Gorilla habituation is the process where the wild mountain gorillas are trained to get used to the human presence of the trekking.  Gorilla Habituation may take between two to three years to be completed and during this time, researchers keep on visiting an identified Wild gorilla group on a daily basis. They get to learn more about individual gorillas and the way they behave. With time, these gorillas get used to these researchers and in the long run, each individual gorilla is given a name. Once researchers are sure that these mountain gorillas can be trekked, they then introduce a mock exercise where some few people who may include scientists, journalists start visiting it. Once such a gorilla family has passed mock exercise, then it is opened for trekking.

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Gorilla habituation experience is only done on a Uganda safari, and the safari experience takes place in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Rushaga and Nkuringo sectors, that is in the southern part of the park and gorilla habituation takes a period of about 2 to 3 years to be complete. Tourists who wish to experience the gorilla habituation spend a period of 4 hours to be in the presence of the mountain gorillas in the environment compared to one hour authorized during gorilla trekking. Gorilla habituation experience costs 1500 USD per person per trek.

Spending four hours with mountain gorillas by booking our gorilla habituation experience safaris is the best experience. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park through Uganda Wildlife Authority introduced mountain gorilla habituation experience to all interested clients which became effective on 1st January 2014. All those interested in the habituation experience pay USD1500.00 per person per experience. According to Uganda Wildlife Authority, two gorilla families have been put aside and dedicated for this experience in Rushaga and Nkuringo regions, in the southern part of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

In this experience, clients spend more time (four hours) with mountain gorillas compared to gorilla trekking experience, which is restricted to only one hour. It is true that normal gorilla trekking can take three-quarters of the day but this involves a trek to and from the gorillas but once spotted the actual time spent with the gorillas for observation and photography is only one hour. However, with the mountain gorilla habituation experience, clients will move with those who habituate gorillas, spend more time, and see how gorillas are habituated to get used to human beings. This experience has attracted more tourists since you spend more time (Four hours) compared to those interested in doing two treks. The other advantage is that those going for this experience should expect to visit semi habituated mountain gorillas which can decide to hide, behave in a manner that is not usual and the experience can be stopped upon advice from the experts and guides. For more information about gorilla habituation experience contact us at Gorilla Sights Safaris.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park has about 21 habituated gorilla families which include Mubare, Habinyanja and Rushegura in the Northern section of the park called Buhoma, then Bitukura, Oruzogo and Kyaguriro in the Eastern Part of Bwindi in Ruhija, Nshonji, Mishaya, Busingye, Bweza, Kahungye in Rushaga and then Nkuringo Gorilla Family all in the south. At the moment, eighty-eight gorilla permits are available for purchase from Uganda Wildlife Authority. Two gorilla families have been put aside for gorilla habituation experience and are located in the Nkuringo and Rushaga side of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. It’s, for this reason, that gorilla habituation safaris can only be done in the southern part of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

How To Book Gorilla Habituation Experience Permits

For one to spend four hours with mountain gorillas in Bwindi impenetrable National Park, that person has to hold a valid gorilla habituation experience permit for Rushaga or Nkuringo. Uganda Wildlife Authority issues gorilla habituation permits out with cash payment on first come first serve basis. Only four people are allowed to spend four hours with mountain gorillas per day. This is because these mountain gorillas for gorilla habituation are not still undergoing habituation and thus human interference must be controlled. To get your gorilla habituation permit, kindly send us an email showing date, month, and year when you wish to come to Uganda for gorilla habituation experience. We will then contact the Uganda Wildlife Authority about the availability of permits. Should we get them, we will then reserve them on their system, send you an invoice to make payment. Once payment is made, we will go ahead and secure your gorilla permits and send you scanned copies for your records. Once we have your permits, we will tailor your safari by suggesting Lodges in Rushaga, Nkuringo or Rubuguri plus your transport to and from the southern part of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.