CORE EXPERIENCES
Standard Permit — $1,500 Exclusive Experience — $15,000 Behind the Scene Package Uganda Habituation Experience Photography & Film PermitsPOPULAR PARKS
Volcanoes National Park Nyungwe National Park Akagera National Park Bwindi Impenetrable National Park Mgahinga Gorilla National ParkThe Behind the Scene Package is a different product entirely. At $15,000 for a minimum of three visitors over three consecutive days, it takes a private group inside the operational world of mountain gorilla conservation in a way that no other gorilla experience on earth provides.
It includes every element of the Exclusive Experience — private family access, lodge briefing, park headquarters briefing, family selection, flexible timing — and adds direct access to the people who protect these gorillas every day: rangers, researchers, veterinarians, and the anti-poaching teams patrolling the park’s boundary.
WHAT’S INCLUDED, OVER THREE DAYS
WHO IT’S FOR
Built for conservation professionals, serious wildlife photographers on multi-day assignments, documentary film productions who need access to the operational side of the park, and private groups for whom understanding the conservation story is as important as the gorilla encounter itself.
HOW THE THREE DAYS UNFOLD
Your private gorilla trek, exactly as in the Exclusive Experience, followed in the afternoon by a conservation presentation from park management covering population data, health monitoring, and habituation progress.
Time in the field with anti-poaching teams patrolling the park boundary and buffer-zone communities, followed by a session with researchers conducting long-term behavioural studies on the habituated families.
Access to the Gorilla Doctors veterinary team, a visit with former poachers now working within the conservation economy, and complimentary golden monkey trekking or a Musanze Caves excursion to close out the package.
Both products are priced at $15,000 and both include fully private gorilla trekking with no other trekkers assigned to your family. The difference is scope: the Exclusive Mountain Gorilla Experience is built around a single private hour with the gorillas, while the Behind the Scene Package extends that same private trek across three consecutive days and adds direct, guided access to the people and operations behind Rwanda’s conservation success — rangers, researchers, veterinarians, and former poachers turned conservationists. The Behind the Scene Package requires a minimum of three guests, where the Exclusive Experience has no such minimum, reflecting its design as a small-group, multi-day programme rather than a single encounter.
WHY THIS PACKAGE EXISTS
Rwanda’s mountain gorilla population is one of the only great ape populations on earth that has grown, rather than shrunk, over the past three decades — a direct result of tourism revenue funding anti-poaching patrols, veterinary intervention, and community programmes that give buffer-zone villages a genuine economic stake in the forest surviving. The Behind the Scene Package was designed specifically to let visitors see that system operating, not just its result: the rangers walking the boundary daily, the vets who intervene when a gorilla is injured or ill, and the former poachers who now earn a living protecting the same forest they once hunted in. For guests who find the conservation story as compelling as the encounter itself, this package is the only way to access it directly.
Day one’s gorilla trek carries the same physical demands as the standard permit — up to four hours of walking each way across steep volcanic terrain at 2,400–3,000m altitude. Days two and three involve considerably less strenuous walking, mostly along patrol routes and around research and community sites, though a reasonable baseline of fitness makes the full three days more comfortable throughout.
Do all three days involve gorilla trekking?
No — only day one includes a gorilla trek. Days two and three focus on the conservation operations
behind the scenes: anti-poaching work, research, veterinary care, and community engagement.
Why is there a minimum of three guests?
The package involves coordinating access with park management, researchers, veterinary staff, and community
members across three days — a minimum group size makes that coordination viable for RDB to arrange on
a private basis.
Is this suitable for documentary or film
productions?
Yes, and it’s one of the package’s more common uses — though commercial filming still
requires a separate RDB filming permit in addition to the package itself. See our
Photography & Film Permits page for details.
Can children take part in the non-trekking
days?
The gorilla trek itself has a strict minimum age of 15, but the conservation-focused days can sometimes
accommodate younger family members depending on the specific activities involved — tell us your group
composition and we’ll confirm what’s possible.
How far in advance should we book?
Three to six months minimum, given the additional coordination required across park management, research
teams, and veterinary staff beyond what a standard gorilla permit needs. Peak season dates
(June–September, December–February) should be booked even earlier.
Does the package include accommodation?
No — like our other gorilla products, the $15,000 fee covers the three-day programme itself. We build
lodge, private guide, and transport into your overall itinerary quote based on the lodge tier you choose.
