Day 2 — The trek, then straight back

• Early breakfast, transfer to park headquarters for the 7:30 AM ranger briefing, where you’re grouped with 7 other trekkers and assigned a habituated gorilla family based on fitness and the gorillas’ last known location.
• Trek begins around 8:30 AM. Duration is unpredictable — anywhere from 2 to 6+ hours through dense, steep rainforest, since gorillas move daily and there are no real trails. A porter (~$15–20) is strongly recommended even for fit trekkers.
• Once located, you get exactly one hour with the gorillas, staying 7–10 meters back.
• Tke your packed lunch and then trek back out, then immediately begin the return drive: back through Cyanika and into Kigali, arriving in the evening (roughly 4–6 PM, depending on how long the trek and border took).

Safaris include; 

• Standard gorilla permit
• Private 4×4 safari Land Cruiser
• English speaking driver guide
• Accommodation – midrange (full board)
• Bottled water through the entire trip

Safari cost; 1450 bases on 2pax

Afew important, current details worth knowing before you book:

• Permits must go through a licensed tour operator — as of March 1, 2026, UWA no longer sells directly to individual foreign travelers, and the old 7-day unpaid hold has been scrapped, so full payment is required to lock in a date. Booking 3–6 months ahead is standard for peak season (June–Sept, Dec–Feb); this compressed timeline means booking Rushaga/Nkuringo specifically, since they’re the only realistic sectors for a 2-day window.
• If illness prevents you from trekking, UWA can refund at least 50% of the permit fee with a park warden’s confirmation, and if trekkers search all day without finding the gorillas, UWA refunds at least 75%.
• Because the schedule is so tight, most operators build in a 4:00 AM Kigali departure option to reach Rushaga (the closest sector) same-day, then trek immediately and return that night — worth discussing with your operator if you’d rather not spend a night in Bwindi at all and do it as an ultra-long single day plus a buffer day.

Given how condensed this is, I’d genuinely recommend treating “2 days” as the bare minimum and building in slack — a missed border-crossing window or a long trek can throw off the whole return trip.