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Gorilla Trekking Safaris in Uganda, Rwanda and the Republic of Congo.

Expertly planned gorilla trekking safaris across Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo that suit your pace, comfort and expectations.

Mountain Gorilla as seen from Mahogany Springs Lodge Uganda
Julie Roggow, Safari Specialist at Gamewatchers Safaris

See gorillas, chimpanzees & other primates in their natural habitat.

Mountain gorillas, Western lowland gorillas and silverbacks. How many people can say they’ve seen them in the wild, with their own eyes? Now you can.

Add any safari experience to your gorilla trek.

We build custom itineraries all over Africa for our customers. Whatever it is you want, we can make it happen.

Singita Kwitonda Lodge

Luxury accommodation with all-inclusive comfort.

Stay in luxurious lodges and eco-friendly camps with en-suite bathrooms, personalised service, and great food. Relax in peaceful, pristine surroundings before and after your trek.
Virungu Lodge Gorilla Trekking

Gorilla Trek

You’ll be met at the airport with everything taken care, including any internal flights, your gorilla permits, national park fees and hotels. At our core, we run a business model driven by conservation and local community benefit.

Make it a multi-centre trip, no problem.

Julie Roggow, Safari Specialist at Gamewatchers Safaris

See gorillas, chimpanzees & other primates in their natural habitat.

Mountain gorillas, Western lowland gorillas and silverbacks. How many people can say they’ve seen them in the wild, with their own eyes? Now you can.

Add any safari experience to your gorilla trek.

We build custom itineraries all over Africa for our customers. Whatever it is you want, we can make it happen.
Singita Kwitonda Lodge

Luxury accommodation with all-inclusive comfort.

Stay in luxurious lodges and eco-friendly camps with en-suite bathrooms, personalised service, and great food. Relax in peaceful, pristine surroundings before and after your trek.
Virungu Lodge Gorilla Trekking

Safe, effortless travel. Responsible eco-tourism.

You’ll be met at the airport with everything taken care, including any internal flights, your gorilla permits, national park fees and hotels. At our core, we run a business model driven by conservation and local community benefit.
Gamewatchers delivered beyond expectations!
Todd
We also spent 3 nights at the Virunga Lodge near Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda as a base for gorilla and golden monkey trekking, and finished with two nights in Nairobi to see some of the local sights. Virunga Lodge in Rwanda was fabulous and the ideal base of operations for Volcanoes National Park.
Yet another amazing trip thanks to Gamewatchers Safaris
GodBlessMali
Suggested that I do the Gorilla Trek in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park... This was a fantastic experience, and I definitely want to go back again in the near future. The drive from Kigali to the my lodge in Uganda was mindblowing not to mention the trek itself to see those beautiful little creatures.

All-inclusive, custom gorilla trekking safaris across Africa.

If, like us, you’re obsessed with our close primate cousins, you can track them to the ends of Africa with our gorilla walking safaris.

Join us on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, with a guided trek through:

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda
– The Virunga Mountains, in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
Odzala-Kokoua National Park, the deep, isolated rainforests of the Republic of Congo

At every step of the journey, you’ll be accompanied by expert trackers and park rangers, with an extremely high chance of seeing these magnificent creatures up close. After your trek, relax in the luxury of a comfortable forest lodge, eat great food and get a good night’s sleep for tomorrow’s trek.

And if you want to see other types of primates, including chimpanzees, we can accommodate that too.

– Trek Chimpanzees on our Chimpanzee Wilderness Safari, in Gombe Streams National Park, Tanzania, made famous by Jane Goodall in 1960 when she established the area as a chimpanzee research station.
– Visit the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary, in Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya
– Observe chimpanzees & several species of monkey including red colobus, in their natural habitat in the  Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania on our Tanzania Explorer Safari

Meet a gorilla family in their natural habitat, then see the best Africa has to offer.

Most of our customers book a gorilla expedition safari as one of many experiences on a custom multi-destination trip across the Continent with help from our specialists.

If you want a trip dedicated to observing gorillas, chimpanzees and other primates, we can absolutely make that happen. And if you’d like to see other stunning wildlife and scenery, the best Africa has to offer, we can make that happen, too.

We are particularly proud of our stunning Porini Safari Camps with zero mass tourism and no crowds, which are located on private conservancies deep in the Kenyan wilderness, to name one example. There’s no other safari experience that feels so personal and up-close like it on Earth.

