Booking the gorilla trekking safari in Uganda can only be confirmed when you secure the gorilla permits. You need to have a date when you hope to do the Uganda gorilla trekking tour and the number of people joining you in this safari. Many nature safari lovers have gorilla safaris on there bucket list but sometimes late planning may deny you that chance to be just meters away from the only leftover mountain gorillas in the world.

Select accommodation to use for your gorilla tour in Uganda as these get sold out in advance since there are limited options. You may choose to spend your Uganda gorilla safari nights in High-end, Mid-range or Basic facilities. During the peak Uganda tourism season, the availability of accommodation for the gorilla safaris is limited due to high demand worldwide. The peak tourism season of Uganda is  normally June, July, August, September, December and January.

At Arch Safaris and Tours, we are here to help you plan and book your Uganda gorilla safari to lift off your shoulder the burden of having to plan and do the ground handling which may weigh down on you. Our team of professional and experienced safari team is always at your service to work with you to customize and tailor your gorilla safari itinerary to soot your needs. Contact us for the best gorilla safaris

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Choose transport means to get to the Uganda gorilla safari destinations from road or Air transport. In case your travel time is within the peak season, advance booking is required so as to get the best service providers according to your budget. At Arch safaris and tours, we have a team of professional driver guides with experience of the routes up country. In case we have to outsource we hand pick our driver guides based on knowledge and experience because we understand you wish to get value for money.

Guidelines on how to book Uganda Gorilla Trekking Permit?

Procedure

Select time period for your gorilla safari in Uganda noting that 3 days gorilla safari in Uganda is the least time for a comfortable Uganda gorilla safari. The first day is drive to the gorilla safari destination, second day is gorilla trekking and third day is departure from the Uganda gorilla safari destinations.

When you enquire from us about wishing to do the gorilla tour in Uganda, we also need to know how many people you are travelling with for this adventure. This helps with not moving back and forth with checking gorilla permit availability.

Upon receiving your gorilla safari enquiry, our sales consultant checks availability from the list of Uganda Wildlife Authority. In case availability is positive, the consultant gets back to you as soon as possible. This is because the status of the gorilla permits changes any time without warning as they are sold on first come first served basis. No gorilla permit is reserved without payment because there supply is limited.

We advise clients to purchase the gorilla permits in as soon as they can to avoid losing them to others.

Later avail your personal details for identification purposes that is your nationality, date of birth, full names as these are added to your Uganda gorilla permit card from Uganda wildlife Authority.

Where To Do Gorilla Trekking safari In Uganda?

Uganda gorilla trekking destinations include Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park all located in the southwestern part of Uganda.

Bwindi Impenetrable National park

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is the largest home for the mountain gorillas in Uganda but due to its vast size and various features, the park is subdivided into four areas. The Bwindi areas include Buhoma in the north, Ruhija in the East, Nkuringo and Rushaga in the southern part.

When booking gorilla permits for Bwindi Impenetrable national Park, they are booked according to these four areas. The gorilla trekking families for Bwindi are distributed within these four areas and at the moment about 20 gorilla trekking families are confirmed as residents of this park.

Other than gorilla trekking, you can also do gorilla habituation experience in Bwindi, Bwindi is the prime Uganda birding destination, more than 9 more other primates are residents of Bwindi and other inhabiants.

Mgahinga National Park

Mgahinga National Park covering about 33.7 kilometers is also home to so far one gorilla trekking family called Nyakagezi. In the past, the Nyakagezi gorilla family used to migrate into Rwanda and its gorilla permits were then booked based on availability.

Other than the mountain gorillas, Mgahinga National park hosts golden monkeys a special monkey specie with a body structure that is larger than the normal monkeys. Even though golden monkeys are habituated, they still posses there natural traits as you cannot stay at your feet when you are with them.

An excursion hiking experience on the three volcanoes of Mgahinga National Park is exceptional. Mountaineering on mountain Gahinga, Mountain Sabyinyo and mountain Muhavura is over the top guided tour.

Birding in Mgahinga National Park may give you an opportunity to be encounter Albertine Rift endemics too. some of the birds you may find in Mgahinga forest include Alpine Chat, Malachite Sunbird, Rwenzori Turaco, Montane Nightjar and others.

What is the cost of Gorilla trekking permits for Uganda?

The Uganda gorilla trekking permit currently costs $700 for foreign nonresidents, $600 for foreign residents and 250000shs for East African residents. You need to secure your gorilla trekking permit in advance as they sell out fast and are limited to maximum 8 per gorilla family.

Uganda gorilla permit cost covers

park entrance fees

ranger guide fees

one hour with the mountain gorillas

certificate

security

mountain gorilla conservation

local community support

Exclusions in the cost of gorilla permits include: porter hire, tips, treats, drinking water and others personal expenses.

What accommodation to book for gorilla trekking safari in Uganda?

Although the Uganda gorilla trekking destinations have a variety of accommodation to choose from during the gorilla safari, you need to secure it in advance. Accommodations for Uganda gorilla trekking safaris are categorized into Luxury, mid-range and budget facilities.

