After breakfast you will be taken on a short drive to the park headquarters where you will begin your gorilla trekking experience. This generally takes and entire day and you will return to your camp/lodge in the late afternoon. A late lunch will be provided and the rest of the day is at your leisure. Overnight at Mahogany Springs Lodge
Gorilla Trekking
Well-trained guides lead you to the site where the gorillas were encountered the day before and from there the tracking begins. The gorillas, whose continuous search for food requires a nomadic lifestyle, determine the duration of the hike. The trek can take between one and six hours, sometimes more, at elevations in excess of 7,500 feet and over rough terrain.
Although the hike can be physically demanding, the anticipation of the exciting experience ahead is invigorating, and the beauty of the forest and its inhabitants is fascinating. When the gorillas are encountered, any fatigue is quickly forgotten. Observing a wild gorilla family in its natural habitat and on its terms is considered by many naturalists to be the most profound natural history experience in the world. Few who have had this rare privilege would disagree. It is important to recognize that these gorillas have only recently been habituated to tourists.
Their curiosity is obvious, but they have only begun to grow accustomed to humans. Each strictly-regulated 60-minute visit passes all too quickly, and you depart leaving the gorillas to their fragile existence.
After time with the gorillas, you return to camp with unforgettable memories of a rare and wondrous experience. If the gorilla groups are relatively close, you’ll also have the chance to hike nearby forest trails to obtain a better understanding of the forest and its other inhabitants. These hikes provide the opportunity to observe smaller primate species and regional, endemic birds.
