How to organize a cheap and discounted student gorilla safari from Masaka City

How to organize a cheap and discounted student gorilla safari from Masaka City. You must book the gorilla permit when planning your gorilla safari as a student commencing from Masaka City. Consider selecting to do either gorilla trekking or gorilla habituation experience, but both activities require a receipt. You must choose from two gorilla safari destinations, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park.

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A brief about Bwindi's impenetrable National Park is that it hosts the most significant number of mountain gorillas; almost half the total number of mountain gorillas are residents here. Currently, 19 gorilla families are open to trekking, opening 152 chances to get a gorilla permit. Gorilla trekking permits for this park are booked according to an area, such as Buhoma, Nkuringo, Ruhija, and Rushaga. Two gorilla families in the southern sector of Bwindi are open to gorilla habituation experience.

In Mgahinga National Park, only one gorilla family is open to trekking. This gorilla family is called Nyakagezi and has a history of wandering into Rwanda. This gorilla family is living in Uganda, and its permits can be pre-booked.

While planning the gorilla safari, consider booking accommodation that favors your budget. Not that most budget facilities up the country have shared facilities and pre-check with their meal plans, too.

Reserve the safari vehicle to the gorilla safari destination with a professional and knowledgeable driver guide. Traveling with a 4x4 wheel drive vehicle is essential, and it must be in good condition as the nature of the roads upcountry may be pretty unbearable, especially in the wet season when they get soggy and slippery.

What To Consider When Organising Cheap And Discounted Student Gorilla Safari From Masaka City

Select Which Gorilla Safari Destinations to Visit.

You can go for the gorilla safari in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga National Park. Also, select whether to go gorilla trekking, where you have only one hour with the mountain gorillas, or for gorilla habituation experience, you have four hours with the mountain gorillas.

You must select a date when to do the gorilla safari and the number of permits you need to book to save time and not to go back and forth with checking availability. 

Reserve your Gorilla permit.

Booking the gorilla permit is critical in planning your discounted gorilla safari as a student. You may book your gorilla permit through a tour operator like Encounter Africa Safaris. We can assist you in securing the gorilla permit when you provide some details, like the date for the gorilla safari and the number of permits.

When we get an inquiry with the above details about your gorilla safari, our safari consultant checks availability from the Uganda Wildlife Authority list. Upon getting availability, they will get back to you as soon as possible because the status of the gorilla permits changes in a flash of time.

We request clients purchase gorilla permits as soon as possible to avoid losing them, as they sell out on a first-come, first-served basis.

Peak season gorilla permits, that is, June, July, August, September, December, and January permits, are in high demand, so they need advance booking at least six months to a year upfront.

How much is the cost of a Gorilla permit for students?

A gorilla trekking permit costs $800 per person per trek for foreign nonresidents, $700 for foreign residents, and 300,000 for East African residents. 

When you choose gorilla habituation experience, the gorilla permit costs $1500 per person for foreign nonresidents, $1000 for foreign residents, and 750,000 shs for East African residents.

The gorilla permit cost covers one hour of gorilla trekking or four hours of gorilla habituation experience, ranger guide fees, security, mountain gorilla conservation, government tax, and a certificate after the gorilla safari.

Exclusions in the cost of a gorilla permit involve tips, porter hire, snacks, and so much more.

Book Accommodation For The Gorilla Safari

You must overnight within or closer to the gorilla safari destination, as these activities start early with the briefing. For Bwindi impenetrable National Park accommodation, you must know in which area your gorilla trekking permit is booked.

Bwindi forest is subdivided into four areas: Nkuringo, Rushaga, Buhoma, and Ruhija. For the gorilla habituation experience, you must book accommodations within the southern sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, as this activity is currently happening only here.

Mgahinga National Park has limited accommodation options, so you must secure your accommodation immediately.

• Bwindi Budget accommodations: Nshongi Camp, Broadbill Camp, Bwindi Backpacker Camp, Bwindi Backpacker Camp, 
• Mgahinga Budget accommodations: Golden Monkey Guesthouse, Amajembere Iwacu Community Camp, Countryside Guesthouse, Mutanda Eco community Center 

Note that most budget accommodation facilities have shared facilities and may offer different meal plans, so you must be in the know before booking, especially if you are organizing the gorilla safari by yourself.

Reserve Transport to the Gorilla safari destinations

While you plan the gorilla safari, consider the means of transport to get to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga National Park. Road transport is the primary means to get to these gorilla safari destinations. 

You need to book a 4x4 wheel drive vehicle in good condition to avoid getting stuck on the road if the car breaks down. The terrain of the Kigezi subarea is mountainous, resulting from volcanic action in this area. 

Suppose you are taking public transport to the gorilla safari destinations. In that case, you must know that this stops at a particular point, and you must get to a transfer vehicle to the gorilla safari destinations. Sometimes, public transportation has challenges like making several stops, losing baggage, overloading, etc.

The drive from Masaka City to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park covers a distance of about 245 kilometers and 255 kilometers to Mgahinga National Park.

