Mountain Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda
Encountering and photographing mountain gorillas in their natural habitat is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Watching a gorilla family go about their daily lives—feeding, grooming, or playing—offers a rare sense of connection with these gentle giants. Such close encounters not only inspire awe but also deepen appreciation for the groundbreaking work of Dian Fossey, whose research helped shift global perception of gorillas from fearsome creatures (remember Movie: King Kong) to intelligent, social beings worthy of protection. Sharing 98.3% of our DNA, gorillas are among our closest relatives after chimpanzees and bonobos. They live in family groups of five to ten or more, led by a dominant silverback who protects and guides the troop.
Trekking through the Virunga mountains
Strenuous but highly rewarding
Mountain gorilla trekking is one of the most unforgettable wildlife experiences in Africa. You can see these endangered gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Of the three, Rwanda is the most accessible destination for gorilla trekking, though it also has the highest permit fees.
To join a trek, each visitor must purchase a gorilla trekking permit, which is valid for one day. In Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, fewer than 100 permits are available daily, ensuring an intimate experience. Trekkers are divided into small groups of about eight people, and each group is assigned to a gorilla family based on its fitness level.
The hike to reach the gorillas can take two to eight hours, depending on the location of the gorilla family. The journey winds through misty rainforests, bamboo-covered hills, and the rugged Virunga Mountains. While the trek can be strenuous, the moment you stand just a few meters from a mountain gorilla family in their natural habitat is an extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime encounter.
Meeting Segasira’s group
Up close with the wild: an unforgettable hour
For our trek, we were assigned the Segasira family. Segasira is the son of the legendary silverback Titus and a matriarch named Tuck. After years of living under older males, he stepped into leadership in 2022, forming his own group of females, juveniles, and infants. Today, his family is studied and protected by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.
Our journey for our 8-member group began with a guide and a team of porters who helped us with our gear, while a few trackers had set out at dawn to locate the gorillas. Following their directions, we eventually reached the Segasira family.
When we arrived, older members of the group were resting after their morning feeding, while the juveniles were constantly fighting each other playfully. As large herbivores, gorillas spend much of their day foraging, so the pause offered us the perfect chance to observe them closely. We were allowed about an hour with the family—before they rose and began moving again in search of food. There was a tense moment, the Segasira, the silverback, stood up and cut through our group to move forward. For a few seconds, he was staring down at the group — a presence both intimidating and awe-inspiring. That single moment, captured in the photo on the left (shot simply on an iPhone), was the highlight of our entire trip: the silverback calmly sitting down right in front of us, close enough to feel his quiet power.