Best price for Bwindi and Mgahinga gorilla permits

The best price for Bwindi and Mgahinga National Park gorilla permits is currently $800 for foreign nonresidents on gorilla trekking safari, $700 for foreign residents on gorilla trekking tour, and 300000shs for East Africans. At the moment, the gorilla habituation permit cost is $1500 for foreign nonresidents, $1000 for foreign residents, and 750,000 for East Africans.

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You can do gorilla trekking tour in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park and currently about 21 gorilla trekking families in Bwindi and one gorilla family in Mgahinga are open to this adventure. For gorilla habituation experience, 2 gorilla habituation permits are currently open in the southern sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. More Uganda gorilla families may be added to the current ones as the habituation process is still going on.

You can buy the gorilla permits for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga National Park directly from Uganda Wildlife Authority or through a tour operator. At Encounter Africa Safaris, we help our clients book gorilla permits and other related safari logistics. Our aim is to give you comfort and help you make unforgettable gorilla safaris.

Before booking the gorilla permit, you must have a date when you wish to enjoy the gorilla safari adventure. Identify the eligible people joining you on the gorilla safari to ease gorilla permit availability search so as not to move back and forth.

How to Book Gorilla Permits For Bwindi Impenetrable National and Mgahinga National Park

Booking gorilla permits for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park starts with having a date or safari period. To book the gorilla permits in Uganda, you need to know the number of people you hope to travel with before checking for availability.

When you contact us at Encounter Africa Safaris about your gorilla safari, our safari sales personnel check availability from the Uganda Wildlife Authority list. As soon as we find gorilla permit availability, we get back to you. We advise clients to purchase their gorilla permits quickly because their status changes anytime without warning. 

No gorilla permit is reserved without payment and secured on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Later, forward your passport details, that is, your full name as presented on the passport, date of birth, nationality, and passport expiry date.

What is included in the gorilla permit cost for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park?

The gorilla trekking and habituation experience permit covers park entrance fees, four hours of gorilla habituation experience or one hour of gorilla trekking, mountain gorilla conservation, security, a certificate after the gorilla tour, local community support, and government tax.

Exclusions in the cost of gorilla permits include tips, transport, accommodations, and other personal expenses.

Is the price of the gorilla permit worth the money?

The price of the Bwindi and Mgahinga gorilla permits is worth every penny as you get an opportunity to be up close with the only leftover mountain gorillas in the world. The gorilla safari adventure is a once in a lifetime experience only felt by maximum 8 people per day per gorilla family.

Purchasing the gorilla permit contributes to the mountain gorilla conservation fund. Mountain gorillas were at the rim of extinction by the 1980s, as per the census carried out by American primatologist Dian Fossey. At the moment, over 1000 mountain gorillas are currently living in the world, and all this is awed to the dedicated conservation team and more funding from ventures like selling gorilla permits.

Hiring a porter during the gorilla safari in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park is one of the direct ways to give back to the local community. A porter is a person who assists you in carrying your gorilla safari gear while you trek to find the mountain gorillas. Porters charge an affordable fee that helps them run their day to day affairs.

A portion of the annual earnings from gorilla permit sales is given to the community to support their projects. It also compensates for the times the mountain gorillas stray into the surrounding community.

Can I Buy the Uganda Gorilla Permits in installments?

You can buy the gorilla permits for Mgahinga National Park and Bwindi National Park in Installments of 30% and 70%, respectively. To qualify for this, you need to buy the gorilla permits 90 days before the gorilla safari day and remember to top up before the 90-day gorilla safari day.

Failure to honor the top update may call for a penalty, which includes re-opening the gorilla permit to public booking. Expect no refund on the deposit.

In order to remember to top up the gorilla permits, you need to pay for them in full.

When Is The Best Time To Book The Gorilla Permit For Bwindi Impenetrable National Park And Mgahinga National Park?

Booking the gorilla permits for Mgahinga National Park and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is best at least 6 months to a year in advance. During the peak season that is June, July, August, September, December, and January, demand for gorilla permits is high, and the majority sell out before this season. Finding gorilla safari permits at the last minute of the peak season is hard.

Each day, a maximum of 8 gorilla trekking permits and 4 gorilla habituation experience permits from each gorilla family are open to public viewing. 

Logistics availability to accompany the gorilla safari during the peak season also runs low, like accommodations, vehicle hire, driver guides, and others. There are so many tourists yarning to have a moment with the only leftover mountain gorillas in the world.

The low season, which is March, April, May, and November, normally comes with chances of finding availability even at the last minute, but there is only a guarantee sometimes. There is less demand for the gorilla permits.

What are the dos and don’ts of gorilla safaris in Uganda?

