The van came for us at 5:30am. Our group of seven piled into the van, alternating between giddy and exhausted every few seconds. I had brought a pillow to sleep through the two hour drive in the Ugandan countryside but quickly realized that wasn't possible as we cruised along a dirt road through the mountains. They call it an African massage. I call it why are there no seat belts?! Even if the bumps hadn't kept me wide awake as we meandered along, the views certainly would have. There's nothing quite like driving through the mountains in Uganda, watching the sun come up over the eerie mist. I think I would have found it hard to sleep no matter the time of place, however - we were off to see the gorillas. Those infamous ones.
When I began to plan this trip, I knew right away that some bucket list items were going to have some serious sticker shock. The voyage to Antarctica, the climb up Kilimanjaro and trekking to see the mountain gorillas in the wild were the top three that I flinched at as I handed over my credit cards. I paid them off in full, much in advance, so that I wouldn't have to justify such large expenditures on the road. So, was it worth the time, expense and effort in the end? Let's see..
The Cost of Gorilla Trekking in Uganda
There are approximately 840 mountain gorillas living in the wild left in the world. Mountain gorillas roam in protected parks in only three countries in the world - the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. Due to the instability of the DRC and lack of tourism infrastructure, almost all gorilla trekking is carried out in the other two countries. A permit must be arranged well in advance and the price is steep. At this time, Ugandan permits were quite a bit less expensive than Rwandan ones so we crossed the border to see them. I would hesitate to say they were cheaper because the price is still staggering at around £420 for the permit and guide alone. Factor in transportation costs to the parks plus a small tip for your guide and you're easily spending $700USD for a hike and one hour of quality time with the gorillas. Keeping in mind you have no absolute guarantee of seeing them, that's a lot of money to take on a gamble.
The Gorilla Trek Itself
There's a reason it's not called gorilla walking. I had imagined a peaceful walk into the Ugandan forest until we came across a perfect clearing where we would sit and watch the gorillas frolic for our allotted hour. I think I got these ideas from watching the cartoon version of Tarzan, but it couldn't have been farther from the truth.
Gorillas are nomadic animals and frequently on the move. They are wild animals in the park and free to move as they please. The guides have a general idea of where they will be based on where they were the day before and the guides' excellent tracking abilities, but they do not have GPS trackers on the animals. It is possible to trek fifteen minutes into the jungle and see them but just as equally possible to trek for six hours and never find them. We found them after forty five minutes of intense hiking followed by nearly thirty minutes of crashing through thick jungle brush with a machete.
Keep in mind that you're in the jungle here in Uganda - and mountain jungles at that. We hiked up and down mountain slopes to get to them, and even the most fit of us were huffing and puffing twenty minutes in. Our guide told us that at least once or twice a week someone has to hire an "African helicopter" - a group of ten to twenty African villagers who hike up to someone and then carry them on a stretcher to see the gorillas and then back because their physical abilities weren't up to the challenge.
The jungle isn't for the faint of heart. We were clambering through bush like gorillas ourselves and constantly plucking caterpillars, spiders and safari ants off our clothing and out of each other's hair. One of my group got stung by a wasp. Not a single person managed to remain upright for the entire hike; everyone stumbled down a hill on their backside at some point.
Of course it's not all suffering. We wandered across several chameleons who were subjected to an impromptu photo shoot. The views after hiking to the top of a mountain would've taken my breath away, if I had any breath left. And of course, that moment you first hear the gorillas grunting through the foliage after all that arduous hiking makes all the pain worth it.
Was It Worth It?
I was worried that I might feel the same way about the steep price tag on gorilla trekking that I felt after the Inca Trail; that I would regret spending the money on one day of my life that failed to live up to its potential. I'm happy to say that I'm glad to have been parted from my money on this occasion at least.
I'm not sure I'd say the hike and the hour with the gorillas was worth $700 in itself. That I would have paid about half for. However, the vast majority of your permit money goes toward keeping the gorillas and the habitats protected and ensuring they stay alive for future generations. Seeing programs in place to keep them happy and healthy, programs that would die due to lack of funding otherwise, made me feel my money was well-spent on the experience.
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