Can we split the package across a group with
different interests — some wanting the full conservation programme, others just the gorilla trek?
Not easily — the package is arranged as a coordinated three-day booking with park management, research
staff, and veterinary teams scheduled specifically around your group, so it works best when everyone in the
party is committed to the full three days. Guests who only want the gorilla trek are generally better served
by the standard permit or the Exclusive Experience on its own.
What happens on rainy days?
Volcanoes National Park sees rain in every season, and the programme runs regardless — the anti-poaching
patrols, research sessions, and veterinary briefings continue in the field or under cover as conditions
require, and only the gorilla trek itself would ever be affected by genuinely severe weather, which is rare.
What distinguishes this package from any standard gorilla itinerary is not access to a place but access to people — the rangers who have walked the same patrol routes for years and can point out signs of gorilla movement invisible to a first-time visitor, the veterinarians who know individual gorillas by name and medical history, the researchers whose long-term behavioural data underpins how the entire park is managed, and the former poachers whose personal transition from hunting the forest to protecting it says more about Rwanda’s conservation model than any statistic could. These conversations are unscripted and vary day to day depending on who is available and what is happening in the park at the time, which is precisely what makes the package feel like genuine access rather than a curated tour.
A FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT
Day one’s veterinary team ride-along is where this package’s real difference from standard trekking becomes obvious — you’re not simply observing gorillas from a respectful distance, you’re alongside the people who monitor their health day to day, hearing how individual animals are tracked, what a routine check actually involves, and the genuine logistics behind keeping a wild population healthy. It’s a considerably more clinical, hands-on morning than a typical trekking day, and travellers consistently describe it as reframing everything that follows.
The Ellen DeGeneres Campus visit on day two adds research context to the veterinary work seen the day before — decades of behavioural data, the conservation history that made today’s habituated families possible at all. By day three’s own gorilla trek, guests report experiencing it differently than a first standard trek would feel — genuinely informed rather than simply amazed, understanding not just what they’re watching but why it matters.
This package involves guides beyond a standard trekking ranger — veterinary team staff, research centre educators, and your trekking guide for day three, each bringing a different specialist perspective. This breadth is exactly what distinguishes the package from standard trekking, and our ground team coordinates all three professional relationships directly on your behalf.
The veterinary ride-along and research centre visit require no particular fitness, both largely vehicle and facility-based. Day three’s gorilla trek carries the same variable demands as any standard trek — anywhere from a gentle valley walk to a genuinely strenuous climb, depending on family location that morning. We recommend an honest fitness conversation when booking so we can advise on day three specifically.
TRUST AND LICENSING
This package’s gorilla permit and veterinary/research access are coordinated directly with the Rwanda Development Board and the relevant conservation organisations, never through unofficial resellers. We’re glad to share references from previous package travellers and to walk through our insurance coverage and safety protocols before any deposit is due.
Proof of yellow fever vaccination is required for travellers arriving from at-risk countries, and a travel health consultation four to six weeks ahead is worth scheduling given day three’s trekking demands. Comprehensive travel insurance covering high-altitude trekking is essential, and typically required by lodges as a condition of your stay.
Is the $15,000 minimum-three-guest requirement genuinely
fixed?
Yes — the veterinary and research centre access this package includes requires a minimum group size to
arrange, though we’re glad to discuss options if your group is smaller.
Do we see actual medical procedures during the
veterinary ride-along?
This depends entirely on what’s scheduled that week — we can’t guarantee a specific procedure, though
the ride-along always includes genuine access to the team’s routine monitoring work regardless of what’s on
the calendar.
Is this suitable for travellers specifically
interested in conservation careers?
Yes — this package is popular with students and professionals considering wildlife conservation work,
given the genuine access it provides to the field’s day-to-day realities.
US dollars printed 2009 or later are widely accepted for tipping and incidentals. Beyond your day-three trekking guide, tipping the veterinary team and research centre staff is appreciated but not obligatory — a discretionary amount reflecting the access they’ve provided is a thoughtful gesture rather than an expected cost.
A NOTE FROM OUR GROUND TEAM
We recommend this package specifically to travellers whose interest in gorillas goes beyond a single trekking day — conservation professionals, students, donors to gorilla conservation organisations, and repeat visitors wanting a genuinely different angle on a subject they already care about. First-time trekkers are usually better served starting with a standard permit and considering this package on a future visit.
WHERE TO STAY
Tell us your dates and group size. We respond with a bespoke proposal within 48 hours.
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