I just come back from Rwanda where I was able to visit a band of mountain gorillas. You go with a group of guides who make the whole experience feel very safe. You get really close to them, including the silverbacks who keep play fighting. One of them even slapped me in the back.
When I went in 2014, a silverback passed within a meter of me. My heart rate spiked, but we kept making soft grunts (a bit like clearing your throat) which is the sound the gorillas use to express deference, so the silverback would know we weren’t challenging him. The only reason I got “hurt” is because we were standing in a wide circle around the gorilla family and suddenly a large female high in a tree behind us came crashing down in a hurry and we tried to discreetly open the ring and give her a gap, but I wasn’t moving far enough fast enough and a branch she pushed knocked me on the forehead! It was a fun excursion and the guides were well organized. I recommend it if you can go!
It's an amazing experience to see the mountain gorillas up close. Here is a portrait I took of one of the silverbacks: https://chrismccann.com/uganda#king
We went through the Uganda side, was quite the adventure and hike to get there but was definitely worth it. Happy to share more tips or the company we used if anyone is interested.
We stayed here: Silverback Lodge > https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g319722-d2045553-Re... - and set up our trekking through the hotel. They only allow small groups at a time and limited number of treks (for the gorillas to not be overwhelmed) so its best to just book through the hotel.
A few other things to keep in mind:
- Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is quite far from the main airport. So I'd suggest staying near the airport for the night and leaving the next morning. Although even if you do that you might not get in till pretty late at night, and its really remote so hard to get directions. Try to have whatever hotel you stay at arrange transportation, I wouldn't suggest driving yourself.
- As the name implies - Bwindi "Impenetrable" National Park - the hike can be pretty strenuous. The guide will scout out where the gorillas are before you leave but it depends where they are - can easily be a 3hr+ hike through steep inclines so prepare for that.
- One option you can do is to use a porter, we did just because of how much camera equipment I had. Although even if I didn't have much stuff it was still nice to have stuff.
If anyone else has any specific questions happy to answer them here as well.
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