Pros And Cons Of Booking Uganda Gorilla Tours Starting And Ending In Entebbe

If your gorilla safari is starting from Entebbe, be sure to enjoy route stopovers like at the Mpambire drum Village, at the equator to take memorable photos while standing on both sides of the earth, detours to Lake Mburo National Park on request, and others. The drive from Entebbe to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga National Park is about 530 to 540 kilometers, respectively.

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Uganda is naturally gifted, and most of it is a tourist attraction. While planning a Uganda gorilla safari, select what you want from gorilla trekking or gorilla habituation experience. Gorilla trekking is a safari where you search for a fully habituated gorilla family and spend one hour with them.

The Gorilla habituation experience is when adventure tourists escort a team of researchers and trackers and spend four hours with a semi-habituated gorilla family. If you have additional Uganda safari activities you wish to combine with the gorilla safari, make a selection before starting the safari so that the suitable itinerary is drawn in advance. This is because most Uganda safari destinations are separated by a long distance that may require some hours or a day's drive from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga National Park.

Some prominent da safari activities include visiting the source of the River Nile, game drives, launch trips, chimpanzee safaris, birding in Uganda, white water rafting, mountaineering, scenic viewing, and others. You need the help of a professional tour company to help plan your gorilla safari. 

At Encounter Africa safaris, we are ready to help you with the gorilla tour in Uganda and other Uganda safari, make relevant bookings in advance, and help you through every safari till the end. Trust our over ten years of experience organizing Uganda gorilla safaris and beyond. Our team of safari consultants is always available to make your safari dreams a reality.

When you start the gorilla safari from Entebbe, get ready to drive long hours, especially if traveling to western Uganda destinations. Still, you can also make a stopover in Lake Mburo National Park. Lake Mburo National Park is about 3 hours from Entebbe and the closest National Park from Kampala or Entebbe.

What are the Pros of booking Uganda Gorilla Tours Starting and Ending in Entebbe?

Easier To Pick The Gorilla Safari Permits From Uganda Wildlife Authority

When the gorilla safari commences from Entebbe, collecting your gorilla permit from the Uganda Wildlife Authority head office in Kampala is cheaper, especially if you are planning the safari yourself. When you book the gorilla safari with us, ensure the gorilla permits are available to you on the ground, and be sure to trek the mountain gorillas.

When you book the gorilla permit by yourself, you must be able to collect the permit by yourself, which means you must be in the country before the gorilla tour commencement. If you start the gorilla safari from elsewhere, collecting the gorilla permits from the Uganda Wildlife Authority may be costly and uncertain.

Get an opportunity to Visit Other Uganda safari destinations before arriving at the Gorilla safari destinations.

If you have additional time on holiday in Uganda, you may combine gorilla tours with other en route to Uganda safari activities. From Entebbe, you can stop at the equator to take photos standing on both sides of the earth simultaneously. A detour to Lake Mburo National Park, 228 kilometers from Entebbe, breaks your long journey to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga National Park.

From Entebbe, you can make a stopover in Queen Elizabeth National Park, which is about 420 kilometers via Mbarara. You can later travel from Queen Elizabeth National Park to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, about 160 kilometers from Mweya and 64 kilometers from Ishasha sector. 

If chimpanzee safari is one of your interests, you can visit Kibale National Park for either chimpanzee trekking or chimpanzee habituation experience. The drive from Entebbe to Kibale National Park is about 336 kilometers later. Drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga National Park for about 4 to 5 hours.

Suppose you have limited time on a gorilla safari in Uganda. In that case, you can also enjoy other Uganda safari attractions closer to Entebbe airport, like a visit to Ngamba chimpanzee sanctuary, where abandoned, orphaned, rejected chimpanzees that cannot return to the community are living. You may take part in feeding them from the visitor platform. Take a walk to Entebbe Botanical Garden for a birding experience. A guided walk in Uganda Wildlife Education Center, the former Entebbe Zoo, gives you insight into the wild animals living in various National parks in Uganda. You can do these Uganda safari activities quickly and catch up with your check-in time.

Ending the gorilla tour in Entebbe makes it easier to Catch up with your departure flights at Entebbe Airport.

If you want to depart immediately after the gorilla safari and your drop-off point at the end of this safari is Entebbe, you can easily catch up with check-in time. You can also book a daytime room to freshen up before the departure flight. Entebbe town has several accommodation facilities where you can book to freshen up as you wait for your late-night flight.

Even when you wish to reconfirm or change the departure time of your flight, many airlines have offices in Entebbe airport where you can seek help quickly.

Entebbe is where all international flights arrive and depart in Uganda, so when your drop-off point after the gorilla safari is in Entebbe, you can easily catch up with a check-in time for your departure flight. You also surpass traffic jams that can delay you from getting into Entebbe airport. 

Encounter Africa Safaris does briefings and debriefings of its clients in Entebbe and Kampala. 

