Is it Possible to Track a Gorilla Family Alone

Yes, there’s possibility to track the gorilla family as the only tracker however you will be accompanied by an armed ranger and a knowledgeable guide who will lead you to the habituated gorilla families in the wild for a rewarding safari experience spending an hour with the species.

The possibility of trekking a gorilla family alone is one of the major concerns for travelers who wish to visit the endangered primates in their natural habitats. Over time, some travelers coming for gorilla tours in Africa ask how possible can one trek a gorilla family alone.

With proper planning, you can possibly be allowed to trek a gorilla family alone. Whereas each gorilla family is assigned to a group of eight people per day, you can be allowed to visit the whole family alone if you request for it.

Exclusive private gorilla trekking safari

In other words, a private gorilla trekking will allow you to track a gorilla family alone or with the people you travel with for the gorilla trip in Uganda.

However, this will seem a bit costly in relation to the normal gorilla trekking. The time you spend in the presence of mountain gorillas does not change from one hour to one with the gentle giants on a trek. But most tourists are enjoying it since it allows one to visit the gorilla family alone with no other tourists joining the trek.

And this gives you a great opportunity to fully utilize the one hour you spend with the gorillas. And, this is without any hassle and discomfort. It also gives such a credible moment of interacting with the gorillas while taking photos at your comfort and pace.

In Uganda, the price of the permit is 800USD for all foreign non-residents and 700USD for foreign residents.300,000UGX is for Ugandans and East Africans. Therefore, without an alliterating procedure in planning any gorilla safari tour, purchasing a gorilla permit is very important. Be it for a normal gorilla trek or a private one.

The main difference here is that on a normal gorilla trek, the ranger will allocate you a gorilla family to track. You are with other tourists while tracking the gorillas for the day. Meanwhile, for a private gorilla trek, you visit a whole gorilla family alone. Or, you visit it with friends and family depending on how you want it.

The advantage of private trekking

Private gorilla trekking is undeniably good and enjoyable. Here you have a close encounter with the endangered mountain gorillas with no any disruption from other travelers. More so, private gorilla trekking gives you enough room to take beautiful pictures and capture live videos of gorillas in their family.  However, whereas it’s a private tour, you cannot hike into the jungle alone. The management of respective gorilla national parks assigns you two armed rangers to escort you through the jungle. These rangers have guns not to shoot at wild animals but to scare them away in case of any wild behavior.

How long do spend with gorillas on a private trekking tour?

Whether you do a private trekking or trek along other travelers, the allowed time with these endangered mountain gorillas is strictly an hour counted from the time you meet them.  However, you can spend more than 7 hours roaming in the jungle before reaching where the allocated gorilla family is.  The time to spend searching depends on the location of gorillas and your hiking speed.

In conclusion

You can book for a private gorilla trekking tour directly with the respective government bodies ie Uganda Wildlife Authority in Uganda and Rwanda Development Board in Rwanda. On the other hand, you can book through any trusted travel agent after extensive research about their services.