These families are visited on a daily basis by tourists wishing to visited gorillas. There are similar gorilla rules to each of the gorilla parks in Uganda, Rwanda, Congo with slight variations. A click on any of the above links or below gives details of safaris that are offered by us, that you can do and even more. For those who wish, an extension to Burundi can be arranged from Rwanda, Uganda or Congo. To track gorillas each person must have the day’s gorilla permit which needs to be arranged and paid for in advance. Each gorilla park (Bwindi, Nkuringo, Nshongi and Mgahinga in Uganda, Parc National des Volcans [PNV] in Rwanda and Virungas Gorilla Park Congo) has different numbers of permits per day (Bwindi and Ruhija 32, Nkuringo 8, Nshongi 8, and Mgahinga 8, in Uganda; Parc National des Volcans [PNV] in Rwanda 40, and Virungas Gorilla Park Congo 32 respectively) but these numbers can vary seasonally and periodcally, depending on the number of gorilla groups habituated for visitors, number of gorillas available in a family (some, like in Congo, leave their own family to join another or form their own, as competition for females intensifies!)

Before any tracking can be done, gorillas have to undergo a long process called habituation. It is when the researchers (normally well trained guides and environmental researchers) well versed in gorilla behaviour identify a viable family for habituation, a family must have at least 5 individuals. Habituation involves making the family get used to human presence. Once the family members are used to humans, there is minimal chance of animals charging at you or threatening to charge at you, which can happen when one encounters un-habituated gorilla families in the wild and doesn't know how to behave around gorillas. However habituation does not prevent the silverbacks - the gorilla family heads - from exercising mock charges, but this is rare and when it happens, most visitors will have been briefed in advance of what to do: be peaceful, dive to the ground, and generally show the animal that you are submissive. That way, gorilla tracking has remained a very peaceful activity for all years of our operation.