As a company policy, we meet and brief our clients before starting any safari, including Gorilla tours. Suppose you are commencing your gorilla safari in Entebbe. In that case, our safari consultants will meet you personally at your pre-tour accommodation facility to brief you about the gorilla safari adventure so that we can all be on the same page.

After the gorilla tour, we meet our clients in case they have time before check-in. This helps us understand our client's feelings about the Uganda safari and helps us get notes on what we can do better. This has kept us afloat in the tourism industry for over ten years. You come to us as a stranger but leave as a friend. Every customer's needs matter in running our day-to-day activities.

Entebbe has several accommodation options for pre or post-gorilla safari

Finding suitable accommodation for your night before or after the gorilla tour in Uganda may be a challenge, especially if your commencement point is up the country. Some country destinations need proper directions, and even their online information may need clarification. This makes tracing these points a challenge.

Most accommodations in Entebbe have straightforward directions, and routes leading to them are demarcated. When your pickup point is in Entebbe, you can also beat traffic jams by taking alternative feeder routes from Entebbe.

Entebbe accommodation is categorized into Luxury, Mid-range, and budget. The majority of these facilities offer airport pickups and drops at an affordable cost.

Note that most accommodations in Entebbe are off the bed and breakfast plan, so you need some cash to cover other expenses. 

What are the Cons of Booking Gorilla Tours Starting And ending in Entebbe

You Do not get a chance to visit Kampala, the capital city Of Uganda

Taking a Kampala city tour allows you to enjoy Uganda's business and commercial city. Even if you do not get the opportunity to do the Kampala city tour, driving through it to your hotel gives you a glimpse into the life of this city.

Endure Long hours drive from and to Entebbe from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga National Park. 

If your gorilla safari starts and ends in Entebbe, get ready to drive for a long distance. You must endure the bumpy and dusty roads along the way, so do not expect a smooth ride.

The drive time from Entebbe to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga National Park is about 8 to 9 hours, excluding stops.

From Entebbe, you cover 530 kilometers or 540 kilometers to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga National Park, respectively.

May Incur challenges if You have to Change Departure Flights

If you have to make flight changes, some airlines do not have offices in Entebbe, so you must go to Kampala and endure the traffic jams. 

What is the cost Of the Gorilla tour in Uganda?

Encounter Africa Safaris categorizes our gorilla safaris according to upscale, Mid-range, and budget. The gorilla permit cost is the common cost amongst all these categories. 

When you gorilla trekking, the current gorilla permit cost is $800 for foreign nonresidents, $700 for foreign residents, and 300000shs for East Africans.

Gorilla habituation safari permit costs are currently $1500 for foreign nonresidents, $1000 for foreign residents, and 750,000shs for East Africans.

Other factors we consider when calculating gorilla safari costs include several days on a gorilla safari, activities to combine with the gorilla tour, the number of people traveling with, time of booking the gorilla tour, and others.

Is the cost of the gorilla tour worth the money?

Every penny you spend on gorilla safari is worth the expenditure. Doing gorilla safaris gets you closer to the world's only mountain gorillas. Gorilla safaris are on the bucket list of many people, and when given this opportunity, you get to make your dream come true.

When you purchase the gorilla permit, you contribute to the conservation of the mountain gorillas, whose population is currently about 1000. Mountain gorillas are an endangered primate species that needs funding.

 Hiring a porter during the gorilla safari is one of the direct ways to give back to the local community. The people around the gorilla habitats need to appreciate the relevance of having mountain gorillas and their habitats in their area.

What are the Rules of gorilla safaris?

• If you catch any communicable infection like cholera, flu, cough, or Virus, volunteer to stay behind so that you don't pass it to the gorillas. They are highly susceptible to human infections. The extent to which they may be affected may cause the conservation work done to go back to highly endangered.
• Eating or smoking 300 meters closer to the mountain gorillas is forbidden to prevent the chances of the gorillas grabbing it from you. Wild animals must search for their own food and not depend on human provision.
•  Burry all fecal materials beyond recognition so the animals in the forest cannot exhume them. Ask the ranger to dig a hole for you about 30 cm and cover it well.
• Avoid the mountain gorillas and use your handkerchief or elbow if you wish to sneeze or cough.
• Try not to talk loudly or make noise when going on a gorilla search because you may also scare the other forest dwellers, which may be interesting to see.
•  Wearing a clean mask before meeting the mountain gorillas is an added rule for all primate safaris after the Corona Virus Lockdown.
• The age limit for gorilla safaris in Uganda is 15 years and beyond because children below this age may not withstand the conditions in the forest. 
• When you locate the mountain gorillas, only one hour for gorilla trekking and four hours for gorilla habituation experience is allowed with them. This is to let the gorillas go about their day-to-day activities. They have been habituated to be in the presence of humans for just that time.
• Keep a distance of about 8 meters from the mountain gorillas when you locate them. This reduces the chances of passing an infection to the mountain gorillas. 
• Provoking the mountain gorillas during habituation experience is not acceptable because you need to know how this will treat them. They are susceptible to anything that happens to them.

Contact us to know about booking your gorilla tours starting and ending in Entebbe.