What to Wear for Gorilla Trekking: Uganda Packing List

Head to toe

Start with two or three fast-drying long-sleeved shirts, the number recommended for humidity and uphill trekking. On a cold morning wear leggings under your trekking pants and pull your socks over the legging cuffs.

Long quick-dry trousers come next, never shorts. Nettles, thorns and stinging vegetation strip bare skin. Tall socks go over the trouser cuffs, because safari ants cross trails in columns and swarm up a boot into a trouser leg within seconds.

Ankle-high waterproof boots, broken in before the trip, carry you through mud. Gardening gloves protect your hands when you grab vines and nettles on steep sections. A brimmed hat and sunglasses handle sun in clearings, and a waterproof rain jacket rides in the daypack in every season.

Pants

Choose lightweight synthetic trekking trousers that dry fast and brush off mud. Denim and cotton stay wet for hours. A thin pair of leggings worn underneath adds warmth for cold mornings, with socks pulled over the legging cuffs to keep ants out.

Boots

Waterproof ankle-high hiking boots with grippy soles are the one item you cannot improvise. Buy them weeks ahead and walk them in, because a new boot on a steep Bwindi slope ends in blisters. Contact lenses beat glasses that mist up in the humidity, so wear contacts if you have them.

The colour rule

Wear muted greens, browns, greys and khaki. These hide mud, stay cool and keep insects less interested. Avoid camouflage because it is illegal for civilians to wear in many areas.

Avoid animal print because gorillas may become alarmed at seeing what looks like a leopard. Khaki and light colours show tsetse flies less than black and dark blue.

Scent matters too

Leave perfume, cologne and heavily scented lotions at home. Gorillas have an exceptional sense of smell, and strong scents attract mosquitoes and tsetse flies. Pack unscented deodorant and sunscreen.

Leave at home

Shorts expose skin to nettles and safari ants. Cotton jeans hold water all day. Camouflage is illegal for civilians in many areas and animal print can frighten gorillas.

Perfume and scented lotion carry far in humid air and draw insects. New unworn boots cause blisters within the first hour. Keep your phone zipped away during the hour with the gorillas, and remember flash photography is banned.

Women's adjustments

A good sports bra matters on steep, muddy descents. Leggings under trekking trousers add warmth on cold mornings, with socks pulled over the cuffs to block ants. Long hair tied back keeps it out of vines, and a wide-brimmed hat does more work than sunglasses under the canopy.

Contact lenses beat glasses that mist up. Skip jewellery, which catches on vegetation, and pack any spare layers in a dry bag inside the daypack.

Gaiters and gloves

Gaiters seal the gap between boot and trouser cuff, keeping out mud, water and the safari ants that swarm up a boot within seconds. Gardening gloves with a grippy palm cost little and save your hands when you pull yourself up slopes through nettles and vines.

Face masks

Face masks are worn when you reach the gorillas, and you keep a spare in a pocket. Put masks and any spares in a zip-lock bag inside your daypack so they stay dry during the rain. Gorillas share diseases with people, so do not trek at all if you have a cold or other infectious illness.

Daypack contents

A 20 to 30 litre pack with a rain cover is enough. Inside it: the waterproof rain jacket, drinking water, snacks, insect repellent, sunscreen, face masks in a dry bag, wipes, your camera with no flash use, and cash for tips. Bring cash for tipping your guide after the trek, and a light pair of lodge clothes for the evening.

Porters

A porter carries your daypack and often gives a steadying hand on the steep mud. UWA lists the porter fee at UGX 40,000, and a tip on top is welcome. If you would rather not buy and carry boots, gaiters and poles home, note that some lodges and operators supply waterproof ponchos and pants, backpacks, gloves, gaiters, walking sticks and boots on request, so ask your operator before you shop.

Sector by sector

Buhoma, the park headquarters, sits lower and is often the warmest start, so lighter layers work at the briefing. Ruhija is high and cold at dawn, so a fleece earns its place. Rushaga and Nkuringo in the south combine steep slopes with heavy rain, the case for the strongest boots and full gaiters.

Because Bwindi rainfall ranges from 1,400mm to 2,400mm a year by sector and undergrowth stays wet even on dry days, treat the rain jacket as fixed kit everywhere and vary only your layers.

Seasons

In the drier months the same outfit works with a lighter mid layer. In the wet months add a pack cover, a dry bag for masks and electronics, and a spare pair of socks at the lodge. For month-by-month detail, see the best time for gorilla trekking in Uganda.

Buy, rent or skip

Buy your own socks, base layers and trousers, since hygiene and fit make them poor rentals. Boots are the judgment call: buy and break them in if you hike at home, otherwise ask about loaner boots. Gaiters, gloves, ponchos, walking sticks and backpacks are widely supplied on request, as lodges such as Wilderness in Rwanda demonstrate with their loaner list.

Ask your tour operator what is included before you buy anything heavy.

Three lessons from people who went

First, choose waterproof rather than only water-resistant raincoats, after trekkers were blasted by a waterfall in Uganda. Second, tuck everything: leggings under trousers, trousers into socks, socks over the cuffs, because ants need seconds. Third, hire a porter if offered, since many are reformed poachers who rely on trekking income and the UGX 40,000 fee buys both help and goodwill.