Bwindi gorilla permit booking, price and availability checking
Bwindi gorilla permit booking, price and availability checking
Bwindi gorilla permit booking, price and availability checking. Booking the Uganda gorilla permit in advance is your only assurance before confirming a Uganda gorilla safari. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is the largest home to mountain gorillas, with 148 gorilla trekking permits and 8 gorilla habituation permits.
Gorilla permits for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park are secured according to the Buhoma area, Ruhija area, Rushaga area, and Nkuringo area. You must consider where your gorilla permit is booked before securing accommodation to use during the gorilla safari adventure.
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Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is one of the only homes of mountain gorillas in Uganda, situated in the southwestern part. The word Bwindi Locally means impenetrable and is one of the few largest natural forests in the world, hosting a huge number of primates and other animals. It is home to a huge number of fauna and flora, which has accumulated over 25,000 years. This tropical forest is a biosphere reserve in Uganda.
You need to book a gorilla permit before the trek so as not to go into panicking mode when these tickets are unavailable. During the peak season, which runs June, July, August, September, December, and January, there is cutthroat competition when securing gorilla permits.
While in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, you can do a gorilla trekking safari or gorilla habituation experience. Before asking about possible availability, you must have a date when you hope to do the gorilla safari in Uganda. After securing the gorilla permit, you need to forward some personal details to be included on the gorilla permit card for identification.
To check for gorilla permit availability, you can go through an accredited tour operator or directly enquire from the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
How to book A Gorilla Permit for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
- Have a date or period when you wish to do a gorilla safari in Uganda. Two gorilla safari activities happen in Uganda: gorilla trekking or Gorilla habituation experience. With the gorilla trekking adventure, tourists have a chance to stay for one hour with the mountain gorillas. During the gorilla habituation experience, four hours are allowed in the company of the mountain gorillas.
- Enquire about gorilla permit availability per your dates of preference from the Uganda Wildlife Authority or through an accredited tour operator.
- Upon approval, we advise tourists to secure their gorilla permit in advance to prevent last-minute panic trying to search for availability at the last minute. Because of the high demand for gorilla permits, they sell out fast, yet demand continues to increase, especially during the high season. Gorilla safaris are the foremost selling safari activity in Uganda.
- Forward some personal details to be added to your gorilla permit card which will be retrieved on the day of the trek.
Some personal details include Nationality, date of birth, full name as presented on the passport, and passport expiry date, to mention a few.
What is the cost of a gorilla permit for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park?
The Uganda gorilla trekking permit costs $700 for foreign nonresidents, $600 for foreign residents and 250000shs for East African residents.
The gorilla habituation permit for Uganda currently costs $1500 per person per trek for foreign nonresidents, $1000 per person per trek for foreign residents and 750000shs for East African residents.
The gorilla permit price includes ranger guide fees, park entrance fees, security during the gorilla trek, mountain gorilla conservation, a certificate after the gorilla trek, one hour of viewing the mountain gorillas during gorilla trekking, four hours of gorilla habituation experience.
Exclusions of gorilla permit cost: tips, porter hire, transport during the gorilla safari destination, accommodation, and any other items of personal nature.
What are the gorilla safari areas of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park?
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is subdivided into four areas but under these gorilla permits are booked each day. Buhoma area in the north, Ruhija area in the East, Rushaga area and Nkuringo area in the southern Bwindi forest. This forest was subdivided into these four administrative areas because of its vast size which covers about 327 square kilometers.
On gorilla safari day, crossing from one area into another in case you spend the night in another area may be a challenge because of the obstacles along the way. Fallen logs may obstruct the road network connecting different areas with slippery surfaces, get a car tyre puncture, and be blocked by thick mists, to mention but a few.
Can I Book A Gorilla Permit In One Bwindi Area And Trek The Mountain Gorillas In Another Area?
No, you are only allowed to go for gorilla trekking in the area where you are booked. This is because to do gorilla trekking, the maximum number of tourists allowed to visit a gorilla family per day is 8. Once you have secured the gorilla permit, you have to note in which area it is booked then secure accommodation within or closer to the area where your permit is booked.
You may be required to drive to the briefing point in the dark if you spend the night before the gorilla safari in another area, yet you are booked in another sector. Once you are briefing before the gorilla safari, you should avoid being disqualified from attending the gorilla trek.
When you are waitlisted for a gorilla permit in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and the days draw closer to the trekking date, chances of securing a gorilla permit become slimmer. This is because you have a lot at stake from the gorilla permit to accommodation choices and others.
When is the best time to book a Uganda gorilla permit?
The gorilla permits for Uganda are open for the entire year but high season gorilla permits are most preferred. The peak Uganda safari season is June to September and December to January. To be on the safe side, securing the gorilla permit 6 months to a year upfront saves you from last-minute hassle in finding availability.
