Properties
Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp
Volcanoes National Park
Uganda
Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp is located in the Bwindi Forest area of western Uganda.
Set on a flat ridge, deep within Bwindi Impenetrable Forest the Camp is a remote and atmospheric mountain sanctuary. The only accommodation located within the national park, the camp boasts an unrivalled location with eight tents that feature queen-sized beds and generous bathtubs that look out onto the forest canopy.
Gorilla Trekking
In the morning, you will wake early for breakfast & then transfer to the park headquarters for your gorilla trek. Hiking through sodden undergrowth up steep footpaths slick with mud to get to the gorillas is very much a part of the experience. You will be tracking through thick forest at heights up to 3,000 metres, traversing steep sided mountains – if the Gorillas are high up it can be arduous and wet.
A standard Gorilla trek is a strenuous hike that can take anywhere from one hour to most of the day.
You must be fit, in good health, and adequately equipped. This is not a technical climb but it can be a scramble/slide/swing up steep inclines. You follow as the gorillas make their way through the forest; giant trees, clinging vines, and undergrowth add to the challenge of swift streams and slippery red mud underfoot. Where the gorillas go, you must follow! The guides carry machetes to help clear a path when the undergrowth gets dense. Each visit is by permit and limited to one hour with the gorillas once you find them. You will be accompanied by a professional gorilla tracker who will coach you on the safety rules and body language required to come close to the gorilla troops.
We recommend staying 2 or 3 nights in Bwindi and doing two gorilla treks.
Gorilla permits are subject to availability and paid for in full at the time of booking.
About This Area
At just 330 square kilometres, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is small, an island of magical forest surrounded on all sides by small-scale agriculture. The area hosts almost half of the world's wild mountain gorillas, with an estimated 400 individuals in 20 troops, of which 9 are habituated to the presence of humans, which means that they can usually be approached without being scared off. The forest is one of the most biologically diverse areas on the planet and has been designated a World Heritage Site for its biological significance. It contains 163 species of trees, 104 different species of ferns, over 1000 flowering plant species, 120 mammal species (of which ten are primates), 348 bird species and more than 220 butterfly species