How Much is the cost of Uganda Gorilla habituation Experience in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

The cost of gorilla habituation experience in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park starts with the cost of gorilla permit. At the moment, the cost of Uganda gorilla habituation permit is $1500 for foreign nonresidents, $1000 for International residents and 750000shs for East Africans. Request A Quotation

Gorilla habituation experience is an adventure where tourists follow a semi habituated gorilla family and stay with them for four hours. The tourists are in the company of a team of ranger guides and researcher with the best knowledge about the mountain gorillas.

During gorilla habituation experience, tourists have extra time with the mountain gorillas others than the one hour allowed for gorilla trekking.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is currently the only home for gorilla habituation experience with so far four gorilla families open to the public. Booking the gorilla habituation experience permit is the first priority step to take in order to confirm this gorilla safari.

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Other than the cost of the gorilla safari permit, other items to consider when costing the gorilla habituation experience  include number of people travelling with, additional activities to combine with the gorilla safari, number of days on safari and others.

The cost of accommodation to use during gorilla habituation experience is important to note but these are categorized into upscale, mid-range and basic facilities. Since the accommodations of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park are limited, it is best to secure it in advance. During the peak season, options of accommodations to book for the gorilla safari may run out.

How To Book Gorilla Habituation Experience Permit In Uganda

Choose the date you hope to do gorilla habituation experience and the number of people hoping to travel with to ease checking availability. You may also suggest the starting and ending time of the gorilla habituation experience safari and within this time, a date for the gorilla habituation experience can be selected.

Upon receiving an Enquiry with request to do gorilla habituation experience, our safari consultant checks availability from the list of Uganda Wildlife Authority.  Maximum four gorilla habituation experience permits are open to the public per day.

When gorilla permit availability is positive, our consultant gets back to you in the shortest time possible because there status changes anytime without warning. The gorilla habituation permits are limited for conservation reasons and donot increase even during the high season.

It is best to book the gorilla habituation experience permit in advance especially if you hope to travel for this adventure in the peak season booking the gorilla permits atleast 6 months or a year in advance is important.

We advise clients to book their gorilla permits as soon as availability is obtained because there status changes any time without warning. In order to avoid last minute disappointment it is best to secure the gorilla permit in advance.

Forward some personal details including your full names as presented on the passport, nationality, date of birth and others.

When is the best time to book Gorilla Habituation Experience?

Although gorilla habituation experience happens all year, the dry season is most preferred that is June to October or December to January when there is less precipitation in the wild. The mountain gorillas and other forest dwellers walk freely in the wilderness. This gives you chance to easily spot them.

Demand for gorilla permits in Uganda is high in the peak season yet supply is restricted to maximum four gorilla permits per gorilla family. At the moment, only four gorilla families are open to the public for gorilla habituation experience.

How Long is Gorilla habituation Experience in Uganda?

Gorilla habituation experience starts early morning with briefing and follow the trails leading where they may be spending the day. Upon starting the gorilla tour, the ranger guide follows the trail where the mountain gorillas were last seen the previous day. Even the clues leading to the mountain gorillas provided by early risers are used to locate the mountain Gorillas.

 Finding the mountain gorillas during gorilla habituation experience depends on factors happening in the wilderness. Some of the factors that may determine when to find the mountain gorillas include location of there feeding point, the weather prevailing in the forest, pace of fellow tourists and others.

All tourists are requested to have some patience before locating the mountain gorillas. In order to avoid boredom, look out for other charming forest dwellers like the black and white colobus, vervet monkeys, blue monkeys, olive baboons, grey cheeked mangabey and others. A number of birds spend there day in Bwindi forest.

When finally you locate the mountain gorillas, four hours are allowed with the mountain gorillas. This is because these semi habituated gorilla families are not yet ready for public viewing and can still display some odd behaviors.

Are These Mountain Gorillas Dangerous?

The mountain gorillas under habituation experience may be semi habituated but not dangerous. In nature mountain gorillas are calm and shy primates although on the outside they look intimidating and scaring because of there dark furred bodies  with deep brown sunken eyes.

When in the company of the mountain gorillas, you realise how vulnerable these primates are from the way they cling to each other for company and interaction. This however doesn’t mean that the mountain gorillas don’t charge when provoked.

Try not to attempt the mountain gorillas because they can easily run into hiding in case they are agitated with visitors in there presence.

 How Sure Can I Be To See The Mountain Gorillas During Gorilla Habituation Experience

Seeing the mountain gorillas during gorilla habituation process has about 98% chances of spotting these primates. These mountain gorillas are first habituated a process that gets them used to human presence without altering there nature.

Early morning, a team of ranger guides follows the mountain gorillas to establish where they may have spent the night or where they may be heading too. Some of the clues that rangers follow when leading tourists to the mountain gorillas. This is to reduce on the time taken during the gorilla habituation tour.