Only when you secure the gorilla permits are you sure of other plans included in this African safari? During the high tourism season, demand for gorilla permits is high yet supply is limited for conservation reasons. Although more funds are required to support mountain gorilla conservation, the number of gorilla permits is determined to prevent the effects of mass tourism to the feeding area of these gentle giants.
How sure can I be to see the mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park?
After paying for your gorilla permit, you want to be sure that you will see the mountain gorillas. There is a 98% chance of seeing the mountain gorillas in Bwindi forest. Although they are free-ranging wild animals living in the jungle, the mountain gorillas are family-oriented. They live in families that feed from a particular area for a certain period all factors remaining constant.
Even before a gorilla family is opened to public viewing it is first habituated to familiarize them with human presence over a particular period of time. These mountain gorillas are not scared of human presence and when humans come into view, they continue munching on foliage as though not bothered by intruders.
Each day a team of trackers wakes up earlier than others to follow the gorilla families to establish where they might have spent the night and their possible hangout spot. This clue is disseminated to the rangers on duty to lead tourists while on a gorilla trek or habituation experience. All these are done to ensure that tourists find the mountain gorillas and not just wander in the forest because gorilla safari is strenuous.
How long is the gorilla safari in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park?
The duration of the gorilla safari experience in Bwindi impenetrable national park varies from about 2 hours to more depending on the prevailing factors in the wilderness. Locating the mountain gorillas depends on a number of factors like the proximity of their food, weather conditions prevailing in the day, case of a fight with another gorilla family, death of a mountain gorilla and others.
Tourists must have some patience before locating the mountain gorillas and in order to stay energized, keep your mind open about what to see in this biosphere reserve.
The park is a haven for various birds, including Albertine rift endemics. The various waterfalls sparkle in the forest and are fed by a dense network of rivers.
Upon locating the mountain, you have an hour to view the mountain gorillas during gorilla trekking and four hours for the gorilla habituation experience.
Is gorilla safari in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park safe?
Bwindi forest is safe for gorilla safaris because the park has a well-trained team of rangers who monitor business in the forest and keep up to date with what is happening there. Each day, a team of trackers patrols the forest before tourists are allowed to enter it. They give a report about the prevailing status of the mountain gorillas and some of the other forest dwellers.
The ranger guides leading the tourists keep in constant radio call communication with the security team on the ground so that in case of an emergency or need for urgent back up, they are in communication. The rangers also coordinate with other Uganda security agencies to keep law an order in this area.
Ranger guides follow the pace of the slowest trekkers so that no one is forgotten in the wilderness, but do not use this to delay the rest as you may cause some tension amongst other trekkers.
Tourists have to play there part by being conscience about their security. Only enter the forest with an escorting ranger guide, and try to keep closer to the people you are trekking mountain gorillas with so that everything is remembered in the wilderness.
What is the cost of a gorilla safari to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park?
The gorilla safari packages are categorized into luxury, mid-range and budget safaris. The gorilla permit is the common factors for all these safari categories because it cuts across all of them. The gorilla trekking permit costs $700 per person per trek for foreign nonresidents, $600 for foreign residents and 250000shs for East African residents.
The gorilla habituation experience permit costs $1500 per person for foreign nonresidents, $1000 for foreign resident and 750000shs for East African residents.
Other factors that form the cost of the gorilla safari package include the number of days on a gorilla safari, time of booking the gorilla tour, number of people on the safari, and additional activities to combine with the gorilla safari.
An Encounter Africa safaris, we have prepackaged gorilla safaris and can also tailor an itinerary to suit our client’s budget and needs. We have over 10 years of experience in organizing safaris, which has helped us grow our expertise in putting together great safari holidays for our esteemed customers over time. We understand the hassle many tourists go through to save money in order to travel for Africa safari holidays. For this reason, we ensure to offer value for money for every safari we conduct.
Is the cost of a gorilla safari worth the money?
Meeting the mountain gorillas is a dream come true experience knowing that you are standing before just the few leftover mountain gorillas in the world. As you enjoy the company of the mountain gorillas you feel a deeper connection with their mysterious life in the jungle.
While you enjoy the company of the mountain gorillas, you contribute to the existence of the endangered mountain gorillas, for every gorilla permit purchased, there is support to the conservation of the mountain gorillas. By the 1980s, mountain gorillas were listed among the highly endangered mountain primates of the world. According to the population census results, about 250 mountain gorillas existed worldwide.
More funds had and have to be solicited to save the existence of the mountain gorillas. From the sale of gorilla safaris, you contribute to the sustainable presence of the mountain gorillas.
To book your Bwindi gorilla permit, please contact us for more information.