Pack the right Gorilla Safari Gears.

Even though you are on a budget gorilla safari, remember to carry the right gorilla safari gear. Walking in the wilderness requires wearing safari attire suitable for this environment. Some of the gorilla safari gear you can pack include a safari foldable hat, long-sleeved shirt, trousers, garden gloves, some hard cash, insect repellant, a camera, a pair of binoculars, a first aid kit, rainproof gear, a backpack, safari boots to mention but a few.

You do not have to carry so many bags for the gorilla safari as you may be inconvenienced or lose them.

Engage in pre-gorilla safari exercises.

Before the gorilla safari, you must keep fit to overcome the tiring hikes when searching for the mountain gorillas. The nature of the topography in this area is volcanic, with remains as ridges and plateaus where the mountain gorillas may spend some time. Tourists must hike to find these mountain gorillas that may be fed or lounging in the deep valley or slopes.

You must have some fitness level to avoid getting muscle pulls or exhaustion after completing the gorilla safari.

Select additional activities to combine with the gorilla safari.

Other than gorilla safaris, you can combine other Uganda safari activities to enjoy the best of the pearl of Africa. While in the western region, you may do game drives in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Launch trips, chimpanzee safaris in Kibale National Park, scenic viewing in tranquil Lake Bunyonyi, golden monkey safaris, and excursion mountain Mgahinga National Park, birding adventure, and others.

While in Uganda, you can also engage in white water rafting on the River Nile, sports fishing, visit the source of the River Nile, visit Ngamba chimpanzee sanctuary, and spend a day at the beach on Lake Victoria, the largest freshwater lake in Africa.

Uganda is endowed with great natural attractions, and if you have some time, you may tailor an appropriate itinerary to cover these activities with our safari consult. Make memories of your stay in Uganda that will last a lifetime. Let us help you make your African safari a dream come true.

When Is The Best Time To Book Discounted and Cheap Gorilla safari from Masaka city?

All gorilla safaris are annual. However, the dry season is most tourists' favorite time. The dry season is usually June, July, August, September, December, and January. This, too, is the peak Uganda tourism season.

During the dry season, mountain gorillas feed closer to the ground and are full of life. Even other forest dwellers like monkeys, birds, butterflies, and other animals may be quicker to trace.

This season, demand for gorilla permits is over the top, but only a limited number of gorilla permits are open to public booking per day. That is a maximum of 8 per gorilla trekking family and a maximum of 4 for a gorilla habituation experience family.

For the peak season, you must reserve the gorilla permits in advance, as last-minute licenses take a lot of work to find.

In the wet season, which is usually March, April, May, and November, gorilla safaris are less in demand, creating chances for last-minute permits; however, this is only a guarantee sometimes. You may use this opportunity if you wish to travel on a budget but have upgraded services on a gorilla safari. Sometimes, service providers like accommodations and driver guides may offer discounts to break even.

With gorilla safari, no matter the season, you must reserve a gorilla permit before driving to the gorilla safari destinations, or you may be disappointed when you get to the destination.

Is the Gorilla safari challenging?

It is challenging to do gorilla safaris based on the nature of the terrain of the Virunga area. The volcanic activities in this area led to the formation of ridges and plateaus draped by vines. As the mountain gorilla day passes, they may wander to the slopes or deep in the valley, where you must trace them.

Bwindi and Mgahinga forests have natural trees that have survived centuries, yet most of them have massive buttress roots you must walk over. It would help if you carried a walking stick to give you extra support to jump over such roots.

To complete the entire gorilla safari adventure, you must have some fitness level to ensure the rest of the group is on track. The time of finding the mountain gorillas is still being determined as it depends on factors prevailing in the forest, which may be exhausting, too. Locating the mountain gorillas depends on factors like the proximity of their food, weather conditions prevailing in the day, the pace of other trekkers, and others.

To find the mountain gorillas, you must have patience and persistence. Follow the rules of the gorilla safari, too, in order not to push these primates into hiding.

What Is The Age Limit For Gorilla Safari?

15 and over is the age limit for the gorilla safaris. This is because of the likely challenges you may encounter while searching for the mountain gorillas. 

Children below 15 years old may not withstand the intimidating glance at the mountain gorillas, yet you do not have to show signs of freight before the mountain gorillas.

Patience while on gorilla safari is essential, but children below 15 years may need to be able to hold this for as long as you search for the mountain gorillas.

What Is The Cost Of a Budget Gorilla Safari In Uganda From Masaka City?

At Encounter Africa Safaris, we package our gorilla safaris according to luxury, mid-range, and budget. The typical cost with gorilla safari packages is the gorilla permit. The gorilla trekking permit costs $800 per person, and the gorilla habituation experience permit costs $1500.

When making a quotation for our gorilla and other safaris, we consider some of the following factors: the number of people on safari, additional activities to combine with gorilla safari, number of days on gorilla safari, time of booking the gorilla safari and others.

Are you interested in a budget gorilla safari from Masaka City, please contact us to plan your safari today