How to Book a Gorilla Permit, for a successful full gorilla trekking experience, you need to acquire a gorilla permit to track Gorillas in any of the Gorilla parks in both Uganda and Rwanda. Gorilla permits so often sell out so you need to reserve your permit in advance to go gorilla trekking at least 4 months in advance. It is smart to remit payment for your Gorilla permit as soon as possible because it gives us ample time to process your permit and make excellent travel arrangements for you.
To see the Gorillas is guaranteed once you acquire a gorilla permit. Unlike earlier days when it was so tiring to find Gorillas, today it is easy to see and have a wonderful wildlife experience with the Gorillas because the habituated Gorilla families are many in number and have become accustomed to humans. In addition to that, an advance team is sent to identify the location of the Gorillas prior to your trek making it fairly easy to see the Gorillas.
There are more than 1000 Mountain gorillas surviving in the whole world hosted within Uganda, Bwindi forest national park, Mgahinga gorilla national park, volcanoes national park in Rwanda, and Virunga national park in the democratic republic of Congo however with Virunga gorilla tourism is always on and off due to political instability and rebel attacks. The gorilla parks have a different number of gorilla families, How to Book a Gorilla Permit whereas Bwindi forest has over 20 habituated gorilla families, Mgahinga has 2 and volcanoes have 10 habituated gorilla families all open for Gorilla trekking safaris.
Gorilla tracking is a daily activity regardless of the season, come sunshine or rainfall. The seasons are characterized by peak season associated with the dry months of December, January, and February, then June to September. During these months gorilla permits are on-demand and sell out so fast as hot cake, therefore if you are planning for a gorilla trekking safari within those months, it is important to book as early as possible unlike the months of March, April, May October, and November which are known for low turn up of visitors and there is almost full availability of the permits. These months are associated with the low season and rainy periods.
Gorilla permits in Uganda
A gorilla permit is a printed card issued out after payment within 7 days to the tracking date. In Uganda, the Gorilla permits are officially sold by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).
Uganda is the only destination that offers a 3-hour Gorilla Habituation Experience (GHEX). This involves taming the wild gorillas through imitating their behaviors until walking on knuckles until they are accustomed to human presence not to feel threatened. After a successful habituation experience which takes like 3 years, the gorilla family is opened to the general public for Gorilla trekking safaris. This experience costs USD 1500.
The cost of Gorilla tracking permits in Uganda is categorized as follows;
Foreign Non-Residents (FNR) Usd 700 from USD with effect from 1st July 2020.
Foreign Residents (FR): Foreign citizens but residents in the East African Community with valid work permits pay Usd 600
East African Community citizens (Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and South Sudan) pay 250,000 Uganda shillings only.
You can also buy the gorilla permits in Kampala at the Uganda Wildlife Authority headquarters by emailing the reservation office. Alternatively, we process your Gorilla permit at no extra cost. The advantage of booking with a tour operator is because we don’t stop at securing a gorilla permit but also arrange the whole safari experience. Rest assured to successfully secure your Gorilla permit with our team.
Gorilla permits in Rwanda
Gorilla permits for Volcanoes National Park Rwanda are issued by Rwanda Development Board or through a tour operator like Africa Tours Adventure. The permit cost USD 1500 and after payment you are sent a code with which you will use to access the park for gorilla tracking. The other way also to acquire a discounted gorilla permit in Rwanda is if you are spending more than 5 days on safari while visiting other National parks in Rwanda that include Akagera National Park and Nyungwe National park.
Whereas gorilla permits in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo costs US$450 though a tour operator or directly from Virunga National park.
The cost of a gorilla permit is inclusive of the park entry fees, ranger guide fees and also a percentage of the cost goes back to community developments of those around the parks and also improving conservation techniques to improve through gorilla doctors.
Procedures for buying A gorilla permit
Inform us of the travel dates and we will suggest and design an ideal itinerary within the dates and in case there is no availability within, more dates will be suggested for you. Send us detailed information of origin with a scanned copy of your passport or work permit if you are a foreign resident.
We shall then ask to remit payments so that your gorilla permit is secured as soon as possible. Payments can be made through pesapal or bank wire transfer or online credit cards. The advantage of securing a gorilla permit with us is you will get it as soon as the payment is done, and therefore go ahead to arrange for you a memorable tracking experience.
Note: Only eight slots are available for gorilla tracking per gorilla family, you are therefore advised to book as early as possible at least 3-6 months to tracking date to avoid inconveniences, How to Book a Gorilla Permit, also important to note only persons of 16 years and above are allowed to track and buy a gorilla permit.
Cancellation and Reschedule policy of Gorilla permits
Uganda wildlife has a guiding policy for visitors intending to cancel and reschedule their gorilla permits as follows;
- No refund on late cancellation of a gorilla permits less than 7- days to the tracking date however if you wish to reschedule to a future date, you will pay a late re-schedule fee of 30% of the gorilla permit.
- Canceling a gorilla permit from 91 days and above calls for a 75% refund and UWA holds 25% of the gorilla permit fee paid.
- Cancellation from 9 to 45 days to the tracking date, UWA shall refund 75% of the cost of the gorilla permit.
- 75% payment refund will be paid on circumstances where you fail to find the gorillas but, in most cases, you will be given another free chance to try another day.
- The cancellation policy applies to clients who have remitted full payment of gorilla permits and not a 30% deposit.