How to book Kahuzi Biega National Park gorilla permits

When booking gorilla trekking permits for Kahuzi Biega National Park, you need to select dates or estimate the starting and departure dates for your gorilla tour. Knowing the people you hope to do the gorilla trek with is time-saving as you avoid moving back and forth with finding gorilla permit availability.

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To book the gorilla trekking permits of Kahuzi Biega National Park, you can do it yourself by contacting the Virunga Tourism office or use the assistance of an accredited tour operator like Encounter Africa Safaris.

When you send us an enquiry about desiring to do gorilla trekking in Kahuzi Biega National Park with the above details, our tours consultant immediately checks availability from the list of Virunga Tourism office. Upon receiving a positive reply, we get back to you in the shortest time possible. This is because gorilla permits are sold out on a first come first served basis.

To be on the safe side, it is best to book in advance your gorilla permit, especially for June, July, August, September, December and January when demand is at its peak. The number of gorilla trekking permits per day is limited to a maximum of 8 per family per day.

How Much Is The Cost Of Gorilla Trekking Permit For Kahuzi Biega National Park

The cost of the gorilla trekking permit is currently $450 per person for international nonresidents, $250 for international residents and $25 for local Congolese.

Inclusions in the cost of Gorilla trekking permit for Kahuzi Biega National Park are park entrance fees, ranger guide fees, one hour with the gorillas, gorilla conservation and much more.  Exclusions in the cost of gorilla trekking permit for Kahuzi Biega National Park are tips, porter hire, accommodation and other personal expenses.

In order to be safe, it is best to book in advance all the related logistics like accommodation, transport, and other expenses. You need to provide the correct details that can used later during the gorilla trek.

Can I Book A Gorilla Trekking Permit For Kahuzi Biega National Park In Instalment?

You may book the Kahuzi Biega National Park permit in installments of 30% and 70% depending on the safari timing. No gorilla permit is reserved without payment as this is the only confirmation of your interest in taking the gorilla tours

It is best to pay in full for your Kahuzi Biega National Park gorilla trekking permit in order not to forget topping it. In case you forget to top up your gorilla permit, you may lose it to another person.

Which is the best time to Book a Gorilla Trekking permit for Kahuzi Biega National Park?

The best time to book a gorilla permit for Kahuzi Biega National Park is at least 90 days before the gorilla trekking safari. During the peak season that is June to July and December and January many tourists purchase the gorilla permits in advance creating scarcity at the last minute.

In terms of seasons, the dry season is most preferred for gorilla trekking safaris this is the peak season. The gorillas and other animals live freely in the wilderness and move with nothing stopping them. Seeing these primates is exciting because the forest is full of life. Even other forest dwellers like birds, other primates move freely in the forest and are quicker to spot.

While walking and searching for gorillas in the Kahuzi Biega forest, the trails are dry and quicker to navigate in the dry season. Even though there is a dense network of rivers in Kahuzi Biega forest, during the dry season, they flow within the normal course.

The demand for gorilla permits in the dry season is high yet supply is restricted to a maximum 8 per day per gorilla family.

Even in the wet season, that is March, April, May and November you can book gorilla permits but they are more available even at the last minute. There are less people seeking to do gorilla trekking in the wet season.

What Is The Cost Of Gorilla Trekking Safari For Kahuzi Biega National Park?

The cost of the gorilla trekking safari for Kahuzi Biega National Park is categorized into Upmarket, mid-range, and basic. For all these safari packages, the cost of gorilla package cuts across all budgets. At the moment, the cost of a gorilla permit is $450 per person per trek.

The cost of other logistics that support the gorilla safari includes accommodation, transport, driver guide fees, and others. Even the number of days to spend on gorilla safari matters, number of people traveled with, additional activities to combine with the gorilla tour, and others.

Our safari consultants are always available to work with you to tailor the best gorilla safari itinerary including your interests and within your budget. At Encounter Africa Safaris, we help tourists plan the best itineraries and put together other logistics that support their stay.

How Long Is Gorilla Trekking In Kahuzi Biega National Park?

The time you take on gorilla trekking tour in Kahuzi Biega National Park is about 2 hours to more depending on the way about of these primates. Finding the eastern lowland gorillas is quite challenging as their daily life determines where to locate them. Some of the factors that may determine when to locate the lowland gorillas may include weather conditions prevailing in the forest, pace of fellow trekkers, location of food sources, and others.

While searching for the gorillas, you may encounter other forest dwellers like bongos, black and white colobus, grey-cheeked mangabey, olive baboons, and others. A plethora of birds live in this tropical rainforest.

Instead of focusing on finding the eastern lowland gorillas only, you may also look out for other forest dwellers to keep your mind busy. Finally, when you locate the gorillas only one hour is allowed with them. The life of the lowland gorillas is disrupted by human presence yet they have to play, feed, groom their infants, sort out family issues and much more.

