Sixteen years on the same trails the gorillas call home.
Trek Rwanda Gorillas is the safari arm of Maranatha Tours & Travel — founded in Kampala in 2009, now guiding travellers into Volcanoes National Park, Bwindi, and Virunga with one purpose: put you face-to-face with mountain gorillas, safely, legally, and in a way that funds their survival.
Built in Kampala, grown across the Virungas.
Maranatha Tours & Travel started as a Kampala-based operator in 2009, running Uganda safaris for a small, loyal circle of travellers. As demand grew for a single operator who could handle gorilla permits across borders — not just within one country's parks — we built Trek Rwanda Gorillas: a dedicated gorilla-trekking arm covering Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park, Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, and Congo's Virunga National Park under one roof.
That cross-border reach is still what sets us apart. Most operators specialise in one country and outsource the rest. We hold direct relationships with the Rwanda Development Board and the Uganda Wildlife Authority, secure permits ourselves rather than through a broker, and design every itinerary — from a single-day trek to a fourteen-day cross-border expedition — around whichever combination of Rwanda, Uganda, and Congo actually suits the traveller in front of us.
Sixteen years in, the team has grown, the destinations have multiplied, and the gorilla population we work alongside has grown too — but the job hasn't changed: get you safely into the forest, and make sure the forest is still there for the next traveller.
Maranatha Tours & Travel
Operating as Trek Rwanda Gorillas for our Rwanda, Uganda & Congo gorilla trekking division.
Offices in Kigali, Rwanda and Kampala, Uganda — dual-base logistics is how we secure permits across two national wildlife authorities without delay.
10+ years of dedicated gorilla safari experience. 5.0★ Travellers' Choice rating on TripAdvisor.
Sixteen years, told in five moves.
Maranatha Tours & Travel founded, Kampala
Started as a general Uganda safari operator, building the local guiding relationships and permit-office experience everything since has been built on.
Bwindi and Mgahinga become the core specialty
Gorilla trekking in Uganda's national parks grows from one offering among many into the reason most travellers came to us.
A second office opens in Kigali, Rwanda
Direct access to the Rwanda Development Board's permit system, allowing us to book Volcanoes National Park treks in-house rather than through a third party.
Congo's Virunga National Park added to the network
Trek Rwanda Gorillas becomes one of the few operators offering all three gorilla-trekking nations — Rwanda, Uganda, and Congo — under a single itinerary.
35+ itineraries, 5.0★ on TripAdvisor
From a 1-day Kigali gorilla day-trip to a 17-day Rwanda–Uganda–Congo expedition with a Nyiragongo lava-lake hike — still run by the same dual-office team.
One team, three countries, no handoffs.
Every itinerary — single-country or combined — is planned and guided by the same team, not passed between local subcontractors at each border.
Volcanoes, Nyungwe & Akagera
Our Kigali office handles Rwanda Development Board permits directly. Volcanoes National Park is 112km from Kigali International — most gorilla treks here run as a clean 2–3 day trip.
Explore Rwanda Safaris →Bwindi, Kibale & Murchison Falls
Where Maranatha Tours began. Uganda's $700 gorilla permit and denser Bwindi terrain make it our strongest value pairing with a Kibale chimpanzee add-on.
Explore Uganda Safaris →Virunga & Nyiragongo
The world's most affordable gorilla permit at $400, paired with the option to hike Nyiragongo's active lava lake — Congo rounds out the itinerary for travellers who want it all.
Explore Congo Tours →What doesn't change, trip to trip.
01 Permits, guaranteed
We handle RDB and UWA permit procurement ourselves. No availability, no charge — a guaranteed permit or a full refund.
02 Fitness-matched treks
Guides assign gorilla families to your group's fitness level, and porters are arranged at the trailhead when a steeper route is ahead.
03 One point of contact
The same team plans, books, and guides your trip — across borders, not handed off between subcontracted local agents.
04 Conservation-linked
A share of every permit funds ranger salaries, veterinary monitoring, and the community programmes around the parks we operate in.
Your trek is how the forest gets funded.
Mountain gorilla conservation is one of the genuine wildlife recovery stories of the past two decades — and permit revenue is the primary reason. Ranger salaries, veterinary monitoring, anti-poaching patrols, and community compensation schemes around Volcanoes National Park and Bwindi are largely funded by the people who come to trek.
Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park is also where this work began: Dian Fossey's research at Karisoke in the 1960s and '70s is the reason a habituated gorilla family exists to visit at all. We support the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund's ongoing research alongside every itinerary we run.
Trackers first, guides second.
Every Trek Rwanda Gorillas guide works alongside Rwanda Development Board and Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers as a matter of routine, not as a special arrangement. That relationship is what lets us brief you accurately before a trek — how a specific gorilla family has been behaving that week, which route trackers used that morning, what pace your group should expect.
It's also why our safety record holds up: an armed ranger escort, an experienced lead guide, and trained trackers accompany every single trek, with a pre-trek briefing on correct behaviour around a habituated family before anyone enters the forest.
Ready to see them yourself?
Tell us how many days you have and which country interests you — Rwanda, Uganda, Congo, or a combination — and we'll build the itinerary around it.