The day before your gorilla trek in Uganda is one of the most important days of your trip — and one of the most underutilised. Most travellers treat it as a travel day or a rest day with nothing specific planned. It is better treated as a preparation day: a structured set of activities and choices that significantly improve your chances of a great trek and a great encounter. This guide covers exactly what to do in the 24 hours before you step into the Bwindi briefing point.
Arrive at Your Bwindi Lodge the Day Before
This is the first and most important rule: do not arrive at your Bwindi lodge on the same day as your gorilla trek. The drive from Kampala to Bwindi is 6 to 8 hours. The charter flight is one hour but requires early departure from Entebbe and airport procedures. Arriving tired, potentially motion-sick from a long road journey, and having missed lunch at a decent hour is not the ideal physical and mental state for the preparation you need to do before tomorrow’s trek.
Arrive the day before. Check in, rest for an hour, eat a proper lunch, and use the afternoon to prepare. This single change — arriving a day early — is the most common recommendation we make to clients who ask how to maximise their trek experience. Those who arrive the night before consistently report better trek experiences than those who arrive on trek morning.
Afternoon: Acclimatise and Walk
Bwindi is at altitude. If you have come from sea level, your body needs time to adapt. The adaptation needed for a one-day trek at Bwindi altitude (1,160 to 2,600m depending on sector) is not the same as what you would need for a high-altitude mountaineering expedition, but it is real — effort feels harder, breathing is slightly laboured, and you may notice mild headache. These effects typically lessen significantly after 24 hours at altitude.
In the afternoon before your trek, take a gentle walk of 30 to 60 minutes around the lodge area or on a nearby trail. This acclimatisation walk does two things: it adjusts your body to the altitude without overtaxing it, and it familiarises you with the sensation of walking at elevation, so the next morning’s exertion is not a complete surprise to your cardiovascular system.
Afternoon: Lay Out All Your Trek Gear
Lay out every item you plan to carry on the trek tomorrow. Check each against the packing list. Confirm your boots are properly laced and have been worn enough that you know where the pressure points are. Fill your water bottles and check that your pack is the right weight — heavy enough to carry essentials but light enough not to cause fatigue over a potentially long trek. Pack your snacks.
Charge your camera battery completely. Check that your camera is set to the correct ISO range for low-light conditions (ISO 800 to 3200 will be useful in dense forest). Confirm that your flash is disabled (built-in flash off, external flash left at the lodge). A camera with a dead battery or a locked flash is the most preventable photography failure on gorilla treks. Address it the afternoon before, not at the briefing point.
Dinner: Eat Well, Drink Water, Avoid Alcohol
Eat a full, carbohydrate-rich dinner the night before your trek. You will be burning significant energy tomorrow — you need stored glycogen. Most Bwindi lodges serve excellent Ugandan cuisine with rice, matoke (plantain), beans, stews, and fresh vegetables. Eat whatever you would before a long hiking day at home.
Hydrate aggressively with water in the evening — two to three glasses beyond what you would normally drink. Dehydration is one of the most common causes of difficulty on long gorilla treks, and it begins the night before with insufficient evening hydration. Avoid alcohol entirely. A glass of wine may seem harmless, but even mild alcohol disrupts sleep quality and increases morning dehydration. The altitude amplifies both effects. Leave the beer for the evening after your trek — when celebrating is absolutely warranted.
Evening: Confirm Tomorrow’s Logistics
Before dinner or at dinner, confirm the following with your guide or lodge manager: your wake-up time (typically 5:00 to 5:30 AM), breakfast time (typically 5:30 to 6:00 AM), vehicle departure time for the briefing point (typically 6:30 to 7:00 AM), and your guide’s name. Carry a printed or screenshot copy of your permit — you will present it at the briefing point registration desk.
Sleep: The Most Important Preparation
Sleep as early as you reasonably can. Most gorilla trekkers are awake by 5:30 AM — which means you need to be asleep by 9:30 or 10:00 PM at the latest to get eight hours. The excitement of the next day makes this challenging for many travellers. A reading light, a sleep mask to block any light from the lodge, and the fact that Bwindi lodges are often quiet and dark all help. If you struggle to sleep, do not take sleeping medication — the morning coordination required for the trek is not compatible with sedative residuals. Instead, focus on lying still and resting even if sleep is slow to come.
The day before your trek is one you control entirely. Use it well. Contact us if you want more specific pre-trek preparation advice based on your fitness level and the sector you are trekking in 2027.
