How Many Days Are Good For Perfect Gorilla Trekking Safari In Africa

Going on a gorilla trekking safari in Africa requires a number of days to enjoy the entire experience. For a perfect African safari experience with the mountain gorillas you may need to take at least 3 days of gorilla trekking in Uganda or 2 days of gorilla trekking in Rwanda.

 The feeling of the gorilla trekking destinations that is Bwindi Impenetrable National park or Mgahinga National park in Uganda is beautiful but you need a number of days. The Rwanda gorilla trekking safari destinations that is Volcanoes National Park has stunning environment similar to the Alps of Switzerland. You need to enjoy the entire feeling right from entering the park.

In Rwanda, although there is a possibility of 1 day gorilla trekking you do not soak into the super beautiful experience that the only mountain gorillas have. Volcanoes National park has other interesting features like golden monkeys, Dian Fossey Trek, other primates, hiking any of the five Virunga mountain ranges that is Sabyinyo, Gahinga, Muhabura, Karisimbi and others.

In Uganda, Bwindi Forest National park is endowed with a number of mountain gorillas creating about 18 gorilla families open for tourism. This park is in a distance of about 530 km from Entebbe Airport, which requires about 8 hours to 9 hours.

 Since gorilla trekking starts as early as 0730hours with briefing, you need to be at the briefing point earlier. This is impossible with gorilla trekking in Uganda. At least you need to drive for one day, do gorilla trekking on another day and depart on another day.

This is because you do not know when gorilla trekking will end depending on the proximity of the mountain gorilla food. They are free animals that keep moving in search of food that will last them the entire day.

 Why You Must Spend More Days Of Gorilla Trekking In Africa

The Distance To Be Travelled To The Mountain Gorilla Parks

Time To Take During The Gorilla Trekking Safari

Number Of Other Activities To Combine with Gorilla trekking

Booking a Gorilla Trekking Permit

The Distance To Be Travelled To The Mountain Gorilla Parks

As mentioned above, gorilla trekking parks in Uganda area about 530 km from Entebbe Airport to Bwindi Impenetrable National park on the road. Mgahinga National park is about 540 km from Entebbe Airport.

 You need to start driving early in the morning because the roads in the countryside are bumpy and slippery at times. This may take a lot of your time on the road lasting approximately 8 hours to 9 hours excluding breaks.

 Even when you fly to either Bwindi Impenetrable National park or Mgahinga National park in Uganda, you land at Kihihi airstrip or Kisoro airstrip respectively yet you need to transfer to the actual parks which takes about 2 hours. It is hard for flights to either parks to land at the airstrips before gorilla trekking briefing.

Overall, you need to calculate a full day of travel to either destinations.

For Rwanda, the rash program of driving to Volcanoes National park from Kigali Airport is risky, as you need to catch up with briefing at ORTPN, which starts as early as 0700hours.

Time To Take During The Gorilla Trekking Safari

When you go gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National park or Bwindi impenetrable National park you are not sure for your return time. Finding the mountain gorillas depends on proximity of there food, the conditions prevailing in the forest like incase one gorilla family fights another wild mountain gorilla family and others

 Locating the mountain gorillas may take between 2 hours to about three quarters of the day

Even the nature of the weather condition of the day contribute to what time you are to locate the mountain gorillas. Sometimes it rains heavily all day long creating cold and misty conditions. This may delay your movement in the forest in case you forget your rainproof gears.

Also the ground gets more slippery because of the nature of the soft volcanic soil. This area has a dense network of rivers that overflow on the ground making movement quite challenging. The ranger guide follow the pace of the slowest trek so the entire group is delayed by trekkers like that.

With such circumstances, you cannot think about booking your return flight on the day when you accomplish your gorilla trekking.

Number Of Other Activities To Combine with Gorilla trekking

Whether trekking gorillas in Uganda or Rwanda, you have chance of combining with other Africa safari activities like game drives, chimpanzee trekking, white water rafting, golden monkeys trekking, birding and others.

With these you need more days of safari in additional to gorilla trekking. Some of the possible itineraries with a combo of gorilla trekking include 5 day gorilla trekking and chimpanzee trekking safari, 6 day gorilla trekking and wildlife Safari, 7 day gorilla trekking, wildlife and chimpanzee trekking tour CHECK MORE

Booking a Gorilla Trekking Permit

Reserving a gorilla trekking permit in advance atleast 90 days to the date of trekking is the best idea but at times you may get excited when you visit Africa and you take on gorilla trekking.

In case you do not have specific date when you wish to do the trek, you may need some days to search for an open date with gorilla permits available especially if you have more people joining you on safari.

The hassle of locating the mountain gorillas is quite challenging especially last minute booking during peak season that is June to October or December to January. The gorilla permits for this season get finished very fast and even when you are wait listed chances of a no-show are scarce.

 In Case you secure the gorilla-tracking permit, then you have another struggle of searching for accommodation. Since the gorilla trekking destinations have limited choices of accommodation, the peak season comes with limited numbers of choices for where to overnight in case of last minute booking.

