We’ve traveled all over the world to explore wildernesses and see animals that we’ve carefully planned on our “book it” list over the years. We’ve followed polar bears on the frozen arctic tundra, pushed into magical oxbow lakes on remote parts of the Amazon River to see flocks of nightjars and pink dolphin swimming, and kayaked with humpback whales only 100 yards away in front of impossibly blue ice floating in the Antarctic southern sea. I never forget what incredible privilege it is to see animals in the wildest and most remote places, but getting to sit with endangered mountain gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest was something beyond seeing animals in their environment. It felt like visiting cousins in their living room.
Kabukojo the silver back leader or the Rushegura Group
What do we know about Mountain Gorillas? World Wildlife Federation (who partner with Natural Habitat Adventures, the conservation tour company we used for this trip) estimates there are about 1000 individuals, approximately half live in the Virunga Mountains shared by the countries of DR Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. The other half live in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. Unlike their relatives, the Lowland Gorillas, Mountain Gorillas are not able to survive in zoos, so conservation breeding programs don’t work.
The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park lands
Habitat preservation and protection from habitat loss from farming and wars, hunting and disease has been a priority for many international conservation organizations and local governments and partners. This work has been successful in seeing a steady stabilization and even some growth of the populations. Seeing babies in the wild feels like a triumph and symbol of hope! But this work is not cheap, part of protecting gorillas came at the very painful and costly relocating of traditional Batwa people who have been marginalized for their short stature and removed from their mountain forest dwelling lifestyle. (for more about this read this book) This book was on the nightstand at our lodge, the Buhoma Lodge.
Development and agricultural pressure is pressing into the habitat of the mountain gorillas, Uganda’s population has doubled in the last 20 years.
Reading this painful history reminds us that there are no easy answers at intersectionality of conservation, politics, economy and human rights. I can’t begin to have the “right” answers, but tried to balance my support of gorilla conservation by paying high prices for gorilla trekking permits with also supporting local missions that support marginalized people of the region. To this end, we hope our visits and ongoing support by ourselves and our conservation travel company, Natural Habitat Adventures to Ride for a Woman and to the Bwindi Community Hospital (which was founded by an American Dr and his family to address health care inequities for the displaced Batwa people) will help balance the sometimes conflicting goals of various stakeholders.
Ride For a Woman founder, Evelyn Hubasa, in one of her workshops, where women sew and weave to better their own lives and that of their families. The NGO was originally started in 2009 to provide bike rentals to tourists and has expanded to provide education and vocational skills and support for women in the Bwinidi area.
Because the monetary cost of hiring and training people (often former hunters) to follow and protect the families of gorillas, as well as people to guide and do the important scientific surveys needed to keep track of gorilla families and conservation efforts, Uganda has built a robust infrastructure to attract tourists. That work not only conserves the gorillas and boosts the local economy, but brings attention and dollars to all the other projects to address the difficult challenges in the community.
(scenes from Ride For A Woman; where we meet the women working on a large design project for a local lodge and we were able to purchase crafts from the women who made them!)
This had been on our “book it” list for a long time, having canceled a gorilla trip to Rwanda with another travel company in 2021 because we feared bringing covid to an endangered species. That risk, along with the risk that if we caught the virus during our travel to Africa, would have resulted in a disappointing, and expensive, cancellation (and quarantine)
Our deck in the canopy at Buhoma Lodge
With extra time to plan, I realized that one of my favorite wildlife conservation travel companies, Natural Habitat Adventures, offered a better chance to see these mountain gorillas in the wild, with not one, but two, treks built into their robust itinerary. I also liked their local partnerships and conservation first ethic. So we booked a trip for 2024; only to cancel that when we had a family emergency. Finally, in May 2025 we arrived in Entebbe, Uganda to embark on an adventure with Nat Hab to see mountain gorillas in the wild (see our trip report about other parts of Uganda here; coming soon)
We made our way to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in chartered bush planes and met our purpose built Range Rovers to transfer to our lodge in Bwindi, Buhoma Lodge.
(Click on any image to expand Photo Credit for far right image, Paul, Nat Hab Expedition Leader)
The next morning we were up early, outfitted with gators and walking sticks, well prepared by our guides to make a trek of unknown length into the Bwindi National Park, often off trail, to join a gorilla family that professional government trackers had followed the day before and relocated in the morning, using radio communication to inform each of the guides where each family group is located. While that’s happening in the forest, tourists are treated to a briefing, dancing by local dance troupes and talks by representatives of local NGOs about the work they are doing for the people of the community.
After gathering in small groups of 5-6 people, an English speaking naturalist guide, and an armed tracker (who provides security from other animals) takes us, usually by vehicle to the easiest “put in” spot along the road closest to where the gorilla family assigned to the group is located.
