaexpeditions.com

Rwanda Office
God is Able House Airport Road.

Copyright 2025 | Gorilla Expeditions.com by Active African Vacations | All Rights Reserved
WhatsApp
Hello Gorilla Expeditions!
Open chat