How long does gorilla trekking take? Mountain gorilla trekking is a thrilling primate sport in which people trek through the dense rain-forests in search of a specific gorilla family or group.
Trekking for gorillas also involves finding newly formed gorilla nests as well as looking for fresh gorilla tracks and fecal excrement.
All of this helps you to locate a particular group of gorillas. For more information on gorilla habitats, read about Mountain Gorilla Habitat.
The duration of gorilla trekking depends on a number of factors, including the location where the gorillas spent the previous night and the availability of food for gorillas to feed on.
Other factors that affect the time taken to trek mountain gorillas include the gorilla mating season, trekker fitness, path conditions, and the ability of the group because they adjust to the slowest person in the group while trekking mountain gorillas.
Because of the above-mentioned factors, gorilla trekking can take anywhere from 2 to 7 hours.
In some cases, like for the sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, gorilla trekking can take even longer if the gorilla group has moved deeper into the forest, hence making gorilla trekking a bit more tiresome.
Once a gorilla group has been found, hikers are only permitted to stay with a gorilla group for one hour.
This restriction is part of the Mountain Gorilla Conservation efforts to minimize human impact.
It is recommended that you first train before embarking on a gorilla trekking safari because gorillas live at higher elevations deep in the rain-forests that require hiking.
Some mountain gorilla families live near the park headquarters or lodges within the park where you start your gorilla trekking.
These families tend to be the easiest gorilla families to trek, and it normally takes a few hours to find them compared to other families that live deep in the forest.
On the morning of gorilla trekking, you are briefed and then allocated to a gorilla family or group.
Elderly people and less physically fit people are allocated to trek easier groups while the younger and stronger tourists will be allocated to other families.
However, sometimes even the closest gorilla groups can move very far deep in the forest, and trekking them can also take many hours.
When trekking mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, it is advised to book accommodation in the same sector where you have obtained your permit because booking accommodation and permits in different sectors will cost you more time traveling to the starting point, and you will have to wake up very early in the morning.
In conclusion, the exact time taken to trek mountain gorillas cannot be easily determined, but it depends on the geographical location of the gorilla family and the hiking speed of the group.
