In Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, we took an hour drive out to the Habinyanja group, followed by a 1 1/2 hour hike up and down hills and through coffee fields to the edge of the forest where we found the group in a ravine full of stinging nettles. At Bwindi, you get exactly one hour with the gorillas before you have to leave, regardless of how long you hiked (hikes range from 20 minutes to 7 hours depending on H-Group's movements). This day was about 80 degrees and had inclines and declines of up to 70 degrees on heavily forested hills. At one point in the video, you can see we are on a ledge with the gorillas less than five feet below us. This was actually really terrifying as my footholds were slipping on the wet underbrush and a 300+lb gorilla was directly below me.
Permits for Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Gorilla Trekking take some planning, we booked ours two years out and were allowed to hike the H and R groups. The H group took 1 1/2 hours to hike and the R group took 20 minutes to hike. It really depends on which day and where the gorillas find food. If the gorillas find an area that has lots of food, they tend to stick around there for a few days. However, another group of trekkers had to wake up at 6 am, drive two hours, and hike around five hours but they were able to book their permit a week before arriving. Our group was lucky though to only have four people trekking, as each group can have up to eight people and hikes at the slowest person's pace.
Another interesting thing is the fact you can hire a porter to carry your camera equipment. I originally thought this would be ridiculous, but after coming to the 3K foot altitude and hiking up and down steep inclines in hot and humid weather, it was well worth it. And it is really cheap to hire a porter and directly supports the community.
TL;DR: We visited the Habinyanja group in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda.
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ID's for the gorillas in this video:
www.pbase.com/cwillis/habinyanja