Altitude sickness and gorilla trekking come up together often, since mountain gorillas live in some of the highest terrain in East and Central Africa, between 2,500 and 3,350 meters (8,200 to 11,000 feet) above sea level. The good news is that this elevation isn’t high enough to typically trigger serious altitude sickness, though it will make the trek more tiring than a walk at sea level.
Where Mountain Gorillas Live
Mountain gorillas live in two areas: the Virunga Conservation Area, spanning Rwanda, DR Congo, and Uganda, and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in southwestern Uganda. Of the roughly 1,000 mountain gorillas left in the wild, about 459 live across Uganda’s Bwindi and Mgahinga National Parks, with the remainder spread across Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park and DR Congo’s Virunga National Park.
What to Expect at Altitude
At these elevations, trekkers commonly experience heavier breathing and need more frequent breaks than they would at lower altitude, regardless of age or fitness level. This is normal and expected, not a sign of altitude sickness. Ranger guides are trained to pace each trek to the slowest member of the group, so nobody is rushed and everyone gets a fair chance to reach the gorillas comfortably.
Difficulty varies by park and by which gorilla family you’re assigned, since terrain steepness differs between regions. Some pre-trek physical preparation helps you acclimatize to the steep, rugged slopes and makes the day considerably more manageable.
What a Gorilla Trek Involves
A typical trek day starts around 7:00am with a briefing at park headquarters, where your guide covers the destination, the makeup of the gorilla family you’ve been assigned, and the rules to follow once you find them. Trekking itself usually begins between 7:30 and 8:00am and can last anywhere from 1 to 8 hours, depending on how far the gorillas have moved that day.
The route passes through varied terrain, including bamboo forest, open grassland, swamp, and heath, and can be steep, muddy, and slippery, particularly in the wet season. Once you find the gorilla family, you get one hour to observe them up close: a silverback keeping watch over the group, juveniles playing, and mothers caring for