• Keep a distance of about 8 meters from the mountain gorillas when you locate them. This is to prevent chances of passing an infection to these primates, as they are highly susceptible to communicable diseases like flu, cough, COVID-19, and others.
• In case you are sick with a communicable infection, volunteer to stay behind so as not to pass it to the endangered mountain gorillas.
• If you want to eat or drink while before the mountain gorillas, do it in atleast 300 meters away from them. They are wild animals that must search for their own food.
• The age limit for gorilla safari is 15 years, and beyond this age, it was reduced from 15 years and over to give more children more chances to see the mountain gorillas. This is because the way to locate the mountain gorillas has rugged topography which requires you to hike sometimes in order to find the mountain gorillas.
• Only go into the forest with an escorting ranger guide. Although the mountain gorillas are fully habituated to human presence, some forest dwellers are not and may be dangerous to you alone.
• When you need to defecate, ask the ranger guide to dig a hole for you at least 30 centimeters deep and cover well beyond recognition.
• Try to stay in a tight group when with the mountain gorillas because surrounding them may cause them to feel ambushed.
• Please don’t attempt to provoke the mountain gorillas because they are wild animals that even though habituated to human presence. They still possess wild behaviors. 
• When taking photos, do it with a flash-less camera in order not to scare the mountain gorillas, they are often scared by unfamiliar occurrences in there presence.
• When tracking the mountain gorillas, keep your voice low so as not to scare them and other forest dwellers, which may be interesting to add to your wildlife photo collection.
• Never dump garbage in the wilderness, as this alters the nature of the forest where mountain gorillas live.

What is the Age Limit For Gorilla safaris in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park?

15 years and beyond is the age limit for Gorilla safaris in Uganda. The age limit was initially 15 years and over, but in a bead to give more children a chance to see the mountain gorillas, it was lowered to 15 years and over.

The adventure of gorilla trekking or habitation experience includes walking in the jungle, which is rough sometimes. You walk through soggy surfaces and slippery slopes, encounter irritating foliage, and so much more. Children below 15 years are not in positions to withstand such discomfort. Besides, the time of finding the mountain gorillas is still being determined, which requires patience and may be hard for children below 15 years old.

How long is the Gorilla safari in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park?

The time you take on gorilla trekking or gorilla habituation experience is still being determined as it is dependent on the factors prevailing in the wilderness. Sometimes, the mountain gorillas may hold territorial fights, some gorilla families are adventurous, the location of the feeding point of the mountain gorillas, the death of a family member, and other factors. Even the pace of fellow tourists contributes to the time of finding the mountain gorillas.

It would help if you had some level of patience during the gorilla safari, too, as panicking may push the mountain gorillas into the deeper ends of the forest in case they get frightened.

Upon finding the mountain gorillas, only one hour of gorilla trekking or four hours of gorilla habituation is allowed with them. This is for conservation reasons as the mountain gorillas need to be given time to continue running their daily activities like feeding, lounging, grooming, combing each others’ fur, and other activities. The longer humans stay with the mountain gorillas, you may cause them to get stressed, which is against the conservation rules.

 As you get away from meeting the mountain gorillas, stealthily get away from the mountain gorillas so that you do not appear suspicious before the mountain gorillas.

How sure can I be to see the mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park? 

Chances of seeing the mountain gorillas are 98% as these primates are habituated to be in the presence of humans first, which helps them to amicably stay with humans for the time allowed with them. Mountain gorillas are bulky in size; a fully grown male mountain gorilla weighs about 300 kilograms, and a female has about half this weight.

Each day, a team of ranger guides wakes up early to monitor where the mountain gorillas may have had the night and possible hangout spots for the day. These clues are what ranger guides use to follow the way about of mountain gorillas so that tourists take only a short time in the wilderness.

Besides, after briefing, the ranger guides follow the trail leading to where the mountain gorillas were last seen the previous day. The mountain gorillas rarely move very far from where they spent their previous day.

Tourists are requested to participate in the search for the mountain gorillas by looking out for clues like fresh dung, freshly chewed in foliage, listen to the hooting sounds, footprints, and other clues. These are what helps to locate the mountain gorillas during gorilla trekking and gorilla habituation experience.

How dangerous are the mountain Gorillas?

Mountain gorillas are not dangerous primates despite their fierce outlook. Physically, mountain gorillas have dark-furred bodies and are huge in size. Their appearance may scare you at a glance, but when you settle in with them for that time allowed in their presence, your heart melts. They are such serene primates that are vulnerable, too. 

 When agitated, they normally run into hiding because they are scared of intruders in their vicinity.

This doesn’t mean you provoke the mountain gorillas because they can also charge. When the mountain gorillas charge, they normally thump their chests hard, hoot, walk on one foot, pull grass around them, and so much more drama.

Upon noticing such odd behavior about the mountain gorillas, do not panic but stay calm and let the ranger guides first establish the root cause of the matter. Sometimes mountain gorillas fight for territories, so when the ranger guide finally gets to establish the root cause of the matter, follow instructions as given. Try not to stare into the dark, sunken brown eyes of the mountain gorillas; wait for the mountain gorillas to pass. Never run away from the mountain gorillas, as this increases the risk of an attack.

Spending time with the mountain gorillas is an experience like no other. Contact us to plan your safari today.