Booking gorilla trekking permits in Uganda
Booking gorilla trekking permits in Uganda
Booking gorilla trekking permits in Uganda: A gorilla trekking permit is a legal card or document that is issued by Uganda Wildlife Authority to any visitor above the age of fifteen allowing him or her to visit a habituated gorilla family in Uganda for a period of one hour. Gorilla trekking in Uganda is the most popular activity in that Uganda harbors about 459 mountain gorillas out of the 1063 mountain gorillas in the whole word. Gorilla trekking is an incredible activity where you move into the tropical rainforests in search of the habituated gorillas and once found spend one hour with them in their natural habitat. Mountain gorillas in Uganda are found in two destinations namely Bwindi impenetrable national park and Mgahinga gorilla national park and both destinations are located in southwestern Uganda.
Cost of a gorilla trekking permit in Uganda
Any visitor interested in visiting a habituated gorilla family in either Bwindi impenetrable national park or Mgahinga gorilla national park is required to have a valid gorilla trekking permit which costs $600 per person for foreign non-residents, $500 per person for foreign residents and UGX 250,000 per person for East African citizens. Uganda however increased the price of a gorilla trekking permit by $100 effective 1st July 2020 therefore the foreign non-residents will be paying $700 per person and $600 per person for foreign residents.
How to book a gorilla trekking permit
There are two options of booking a gorilla trekking permit in Uganda where the first option is booking directly through Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) a government body in charge of tourism in Uganda. When booking through UWA, you will contact the head offices in Kampala via email or telephone calls.
Another option of booking a gorilla trekking permit is through a trusted and reliable tour operator like Achieve Global Safari. This is however the best option of booking a gorilla trekking permit in that it saves you all the hustle. When booking through a tour operator you will follow various procedures for example
- You will contact us with the date, month, year and destination where you want to trek the endangered mountain gorillas.
- We will later check for permit availability and when they are available, you will be asked to make a deposit for the permit on our bank account.
- When the deposit has been made, you will be asked to send a scanned copy of your passport which has details including your name, nationality, passport number and date of birth.
- Money transfer takes about 2 to 3 working days and when the money is received we will acquire the permit for you and send a scanned copy of the receipt as confirmation.
Booking through a tour operator is the best option to use because we will not only acquire a gorilla trekking permit for you but also organize for your entire gorilla trekking safari which involves transportation, meals, accommodation, other activities that you wish to participate in while on a safari in Uganda among others.
When to acquire a gorilla trekking permit
Gorilla trekking permits in Uganda should be acquired 3 to 6 months in advance because they are competitive and usually get sold out quickly especially during the peak season in the months of June, July, August, September, December, January and February therefore in order to avoid disappointments at the last minute you are advised to book in advance.
What is included in a gorilla trekking permit?
A gorilla trekking permit in Uganda includes the one hour which is spent with the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat while trekking itself takes about 30 minutes to 7 hours. During the one hour you will be able to learn more about the mountain gorillas, their lifestyle, behaviors, habits, take plenty of photos and record the moments to show people back home after the safari. a gorilla trekking permit in Uganda also includes park entrance in Bwindi impenetrable national park or Mgahinga gorilla national park, services of a park guide, ranger who is well conversant with the trails in the forests, services of gorilla trackers who wake up early to look for the mountain gorillas and after finding them communicate with the park guides and security where by Uganda has tourism police which ensures safety and security of the visitors and trained game rangers.
Uganda gorilla trekking permit cancellation policy
- If cancellation of a gorilla trekking permit is made between 91 days and above to the trekking date, 75% refund will be made by the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
- If cancellation of a gorilla trekking permit is made between 46 to 90 days to the trekking date, 50% refund will be made by the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
- If cancellation of a gorilla trekking permit is made between 9 to 45 days to the trekking date, 25% refund will be made by the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
- If cancellation of a gorilla trekking permit is made between 0 to 8 days to the trekking date, no refund is made by the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
- If you are not feeling well with a certain illness and you do not participate in gorilla trekking, 50% refund will be made by the Uganda Wildlife Authority and this is recommended by a warden in charge.
Bwindi impenetrable national park has about 19 habituated gorilla families which are found in four sectors namely Buhoma sector in the north with 4 gorilla families, Nkuringo sector in the south with 3 gorilla families, Ruhija sector in the east with 4 gorilla families and Rushaga sector in the south with 8 gorilla families which implies that there are about 152 available gorilla trekking permits daily.
Mgahinga gorilla national park is a home of two habituated gorilla families Nyakgezi and Hirwa which means that there are about 16 available gorilla trekking permits daily for visitors who want to trek mountain gorillas in the park.
After acquiring a gorilla trekking permit, you have over 95% of viewing the mountain gorillas in either Bwindi impenetrable national park or Mgahinga gorilla national park. Gorilla trekking in the national parks starts in the morning with a briefing at the park headquarters and allows a maximum of 8 people to trek each habituated gorilla family. after the briefing you will be grouped into 8 people and allocated a gorilla family to trek, grouping of individuals in the park is done according to age, physical fitness, personal preferences among others therefore in case you are not physically fit you are advised to communicate with your driver guide so that they allocate you a gorilla family that is easy to trek.
Trekking of the mountain gorillas starts at around 8:00am with a park guide and takes about 30 minutes to 7 hours depending on the location of the gorillas. Once the gorillas have been found, you will be allowed to spend one hour with them in their natural habitat learning about their behaviors, habits, lifestyle, taking photos and recording the moments.
Book a gorilla trekking permit through Achieve Global Safaris to have incredible and unforgettable gorilla trekking experiences on your safari in Uganda.
