Booking gorilla permits and accommodation in Bwindi

Booking gorilla permits and accommodation in Bwindi. When booking a gorilla permit for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, it can either be for gorilla trekking or gorilla habituation experience. Gorilla trekking permits for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park are booked according to the four areas under which the park is subdivided: Buhoma in the north, Ruhija in the east, Nkuringo and Rushaga in the southern part.

Most Popular Safaris

8 day Uganda safari via Kigali

5 days gorillas and chimp safari

8 days gorilla tracking tour

19 day best of Uganda safari

15 days Uganda Rwanda safari

18 day Uganda Ultimate Safari

16 day primate game and culture

11 days gorilla tracking safari

5 days gorilla and Nile river source

17 day Uganda birding and wildlife

Two Uganda national parks host mountain gorillas: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park.

The gorilla trekking safari is an adventure where a maximum of 8 tourists follow a fully habituated gorilla family for one hour with them. Currently, Bwindi Forest has about 20 gorilla families open to tourism. 

The gorilla habituation experience is a safari where a maximum of 4 tourists accompany a team of researchers in the wilderness to spend four hours with a semi-habituated gorilla family. Currently, two gorilla habituation experience families are open in the southern part of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

To book accommodation during the gorilla safari in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, you must consider the area where your gorilla permits are booked. This is to avoid having to rise up and drive very early to catch up with briefing in another location. The four Bwindi areas are separated by hard-to-navigate features like highlands, thick forest cover, poor roads, poor visibility, especially in ten nights, and much more.

It is best to spend the night before your gorilla safari in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park within or closer to the areas where the gorilla permits are booked. 

How do you book gorilla permits for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park?

• Select a time to start and end your gorilla safari in Bwindi or specify the day when you wish to do the gorilla safari. You can either do gorilla trekking or gorilla habituation experience in Bwindi or do both adventures. Identify the number of gorilla safari permits you wish to book to avoid going back and forth with checking availability.
• Upon enquiring from us at Encounter Africa Safaris with the above details about your gorilla safari in Uganda, our tour consultant checks availability from the lists of Uganda Wildlife Authority. 
• The tour consultant will get back to you as soon as possible upon finding availability. This is because the status of the gorilla permits changes and time without warning. Uganda opens a limited number of gorilla permits to the public per day to avoid overwhelming the forest with so many people.

Note that no gorilla permit is reserved without payment, yet first come, first served criteria are used to purchase the Uganda gorilla permits. It is best to secure your gorilla permit fast as this is the only confirmation to gorilla safari and the rest of the safari booking process.

• Avail us with your details to be added to your gorilla permit card for identification purposes. Your full names are presented on your passport, along with your nationality, date of birth, and expiration date.

What is the cost of the Uganda gorilla permit?

The Uganda Wildlife Authority has increased the cost of the gorilla trekking permits to $800 starting from July 2024 to 31 June 2026. The current price of a Uganda gorilla permit is $700 per person, ending 31 June 2024.

For the gorilla habituation experience, the gorilla permit cost is $1500 for international tourists, $1000 for foreign nationals, and 750000shs for East African residents.

Inclusions in the cost of a Uganda gorilla permit are:

Park entrance fees, Ranger guide fees, security, mountain gorilla conservation, local community support, one hour of gorilla trekking adventure or four hours of gorilla habituation experience, researcher fee during gorilla habitation safari, certificate after the gorilla safari, and others

Exclusions in the cost of a Uganda gorilla permit are:

Tips, porter hire, sedan chair services for those that need it, and other personal expenses.

How To Book Accommodation For Gorilla Safari In Bwindi Impenetrable National Park 

When booking accommodation for a gorilla tour in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, you must consider the area where your gorilla permit is booked. Four areas comprise the Bwindi forest: the Buhoma area in the north, the Ruhija area in the east, and the Rushaga and Nkuringo areas in the southern part.

Bwindi accommodations are categorized into luxury, mid-range, and basic. To avoid having to wake up at night to drive in the dark to cross to another area of Bwindi forest, it is best to spend the night where your gorilla permit is booked. 

For areas like the Ruhija area, you may spend the night in the Buhoma area, which is about 2 hours drive away and has more accommodation options. However, the road is in poor condition, especially during the wet season. While in the southern part of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, you can book accommodation either in Rushaga or Nkuringo. These two areas are close to each other.

• Buhoma Accommodations: Gorilla Forest Camp, Mahogany Springs, Engage lodge, Bwindi Volcanoes Lodge, Lake Kitandara Tented camp, Buhoma Lodge, Bwindi View Bandas, Gorilla Resort, Silverback lodge
• Ruhija accomodations: Ruhija Safari Lodge, Broadbill Camp. Note one can also spend the night in the Buhoma area.
• Nkuringo and Rushaga accommodations: Clouds Lodge, Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge, Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge, Rushaga Gorilla Safari Lodge, Nshongi Camp, Bwindi Backpackers Camp, Chameleon Hill Lodge

Which is the best time to book gorilla safaris in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

The dry season is the most preferred season for safaris in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, though the park is open all year. Bwindi is a tropical rainforest in Uganda that receives rain any time without warning, no matter the season.

