The gorilla trek in Rwanda costs US$ 1500 for one permit which allows you one hour with a family of mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park. On the other hand, the gorilla habituation experience in Uganda costs $1500 but the experience lasts 4 hours. So why not go to Uganda for the habituation experience and have more time with gorillas? Many travelers who have the 1500 to spend think about these two alternatives, trying to figure out where they would maximize better…
Why the tracking in Rwanda could be a better option than the gorilla habituation in Uganda
The gorilla trekking in Rwanda is worthwhile because you have more than ten habituated gorilla families to select from, depending on the kind of experience you wish to have with the gorillas. Some people like a group with young/juvenile gorillas as they are the most active in the group, others want a group with a baby gorilla while others may want a group that will give them great views of the massive silverback (some gorilla families have many silverbacks but with only one being the dominate). Therefore trekking in Rwanda gives you these many options when selecting the gorilla family to go tracking.
On the other hand, the gorilla habituation experience in Uganda is limited to just one group in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Other gorilla families are not available for the habituation experience, hence you cannot select another group if you have particular interests for a gorilla group.
Other advantages of trekking in Rwanda instead of going to Uganda for the gorilla habituation experience:
- The breathing Virunga mountain range offers great scenery and a beautiful backdrop to the gorilla trekking experience
- Chance of seeing the beautiful golden monkeys in the Virunga mountain
- Shorter drive from Kigali
Why you may instead want to go for the habituation experience in Uganda
The gorilla habituation in Uganda gives you an opportunity to spend more than one hour with the gorillas. The habituation experience is four hours long, however note that it does not mean you are spending all four hours with the gorillas. The four hours include the time you take to track down the gorillas by following clues they left behind from a place they were last seen the previous day. The habituation of gorillas requires collecting of data left on their trail, and you will now be taking part in this important process which you would miss out during the ordinary gorilla trek. If you are lucky to find the gorillas quickly say after one hour, you will spend the rest of the three hours with them.
However, the unfortunate bit can be if you take more than three hours to find the gorillas, that would mean you would be left with just minutes to be with them. This rarely happens though!
But…the gorilla trekking in Uganda is $700, why not go to Uganda and track the gorillas two times ($1400) and save $100?