When Is The Best Time For Booking A Gorilla Trekking Permit

Booking a gorilla trekking permit requires at least 90 days to the date of trek. This is because of the high demand for the permits worldwide. They sell out fast at first come first served basis with a must payment for every permit.

When you book your gorilla permit earlier, chances of paying in instalments are high but you must top up at least 90 days to the date of your trek.

You are required to provide details to fill on your gorilla permit card like the full names on your passport, Nationality, date of birth, passport expiry date and others. These are filled on your certificate of accomplishing your gorilla trek.

How Much Is Gorilla Trekking Safari In Africa

Gorilla trekking has a constant cost of the gorilla trekking permit in Uganda, which its $700 per person, in Rwanda the gorilla permit costs $1500 per person per trek.

 Other amenities you have to include in the cost of gorilla trekking include accommodation, vehicle hire, fuel or gas, other activities and so much more.

The cost of gorilla trekking tours vary according to luxury, midrange and budget packages.

You must carry some cash to purchase any other amenities not included in your package because credit cards are rarely used in Africa. This is because of the lengthy procedure of acquiring money from them.

How To Book A Gorilla Trekking Tour Step By Step

Step One:

Know The date when you wish to do gorilla trekking in Africa

 Step Two

Identify the number of people you wish to do gorilla trekking with and the kind of package you want to take according to Luxury package, Midrange package or Budget Package

Step Three

Send an Enquiry about your gorilla trekking dates identifying the type of accommodations ( Luxury, Midrange, Budget) you wish to use during gorilla trekking safari and other activities to combine with the safari. You may do between 5 day gorilla and chimpanzee trekking, 8 day gorilla trekking, chimpanzee and wildlife safari and Others.

Step Four

Our Safari consultant checks availability of gorilla trekking permits per the date of your trek and number of permits you wish to book for the people you are travelling with. Remember you need to book your permit in advance because they get finished fast because of high demand worldwide.

No one is allowed to see the mountain gorillas without a permit even wait listing you is unreliable because chances of no-show are minimal especially in Peak season.  the Uganda or Rwanda gorilla trekking safari peak season is June to September and December to January.

The Consultant gives you the status per that time when availability was confirmed. This is because it changes any time of the day depending on the demand

Step Five

When our safari consultant gets availability, he or she gets back to you as soon as possible to enable you plan to purchase your permit. When you purchase the gorilla permit, it’s the only confirmation for your interest in taking this adventure.

Step Six

 After purchasing your gorilla permit, we scan your receipt in case you request for it. In uganda, the gorilla trekking card is the permit that includes your details as provided. We normally acquire it towards the start of the gorilla trek.

Step Seven

Atleast 90 days to the date of the gorilla trekking safari, we require you to send us some personal details like your full names as per the passport, nationality, date of birth, passport expiry date and others. These details are fill on the strip behind your gorilla permit card from Uganda wildlife Authority in Uganda only. Rwanda still issues paper gorilla trekking permits.

Step Eight

On the day of gorilla trekking you need to walk to the briefing point with your gears to listen to the dos and donts of gorilla trekking adventure.

Step Nine

The ranger guides divide the entire group into groups of maximum 8 clients. these later follow the guide into the forest searching for the mountain gorillas.

How Difficult Is Gorilla Trekking

Gorilla trekking adventure is exciting but strenuous at times depending on the conditions in the forest. At times the mountain gorillas feed from the slopes especially during severe wet seasons. Even when food if finished in the usual location where the gorillas feed from, the gorilla family needs to move to a new location, which may be in the highlands.

Due to untimely rains that fall any time of the day with less sunlight to penetrate through the dense forest canopy.  Even the rivers overflow to create a boggy surface which is quite slippery and soggy.

The forest area for gorilla trekking has high topography occupied by mountain ranges that is Bisoke mountain, Karisimbi mountain, Gahinga Mountain, Muhavura Mountain, Sabyinyo Mountain and other highlands. This nature of topography makes movement quite hard to and challenging.

Some level of fitness is needed to overcome this challenge. You need to do some simple workouts to stretch your muscles that will take you through the time searching for the mountain gorillas.

What Are The Rules Of Gorilla Trekking In Africa

 No Smoking or eating in 200m while in front of the mountain gorillas

Volunteer to stay behind in case you catch any communicable infection like flue, coronavirus, Ebola and others.

Carry a mask when travelling for gorilla trekking in Africa and wear it while with the mountain gorillas.

Do not spit on the vegetation while in the wilderness. This food for the mountain gorillas.

Keep close to your gorilla trekking party and avoid surrounding the mountain gorillas because they feel ambushed.

Never provoke the mountain gorillas.

Only children aged 15 years and above are allowed to do gorilla trekking. This is because of the unpredictable time that may be spent searching for the mountain gorillas.

Littering the forest is forbidden because this is where food the mountain gorillas is. Altering there nature may reduce on the food chain for all forest dwellers.

Use a flash less camera when taking photos for the gorilla trekking safari.

Ask your ranger guide to dig a hall of about 30 meters for you incase you want to do a long call and cover beyond recognition.

Only one hours is allowed with the mountain gorillas when you locate them

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