Booking Gorilla Trekking Permit In Uganda

Gorilla trekking permits in Uganda are sold at $ 600 per permit and only Uganda Wildlife authority has the permission to issue them. Gorilla tracking permits are sold at first come first serve basis and in some months of the year they get sold out at least 5 months in advance especially the peak seasons when several tourists are traveling to Uganda.

Although there may be an opportunity of obtaining a card on ground in Bwindi Forest national park on the day of tracking gorillas, chances are slim that you will succeed. To avoid the pressure of chasing for a gorilla permit at the last minute, we advise that you secure it in advance.

You must know the sector where you are trekking gorillas in order to find the appropriate accommodation for your trek. This is to avoid getting late for briefing before trekking and driving long distances since Bwindi Forest National Park is a very large forest with different gorilla families positioned at different spots of the park. Indeed gorilla trekking is a memorable African safari as you must have prepared for trekking. You must be fit to manoeuvre the hike that involves hiking up and down the slope of the volcanoes especially in Uganda.

We advise you to book at least a night in Entebbe or Kampala before starting your trip in order to cope with the long drive to Bwindi forest national park and in cased you have booked a flying gorilla safari, to catch up with the early morning flight. Since gorilla trekking starts early in the morning at about 08.30 hrs, it is best not top book a flight to Bwindi forest on the day of trekking gorillas because you will not catch up with briefing.

When you miss your gorilla trek, your gorilla permit is also lost because it’s valid just for one day. You may not be refunded if you do not have a standing reason for missing like sickness which has to be accompanied by the doctors’ report a particular percentage of the entire gorilla trekking permit cost may be reimbursed but may take time to process since it can only be done at the park headquarters in Kampala.

Apart Gorilla trekking, you may opt to do other interesting activities like Batwa cultural walk, Birding, Forest and nature walk, community visit, or extend your safari to Queen Elizabeth National Park for a game drive or launch cruise, Kibale forest National Park for chimpanzee tracking. All these are alternative options you may desire to include in your gorilla trekking safari package. Please note that this can not be done in one day since you have to drive some distance away from Bwindi Impenetrable National park.

The best advise we give is book a gorilla trekking permit in advance to reduce on the rash time when searching for a gorilla permit on ground. This also gives time to relax while waiting for the actual day of tracking. Carry only memories of your gorilla tracking safari as you leave Uganda.