Plan a gorilla safari to Uganda, useful tips
The Gorilla Permit
Useful tips on planning a gorilla trekking safari in Uganda. The first item on your list of plans to go on a Gorilla Safari in Uganda, is the Gorilla Permit. Permission is your Gorilla Trekking Pass.
The permit issued by the Ugandan Wildlife Authority allows you to spend between one and four hours with one family of gorillas. It includes two armed ranchers for your safety, a trek guide and team of ranchers to track down the Gorillas in front of you so you are sure to meet the jungle giants.
How much does a gorilla trekking permit cost for Uganda?
Any foreign nonresident over 15 years of age can pursue Uganda’s Gorillas for an authorization price of $700. Foreign residents pay 600 USD and East African citizens 250,000 Uganda shillings (USD). However, with this permit, only one hour is allowed with a selected family of gorillas.
In order to spend more time in their natural environment, you should opt for the habituation permit, which currently costs 1,500 US dollars. The habituation permit provides for at least 4 hours with a family of gorillas. If you are looking for a physical challenge to spend priceless hours in the jungle with a gorilla, then this is the place for you!
Are there any discounted Gorilla permits?
From time to time, the Ugandan Wildlife Authority reduces gorilla licenses at least once a year. For example, from December 2020 to June 2021 UWA reduced the permit for foreigners / residents / EA nationals to $400.00 / $300.00 / 150.000 (UGXs). To benefit from the reduced permits, check with your tour operator for the latest developments.
Where and how can I get a Gorilla Permit for Uganda?
The Uganda wildlife authority, a state arm of nature conservation, is the sole authority authorized to issue licenses on the government’s behalf. You can buy your tickets directly from the UWA office in Kampala.
If you do not want to be involved in the laborious logistics of transferring, cancelling or even processing a permit you should, as an alternative, obtain a permit from a licensed Ugandan tour operator such as Pamoja Tours and Travel.
UWA licensed several local operators, 80% of which sold permits. The remaining 20% is directly sold to tourists. Operators charge around 5-30 per cent of the authorization price for logistics. Taking into account the procedures for processing permits, this is a fair bargain.
How many Gorilla Permits are there in Uganda?
Most of the world’s more than 1,070 mountain gorilla species are wild and beyond human reach. Researchers in Uganda, however, have housed 21 gorilla-families for research and tourism. 19 Gorilla Families are available for Gorilla Trekking and 2 are reserved for Research and Habitat Experience. UWA only allows 8 people to hike one hour a day with a single family of gorillas. Only 4 people will be able to take part in the process of habituation with a single family of wild gorillas.
As a result, the Ugandan Wildlife Authority is issuing 152 Gorilla Trekking Permits and eight Habitat Permits per day throughout the year.
Do I need a visa to go to Uganda?
Most probably, yes! If your country is not a COMESA partner, you will need a Tourist Visa to travel to Uganda for Gorilla Trekking. However, please check with your Consulate for the latest developments in tourist visas for Uganda.
A tourist visa for Uganda costs 50 USD per person and will allow you to enter the country for 60 days. If you are planning on visiting Uganda’s east African neighbors Rwanda or Kenya, we highly recommend an east African visa costing $100 and lasting 60 days from your gorilla-trekking adventures.
Since the presidential decree of June all visas for Uganda are is only via the online portal Visas.Imgration.Go.ug, in order to avoid crowds at the immigration office of the airport. You may not even be on board your flight if you do not have your visa processed on-line.
Getting to Gorilla Parks in Uganda
The Bwindi Gorilla Trekking Area and the Mgahinga Gorilla Trekking Area are about 500 km away from the Entebbe International Airport.
Halfway there is Lake Mburo National Park, which is a small nature reserve in the wilderness that often serves as the buffer for that long, loathsome drive to see gorillas. You can go on an evening hiking safari or game drive in the morning through the park, before continuing the extended drive to the southwest.
Useful tips on planning a gorilla trekking safari in Uganda
Alternatively, take a short local flight to the Kisoro runway in southern Bwindi and to the Kihihi runway in northern Bwindi. Both are about 38 kilometers from the park. With a car transfer of 4 × 4, it takes about 2 hours on the unpaved road from one of the runways to one of the four trail heads at Bwindi, and about an hour to reach Mgahinga.
The destination has more to offer for African safaris, and a Gorilla Safari in Uganda may offer you both the rain forest and savanna plains as a big game experience. Something that other safaris destinations can’t offer.
Is it possible to combine Gorilla Trekking with Wildlife Safari?
After Gorilla Trekking, Uganda offers many activities the most popular being a Safari on one of the Savannah Reserves. Combine Gorilla Trekking with Wildlife Safari in Queen Elizabeth and Lake Mburo National Parks on a Gorilla Safari in Uganda. Queen Elizabeth is located approximately 100 km north of the Bwindi impenetrable forest and approximately 165 km north of Mgahainga.
After the trek to Bwindi most Ugandan Gorilla Safaris head north to the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth national park. You will spend the night and go on a game drive in order to observe the magnificent tree climbing lions. Later, they will travel another 80 km north to the Kazinga Channel, go on a boat trip on the canal, spend the night, and in the morning take a game drive along the Northern Kasenyi Trails in Queen Elisabeth National Park.
Combine gorillas and chimps
At this point, the Gorilla Safari can go chimp hunting in the nearby Kyambura gorge, or head north to see the more exciting Chimpanzee Troops in the famed Kibale national park, about 127 km away.
Kibale is one of the best places to observe chimpanzees in Africa and it is a common final attraction on nearly all gorilla-safari routes in Uganda before they head home to the airport. Other primate routes include Gorillas and also Chimpanzees at Kibale, and then set off.
A few tourists hike gorillas at Mgahinga, stay one more night and hike the next day to the golden monkeys at the same park, or hike to the volcanoes of Mt. Gahinga and also Mt. Sabinyo.