From there we were met by a group of blue uniformed local porters, who were available to assist tourists from both front and back, up and down the untracked forest, to locate the gorilla family, at over 5000 feet of elevation. Although not required, hiring a local porter (or two!) at about $25 a day each provides nearly a months income for the porter to boost his family’s personal economy. It did feel a bit like a “White Lotus” moment hiring 2 porters to carry our back packs and offer a hand on the muddy, rooted trail for less than the cost of dinner out at home. But I was glad to have the extra hands despite my experience hiking in the muddy, rooty forest, and knowing we were hiring local folks and boosting the whole economy did feel good.
Porters helping me along the steep trail, this particular trek was not something i couldn’t have managed on my own, but it felt good to have the extra hands in case the trek had been more challenging or in case of injury.
Once we were within a few hundred yards of the family (the trackers were radioing the location to the guide) We donned our masks (to protect the gorilla from any human germs) and left all our back packs, walking sticks, any food or drink with our porters, and entered the bush with just our cameras and guide
Our group out on the trek…once we found the group of gorilla, only one guide and the tracker (on the right) would travel with the six of us to see the family. The blue uniformed porters would wait with our bags, snacks and water a bit further away until the hour was up.
The experience of calmly heading into the forest and seeing several gorilla there, in their home, going about their own lives with very little concern about us, was breathtaking. I truly felt like I was visiting a family in their living room. The gorillas were unbothered by us.
Two young females from the Binyindo Group
But we were treated to several of their natural behaviors that delighted us. As we took photos and videos and just soaked up being in their presence. We watched the family relax in sun patches, climb trees to find fruit, groom each other, come down from tree to eat digestion boosting leaves they require. We saw a pair of teenaged sisters wrestling with each other and when their brother/cousin tried to get in it, one of the females gave him a sibling smack back. We watched the young ones practice balancing in the canopy and fall out of a tree, and even saw a mother tugging her baby’s leg as he scampered up a tree away from her. We stayed at a safe, required distance from the gorillas, but they paid no interest in us, and often moved towards us, so that we had to back up to maintain distance.
A young male climbs a tree, not quite big enough for him and he snapped it two and fell to the ground when he reached the top!
The Rushegura Group
Our first day out we walked about 45 minutes to find our assigned family of gorillas, the Rushegura Group, a family of 17 gorillas led by Kabuko, a large silver back. There were several other male and female members of the family, including 3 youngsters, 2 yo, 18 mos and 9 mos old.
Mature males have their back fur turn silver, this is the silver back in the Rushegura Group
Because of the young ones, and the dense forest where we found this family, we had to glimpse around trees, and climb up and down steep hills in the forest to see them.
The Binyindo Group
On our second day, our assigned family, the Binyindo group, led by silver back, Kavuyo, with several adult and juvenile males and females, was only a 10 minute walk up an established trail and just off the trail in a clearing. With the clearing, photography was easier, and the more confident and playful young gorillas seemed unconcerned about us as they wrestled and played together, or maybe they were showing off a bit!
What struck all of us the most was how not so very different the gorilla families are from our own, parents relaxing together, mothers chasing babies, young ones tussling and imitating adult behavior. It was truly magical to be in their presence, obviously with their permission, because they could leave at anytime during our visit, and occasionally the silver back would turn his back on us, as if to say, no more pictures please!
Giving us the silver back!
The two gorilla families we visited were not unlike our own extended family gatherings, tussling teens, weary mothers tending to busy toddlers, patriarchs sitting quietly watching all the goings on, and everyone eating, eating eating!! Being with them for an hour, people peacefully watching gorillas and gorillas peacefully watching humans. It was an experience beyond “watching” and for me spiritual. Being connected for a short time to some of the animals we are most closely related to. When I travel I often marvel at how much more alike the people I meet all over the world are than different from us, and I had that same experience watching a gorilla family for an hour. I wouldn’t want to anthropomorphize any animal, gorilla are still wild animals, but being this close to them reminded me of how closely we related we are to the great apes.
We would be allowed only one hour to visit with the gorilla family and then we’d have to leave them, but in most cases, almost as soon as the guide would give us warning that we only had 5 minutes left, the silver back would silently signal to his family that it was time to move on, and they’d all slip off into the woods, invisible with only the bent branches and matted vegetation as evidence that the’d been there at all.
Photos: J Klofft
Video: K Klofft
To see more photos and video from this adventure…follow our social media, we’ll be doing zoom presentations with Lincoln Sudbury Adult Education on November 11th and 18th (2 part series) and at the Friend Memorial Library on July 17th