Where to See Mountain Gorillas in the Wild (Africa)

The Best places where to see mountain gorillas in the wild is in Africa’s tropical forests of Uganda, Rwanda and Congo. Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) is a subspecies of the eastern gorilla found in the tropical forests of East and Central Africa. Mountain gorillas are known not to survive in zoos and therefore can be seen in their natural habitats in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The only way of seeing these gentle giants is by undertaking a Uganda gorilla trekking safaris, gorilla trekking tour Rwanda or Congo gorilla trekking safari.

Gorilla trekking has no specific description but can be described as an activity that involves trekking / walking/ hiking through dense tropical forests in search of gorillas within their natural habitat. The way in which this gorilla safari activity is done, is what gives it the name trekking joined with the species name which is gorilla hence gorilla trekking.

Gorillas that are trekked include the 2 genus of gorilla which are the Eastern gorillas and western gorillas.

The Eastern gorillas are more popularly trekked. They are categorized into two subspecies that are the Eastern lowland gorilla and the mountain gorilla. Mountain gorilla species gains its name from their habitat which is on a high altitude on the mountains that raise to about 2,607 meters above sea level. This is why seeing the mountain gorillas requires hiking up to the hills and hence need for physical fitness.

Best places where to see mountain gorillas in the wild

There are four national parks in these three countries where mountain gorillas survive and can be trekked in the whole of Africa and the best places to trek them are;

• Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is located in southwestern Uganda. The park is part of the Impenetrable Bwindi Forest, and is located along Congo border next to Virunga National Park and on the edge of the western Rift Valley. The jungle forests covers 331 square kilometers and contains both montane and lowland forest and is accessible only on foot.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is home to almost 480 mountain gorillas that is almost half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas. About 19 gorilla families are fully habituated and can be trekked on a Uganda gorilla safari. A minimum age of 15 is allowed to trek mountain gorillas in Bwindi and 8  people trek a single gorilla family.

• Volcanoes National Park

Volcanoes National Park well known as Parc National des Volcans is located on the north-western province of Rwanda in a small town known as Musanze. The park harbors the endangered Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda that are always available for tourists who would love to carry out gorilla tracking tours in Rwanda. Volcanoes National Park borders with Congo’s Virunga National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in south-western Uganda.

Volcanoes National Park has several habituated mountain gorillas and are known to be easier to be trekked than the Bwindi gorilla population. Mountain gorillas of Rwanda are known to move for shorter distances and therefore this makes them easier to trek than those of Bwindi that move for longer distances and make trekking difficult.

• Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is Uganda’s smallest national park and home to mountain gorillas with 1 habituated gorilla family known as the Nyakagezi gorilla group. The park is located in Southwestern Uganda. Tracking the Nyakagezi gorilla group is a mazing with the fact that this group is big and social compared to many other habituated gorilla groups.

The above national parks are the top places where to see mountain gorillas in the wild of Africa. Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo is also home to Mountain gorillas, however,  the park is currently closed following the Nyiragongo eruption of 2024.

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