Gorilla Trekking Safaris

Encounters with mountain gorilla families in the Virunga Volcanoes and the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park...

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Overview

Cedarberg-Sanctuary-Gorilla
The rare and elusive Mountain gorillas live in small family groups in the high-altitude cloud forests of equatorial central Africa. They live in only two areas. One is the Virunga Volcanoes which straddle Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The other is the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest  in Uganda. We offer gorilla trekking safaris to both the Virunga and Bwindi rainforests.

Their numbers declined dramatically in the last few decades of the 20th century. This was mainly due to the erosion of their habitat. However, since they have been protected, their numbers have increased by over 40% since 1989. So now there are over 1,000 mountain gorillas roaming wild.

Gorilla Trekking Safaris & Conservation

Gorilla trekking tours, with small numbers of people, play a vital role in this form of wildlife conservation. It allows for a carefully managed and minimally-intrusive encounter between you and a few gorilla families. Ever since the mountain gorilla research of Dian Fossy, the pioneering primatologist, people want to emulate her close encounters with these most charismatic apes. These gorilla family are somewhat habituated to humans, but the encounter is still very carefully regulated.

Gorilla trekking terrain

So the gorilla tracking permit prices are deliberately very high ($1500 in Rwanda and $800 in Uganda). As this vital revenue is what enables environmentalists to preserve the remaining unique montane and bamboo forest. The forest would be destroyed, if not for the gorilla trekking fees and the tourism dollars which go to the local communities. They would be forced to plough up or burn the forests to create more land for subsistence farming.

Why it's worth the price!

Gorilla Trekking Tours in search of Mountain Gorillas

Despite the high fees, people snap up the gorilla tracking permits many months ahead. For the committed world adventurer, devoted photographer or wildlife lover, there is nothing to beat the thrill of an encounter with a male 'silverback' gorilla. An hour passes in a flash but you won't forget your time with them. Perhaps it is the fact that mountain gorillas are notoriously hard to capture on camera? Or the challenging trek to get to them? It all combined to reinforce what an incredible privilege it is!

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"Cedarberg have a detailed knowledge of the country and took time to understand our budget, desires and preferences to create a wonderful multi-centred holiday for us. They were helpful fine-tuning the itinerary and put together a comprehensive package covering all our needs. We have used Cedarberg previously and each holiday has been fabulous. We will have no hesitation using them for our next ..." - Mr Brian Collins UK
Thank you for arranging such an excellent trip!!
"I would like to thank you for arranging such an excellent trip to see the wildflowers in the Cape, and especially for selecting our guide. He was perfect in all respects. He knew where to take us, knew the identities of most of the flowers and plants, and was a font of knowledge about southern Africa. As for the flowers, we couldn’t have picked a better year or a better time, and your ..." - Mr Bell
Winning itinerary!!
"Without ever meeting us, Kate and Tash from Cedarberg Travel & African Safaris created a winning itinerary for my friend and I! The itinerary was well-balanced in its schedule, activity levels and locations. We started in Cape Town with several tours and an excellent tour guide named Tobi. Tobi quickly clicked with us, laughed with us, and answered all of our questions about aspects ..." - Mrs Myers
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"All the arrangements worked perfectly – no hiccups at all. We will certainly use Cedarberg again and will recommend the company to others. We were particularly impressed by the fact that the ground agents met us from every flight and saw us on to the next flight so if anything had gone awry there was someone on hand to help us sort it out. As one gets older that is enormously comforting. " - Ms Sandra Clark, UK
 
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Gloria Darvall

AFRICAN TRAVEL SPECIALIST

Hi I'm Gloria, I'm here to help you plan your ideal holiday experience GET IN TOUCH