Finally, when you locate the eastern lowland gorillas, only one hour is allowed with these primates so that you can let them go about their daily life. Gorillas are calm and serene primates but need to also engage in their day-to-day lives like grooming, playing and much more.

Are lowland gorillas aggressive?

The lowland gorillas are naturally calm and serene although outwardly, they are intimidating. Gorillas have bodies covered in dark fur with a large body and brown sunken eyes. These looks may be quite scary for first-time visitors but in reality, they are calm and cowardly. When agitated, the gorillas may rush into hiding.

Even though they are calm primates, they can charge when agitated and sometimes they may react by thumping hard their chests, hooting, pull vines around them, and much more. However, its not all the time that you see this that the gorillas are angry. Sometimes the lowland gorillas may show these odd behaviors, in order to tease their visitors, in case of a fight with another family and much more.

Wait for the ranger guide to find out the root cause of the matter and follow the example of the ranger guide. During the gorilla trek, you must keenly follow the instructions of the ranger guide so as not to escalate the situation.

Is Gorilla Trekking In Kahuzi Biega National Park Safe?

There is peace prevailing in Kahuzi Biega National Park at the moment because the well trained ranger guide team on ground coordinate with other security agencies in D.R.Congo to keep law and order in and around the park.

Kahuzi Biega National Park has for a long time been unstable because of the rebel activities, illegal lumbering, mining, poaching and many more atrocities. These have made it hard to conserve the gorillas and promote tourism in eastern D.R.Congo.

Before walking in the forest, every tourist is urged to attend a briefing and follow the guidelines of gorilla trekking. In order not to fall out with the forest dwellers including the eastern lowland gorillas while on the gorilla trek, you must abide by the rules of gorilla safari.

Every gorilla trek must be escorted by the ranger guides as they have experience of how to act with the wild animals in the jungle or the dangerous spots in the forest. As a tourist walking in the jungle without an escorting ranger guide may cause you to even get lost in this thick dark forest.

Wear the right attire during your gorilla safari to protect your skin from the rough surfaces in the jungle.

How easy or difficult is gorilla trekking in Kahuzi Biega National Park?

The way to do gorilla trekking in Kahuzi Biega National Park has some challenges because you walk in the thick jungle with overgrown vines and creepers. In terms of topography, the eastern side of Kahuzi Biega National Park is made up of mountain Biega and the western side mountain Kahuzi.

The trails within Kahuzi Biega National Park may be quite slippery and soggy from the regular rains that fall and yet less sunray penetration gets through to the ground. The rains fall regularly in the forest creating quite tough conditions to move fast in the forest.

During the dry season, more sunlight is allowed through the dense canopy to the ground creating a better environment to search for the lowland gorillas.

Note that the time of locating the gorillas is hard to determine because it is influenced by factors prevailing in the forest like weather conditions, location of the source of food for the gorillas, in case of a fight with another gorilla family and so much more.

Can Children Do Gorilla Trekking In Kahuzi Biega National Park?

Yes, children can do gorilla trekking in Kahuzi Biega National Park but the age limit is 15 years and over. The nature of this gorilla trek includes moving in the jungle with rough conditions that children below 15 years may not withstand.

At a glance, the gorillas are intimidating yet you must not show these primates signs of being frightened because this causes them to misunderstand your intentions for visiting the gorillas. The eastern lowland gorillas have dark fur and dark brown sunken eyes that look scary.

At times the gorilla trek may take some time and this is quite tiresome yet children below this age may not withstand this.

What to Pack For Gorilla Trekking In Kahuzi Biega National Park?

• Light Shoe bag to keep in the dirty shoes after the gorilla trek
• Safari boots to wear when searching for the eastern lowland gorillas in the jungle
• Warm sweaters to protect you from the cold weather.
• Safari hat to wear over your head and protect your hair from water dripping off the trees
• Garden gloves to protect your palms from touching stinging nettles.
• Insect repellant to keep away stinging insects in the wilderness.
• A pair of stockings to tack in your clothes
• Long sleeved shirt and trousers in wilderness-friendly colors like brown, Khaki, and others
• A torch to light when lights run low as solar energy is the main source of power in this area
• Energy bites to munch on when hungry.
• A camera to keep memories of your gorilla safari experience.
• Raincoat just in case it falls anytime without warning.
• Sunscreen because this is a tropical country where the sun rays get too tough at times
• Foldable water bottle to carry with drinking water because you need to be hydrated while in search of the lowland gorillas
•  A pair of binoculars to get a closer vision of the gorillas and other primates living in Kahuzi Biega National Park.
• Flip flop to change into after the long day of the trek.
• Some hard cash to use for on ground transactions as credit cards are not quick to use in Africa because of the long process of collecting money from them.
• Snacks to munch on while trekking to find the lowland gorillas because breakfast is taken too early to last the entire day.

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