From there, we can take you to countless other places involving primates, the Big Five and more, whatever it is you’re interested in, across Eastern, Southern and Central Africa. Simply speak to a specialist today.

Book your dream safari in 5 easy steps:

It really is that easy. You focus on your adventure, we'll take care of the rest.

Book your dream safari with Gamewatchers Safaris

Talk to a Specialist

Our experienced Safari Consultants—based in Nairobi and around the world—are here to guide you every step of the way. From expert advice to seamless planning, we’ll take care of every detail to create a safari that’s perfectly tailored to you.

Get in touch today, and a dedicated Safari Specialist in your time zone will start crafting your personalised safari to Africa.

FAQs — Gorilla Safaris.

Yes, our Gorilla tracking safaris in Uganda, Rwanda and the Republic of Congo are all safe. You will be escorted by armed rangers who guide you through close encounters with habituated gorilla families that view humans as a neutral part of their landscape. For more information, read our Travel Information pages about each country. Please note: The Republic of the Congo (ROC) is not to be mistaken with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). You may have heard a lot about the DRC’s unfortunate political instability in the news; this has no impact on the ROC or on Kamba Africa, with whom we work in this destination.
Yes. We can guarantee that our gorilla trekking safaris are ethical. Responsible gorilla trekking is carefully regulated, with strict viewing rules designed to protect the gorillas, reduce disturbance and support long-term conservation.
Yes, you will need a reasonable level of fitness. Going on a gorilla trek is a bit like walking up a continuous flight of uneven, damp stairs for three to eight hours (depending on how close/quickly your guide locates the gorillas), with tangled vines and shrubs catching and brushing at your clothing, all while wearing a 5-8kg backpack.
If you can comfortably walk five to six miles on hilly terrain at home, or spend an hour and a half on a gym treadmill set to a steep incline, you have the baseline fitness required.
Please note that in most of the locations, you will be dealing with high altitude and extreme heat.
Uganda gorilla safaris are widely considered to have the most physically demanding and consistently longer treks due to the sheer density of the forest and the steepness of the ups and downs. Rwanda’s treks are often (though not always) a bit shorter because the bamboo zone is easier to navigate.
A Rwanda gorilla safari is perfect if you’re short on time. It is the only country where you can land at the international airport, drive just two and a half hours on perfect, modern tarmac roads, and be watching gorillas by the afternoon.
Uganda gorilla safaris are set within the famously dense, ancient Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, deep in the wilderness, and so most of our guests combine their trek with a wider itinerary.
While gorilla safaris in the Republic of Congo offer some of the deepest, most untouched landscapes in all of Africa, here you will be tracking western lowland gorillas in the remote Congo Basin, the world's second-largest rainforest. It's particularly appealing for anyone who wants an untouched National Geographic-style adventure, completely devoid of standard tourist crowds.
While we can't guarantee 100%, missing them is extremely rare. Before you even start your trek, a dedicated team of park rangers will head into the forest and locate them ahead of time.
Once you arrive at a spot where you can observe gorillas, you usually get one hour of viewing time, and must stay at least 10 metres away at all times.
There is a strict universal minimum age limit of 15 years old across Rwanda, Ugandaand the Republic of Congo.
Yes. All of our gorilla safari tours work with carefully selected partners to support conservation, employment, and local communities.
June-September. The ideal peak months are those with the least rainfall. For all three countries, those are the driest months. Though in the Republic of Congo, rain is a constant feature of life, it is still somewhat drier in these months.
Yes, of course. In fact, that’s what most of our customers do. We provide African safari holidays across Eastern, Southern and Central Africa. Most of our customers are drawn to our exclusive Porini camps. After that, our specialists can put together a custom itinerary for you, wherever it is you want to go.
Yes! We can put together a custom itinerary based on your preferences for the ultimate primate safari experience. Our specialists will be able to assist you during the planning process.
Julie Roggow, Safari Specialist at Gamewatchers Safaris

Gorilla Trekking in Uganda & Rwanda by Julie Roggow

Few wildlife experiences compare to coming face-to-face with mountain gorillas in the forests of Uganda and Rwanda. In this guide, Gamewatchers Safari Specialist, Julie Roggow, shares her personal trekking experiences, comparing the landscapes, trekking conditions, logistics, and unforgettable encounters that make gorilla trekking one of Africa’s most rewarding wildlife adventures.

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What Our Clients Say About Us...

What Our Clients Say About Us...

Curating ultimate tailor-made safari experiences for 35 years