When booking accommodation to use during the gorilla safaris in Uganda you need to consider the area of Bwindi where your gorilla permit is booked. Bwindi impenetrable National park is divided into four areas that is Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga and Nkuringo area.

In case you spend the night before the gorilla trek in another area of Bwindi, you have to drive in the dark in order to catch up with briefing before starting the gorilla trek in another area. Along the way, you may encounter obstacles like slippery road surface, mechanical damage, foggy conditions creating poor visibility and others. In case you are faced with such circumstances you may not arrive in time for briefing yet it is avital part on gorilla trekking day.

Failure to attend briefing before heading for the forest to search for the mountain gorillas may end in getting disqualified from gorilla trekking without refunding.

Bwindi accommodations : Rushaga Gorilla safari Lodge, Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge, Engage Lodge, mahogany springs, Silverback Lodge, Gorilla Forest Camp, Ruhija Gorilla Lodge, Broad bill lodge, Buhoma community Bandas, Gorilla Resort, Bwindi Backpacker’s camp

Mgahinga accommodations: Gahinga Volcanoes Loadge, Traveller’s Inn, Kisoro Tourist Hotel, Mgahinga gorilla Triangle

Is Gorilla Trekking In Uganda Difficult?

The trek to find the mountain gorillas is quite strenuous as the Virunga area was generally affected by volcanic action leading to the formation of ridges and plateaus. These highlands are draped by tangled creepers and lie within a thick forest with fully grown natural tree species.

The trails with in Bwindi and Mgahinga forest re soggy and slippery from the regular rains that fall yet less sunlight is let in to the ground. One has to walk through this dense environment to where the mountain gorillas may be spending the day. mountain gorillas love having some time on the slopes of these highlands as high a 2600 meters above sea level.

You need to have some level of fitness before the gorilla trek just in case you have to hike. Bear some level of patience before finding the mountain gorillas because the time of finding them is hard to estimate. Finding the mountain gorillas depends on factors prevailing in the wilderness like feeding area proximity, weather condition of the day, fitness level of fellow tourists and others.

Upon finding the mountain gorillas, only one hour is allowed with them.

Is Gorilla trekking in Uganda safe?

Uganda gorilla trekking is safe as on ground is a team of well trained Uganda Wildlife authority ranger guides to help you through the walk to find the mountain gorillas. They are trained to protect the mountain gorillas, there habitats and visitors in there company. The ranger guides carry some emergency protective gears like a fine machete and rifle and radio call from which they communicate in back up is needed.

On ground are other Uganda security agencies to give extra protection to the Uganda gorilla safari destinations, keep law and order in a round these destinations.

As an individual, safety starts with you so you have to follow the rules of gorilla trekking as presented at briefing. Do not provoke the mountain gorillas because they can also charge. Never enter the gorilla destinations without an escorting ranger guide because you may be attacked by inhabitants that are not habituated to face humans.

How Sure Can I Be To See The Mountain Gorillas During Gorilla Trekking In Uganda?

Be sure to see the mountain gorillas atleast 99% chances because they are first habituated to be infront of humans for atleast one hour for the fully habituated mountain gorillas. In nature mountain gorillas are shy and can easily be agitated that is why time with them is minimized to one hour.

A team of ranger guides also wake up earlier than others to trace where the mountain gorillas may have spent the night and possible day hangout spot. Some of these clues are what rangers use to trace the mountain gorillas while with tourists. The rangers also follow the trails leading where the mountain gorillas were last seen the previous day too.

A gorilla family feeds in a particular are for as long as food is still sufficient for the entire family and can only move when it is exhausted. It is not easy to abandoned the feeding area for the gorilla family on just a short while. This is why the mountain gorillas are sure to be traced by tourists.

Failure to see the mountain gorillas, the Uganda wildlife Authority invokes its refund policy and 75%  of the total gorilla permits cost is given back to the tourist or given another chance to see them the following day.

What is the cost of Uganda gorilla trekking safari?

The cost of the Uganda gorilla trekking safaris is proceeded by the gorilla permit cost. Currently, the Uganda gorilla permit cost is $ 700 per person. The gorilla trekking safari also includes logistics whose prices vary with category you choose that is Luxury, mid-range or basic.

At Arch Safaris and Tours when costing a gorilla trekking safari, we consider the number of days on gorilla safari, number of people traveling with, time of booking the gorilla safari, other Uganda safari activities to combine with gorilla safari and others.

You also have to consider the vehicle hire, gas for the entire gorilla safari, drive guide fee and other expenses.

This is why you need to plan your gorilla trekking safari in advance so that you can put together all the items necessary for this memorable encounter with the mountain gorillas. it is an African safari worthy paying a tension to so that you are not out spotted.

 Even budget for what to pack for the gorilla safari to Uganda inclusive of safari waterproof boots, safari wear in colors that are wilderness friendly, garden gloves, backpack, camera, snacks mention it.

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