Due to the dense canopy, less sunlight is let into the ground to dry the trails, causing soggy and boggy conditions in the wilderness during gorilla safaris in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The dry season trails in this forest are drier and more passable since more sunrays penetrate the ground and slightly dry it. This makes it quicker and easier to navigate the forest as you search for the mountain gorillas in the wilderness. 

Even other forest dwellers like monkeys, birds, and animals are more lively. 

The dry season provides the best environment for better photography while on gorilla safari in the Bwindi forest in Uganda.

However, demand for the limited gorilla permits for Bwindi forest and Mgahinga forest is high in the dry season since this also serves the peak Uganda tourism season. One must secure their gorilla permit for this season at least six months to a year in advance to ensure this one-in-a-lifetime adventure. 

The low season of March, April, May, and November of Bwindi opens chances to last-minute gorilla permits. Fewer people book gorilla safaris in the low season, which may open chances to latecomers. Even accommodations for the nights during gorilla safaris in the low season may discount their costs, allowing those with a low budget to break even.

The low season may offer you this opportunity if you do not want obstruction during the gorilla safari. Be sure to see the mountain gorillas any time of the year.

How Sure Can I Be To See The Mountain Gorillas In Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Be sure to see the mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park at least 99% chance. These mountain gorillas live in cohesive families fed from a particular location until food is exhausted. This makes it quicker for ranger guides to know how the gorilla family is allocated to clients.

Mountain gorillas are bulky in size. An average fully-grown male weighs about 450 lbs, and a female about half this weight. This makes it quicker to find these mountain gorillas in the wilderness since they cannot go that fast.

The mountain gorilla families are first habituated for some time to get them used to human presence for at least an hour. This means even though the gorilla family is wild, they can bear human presence, at least for some time. Tourists must follow the instructions given during the briefing before heading for the gorilla safari.

During the search for the mountain gorillas, tourists are advised to help follow clues left behind by the mountain gorillas like freshly chewed foliage, fresh dung, footprints, listening to their murmuring sounds as they try to communicate with each other, and much more. These clues are what build excitement upon finding the mountain gorillas. This adventure is like treasure hunting in the middle of nowhere.

What is the difference between gorilla trekking and gorilla habituation experience in Bwindi?

During gorilla trekking, only one hour is allowed with the mountain gorillas, while during gorilla habituation experience, four hours are allowed with the mountain gorillas.

The current cost of the Uganda gorilla trekking permit is $700 until 31 June. Then, starting 1 July 2024, the gorilla trekking permit cost will be $800 per person. The gorilla habituation experience permit costs $1500 per person per trek.

Uganda has about 196 gorilla trekking families, including Habinyanja, Nshongi, Rushegura, Oruzogo, Nkuringo, Bweza, Busingye, and others. The gorilla permits for these Uganda gorilla families are booked according to the four areas under which Bwindi forest is subdivided. At the moment, Uganda has four gorilla habituation experience families.

During gorilla trekking, tourists follow a fully habituated gorilla family, while gorilla habituation experience tourists follow a semi-habituated gorilla family in the company of researchers. 

What is the cost of a gorilla safari to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park?

At Encounter Africa Safaris, we package our gorilla safaris according to luxury, mid-range, and basic. The universal safari cost of all three packages is the gorilla permit. The gorilla permit cost cuts across all these categories.

The other logistics that support you while on gorilla safari may differ with the level of service. Accommodation costs are categorized into luxury, mid-range, budget, vehicle and driver-guide hire, and much more.

Consider the cost of additional activities that you may combine with a gorilla safari in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or elsewhere in Uganda. Other Uganda safari activities include chimpanzee safaris, game drives, and birding in Uganda.

Cross-check with the list of what to pack for the gorilla safari to make the correct shopping list. There is no need to go over the pack, but have what is relevant for your time in the wilderness.

What should you pack for gorilla safari in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park?

• Waterproof Backpack to carry with your belongings in case you have to hand them over to the porters and in case you tripe they don’t scatter.
• Wear warm clothing as the temperatures of Bwindi Forest drop as low as 7 degrees centigrade sometimes. The mornings and nights are extremely cold.
• Tracking boots that can withstand slippery slopes when you hike to find the mountain gorillas.
• Energy snacks to keep munching on because breakfast is taken too early to last the entire time you are in the wilderness.
•  Water bottle to carry with drinking water for rehydrating as you trek to find the mountain gorillas.
• Garden gloves to keep your palms warm also help you catch a tighter grip on the entangled vegetation when you slide.
• First aid kit with emergency medication in case you get an accident
• Energy treats give you more reason to carry on to locate the mountain gorillas.
• A camera to capture every moment of your experience with the family of mountain gorillas.
• Some hard cash in case you have to make on-ground purchases.
• A poncho or raincoat in case it rains without warning.
• A pair of stockings to tack in your clothes and prevent creepers from getting in.
• Larger brim hat that is foldable to protect yourself from the buzzing insects in the jungle.
• Insect repellant to protect your skin from stinging insects
• A pair of binoculars to get a clearer vision of the surroundings that are far from reach.

Contact our team of expert safari consultants for more information and assistance in planning your safari today.