Rules of gorilla habituation experience are passed to the tourists before the gorilla habituation experience and all are recommended to be religiously followed.

As tourists, you are advised to help search for the clues leading to where the mountain gorillas may be spending there day. Some of the clues leading to the mountain gorillas may be freshly dumped dung, footprints, freshly chewed on foliage and others. These help trace for the way about of the mountain gorillas.

Is Gorilla Habituation Experience Challenging?

Yes, gorilla habituation experience is challenging however, when you finally get closer to these primates, you may forget what you may have gone through. The topography of Bwindi forest was affected by volcanic action that lead to the formation of numerous landforms that are draped by thick over grown vegetation.

Sometimes the mountain gorillas spend there day on the slopes of these plateaus and ridges so tourists have to hike. In case the mountain gorillas decide to have sometime off the ground you need to hike. Having some level of patience and level of fitness during gorilla habituation experience is needed.

During the severe rainy season, the slopes of most highlands may get slippery and soggy so tourists are recommended to follow religiously.

The ranger guides with a machete uses it to trim the path leading where the mountain gorillas may be spending there time.

Is Gorilla habituation Experience Safe?

Gorilla Habituation experience is safe as these mountain gorillas are under the protection of well trained ranger guides of Uganda Wildlife Authority. These ranger guides are trained to protect the mountain gorillas, other forest dwellers, the forest and visitors.

When walking in the forest, wearing the right gorilla safari gears is important like safari boots, convertible trousers, insect repellant and others. Try to stay closer to the rest of the tourists so that you are not forgotten in the wilderness.

Other Uganda safari security agencies are on ground to keep law and order in and around the gorilla habituation destination which is Bwindi Forest.

As a tourists, personal security is important to protect yourself from the dangers in the wilderness. Never walk in the forest without an escorting ranger guide because you may face other forest dwellers that are not habituated to human presence.

You may get lost in the forest which is vast and yet harbors some unfriendly occupants that may pounce on you if you are alone without any defense weapons.

Is Gorilla Habituation Experience In Uganda Worth The Cost?

Gorilla habituation experience is worth the money as you get the opportunity to share the same close space with the only leftover mountain gorillas in the world. On the outside, mountain gorillas are portrayed as aggressive but gorilla habituation experience gives ample time to sink into the life of these primates.

Bwindi forest is a biosphere reserve that can be traversed on foot this gives you the chance to test your level of fitness too especially if you have to hike in order to locate the mountain gorillas.

Conserving the mountain gorillas is number one priority so when you purchase the gorilla permit, a portion of it is used for mountain gorilla conservation support.

In case you wish to give back to the local community, hiring a porter to carry your gorilla habituation gears is one of the direct ways to give back to the local community.  Even a portion of the annual proceeds collected from gorilla safari activities is given to the local community to support there projects.

Can Children do Gorilla Habituation Experience?

Children aged 12 years and over are the only ones allowed to visit the mountain gorillas. This is because of the nature of the topography of Bwindi forest which was affected by volcanic action that led to the formation of highlands like plateaus and ridges.

The way to the mountain gorillas is challenging because of the highlands and valleys which may be hard for a child below 12 year to perceiver.

At a glance, the mountain gorillas are scaring because of there dark furred bodies which may scare the children and cause them to scream. Mountain gorillas are quickly angered by unfamiliar noise there presence.

What Are The Rules Of Gorilla Habituation Experience?

Mimicking or provoking the mountain gorillas is forbidden because you may not know what you are communicating.

No making noise while trekking to find either the mountain gorillas because this makes them feel attacked.

Volunteer top stay behind in case you have a communicable infection like flu, cough, covid-19 and others.

While walking in the forest, try not to dump garbage in the forest because this alters the nature of the forest where these primates thrive.

When with the mountain gorillas keep a distance of about 7 meters from them to prevent chances of spreading any infection to these highly susceptible primates.

Never enter the forest without an escorting ranger guide as you may encounter animals that may hurt you or get lost in the wilderness.

In case you wish to have along call, request from the ranger guide to dig a hole for you atleast 30 centimeters deep.

Donot the torch the mountain gorillas although they may try to reach out to touch your hair or belongings out of curiosity.

Feeding the mountain gorillas is forbidden because they are wild animals that must search for there own food.

Spitting on vegetation is forbidden as this may pass germs to the mountain gorillas

The Uganda gorilla habituation age limit is 12 years and over. This is because people of these ages may be in position to withstand tough conditions in the jungle unlike those below.

Only four hours are allowed with the semi habituated mountain gorillas for conservation reasons. These mountain gorillas need to carry on with there day today lives. They have to feed on enough to support there huge bodies through the day and night.

When taking photos, flash photography is not accepted because this may scare the mountain gorillas.

When planning the gorilla habituation experience safari in Uganda, ensure you have the permits first as this is the entry ticket for this adventure.

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