What is included and excluded in a normal gorilla trekking safari in Uganda and Rwanda

What is included and excluded in a normal gorilla trekking safari in Uganda and Rwanda? The gorilla trekking safari package includes accommodation, as you need to overnight closer to the area where your gorilla permit is booked. Since every tourist must attend an early morning briefing before gorilla trekking without fail, overnighting closer to the gorilla trekking destination is a great choice.

Most Popular Safaris

14 Day Uganda birding and wildlife

9 Day mountain Rwenzori hiking

4 Day Gorillas & Sabinyo hiking

20 Days Birding, game and culture

15 Days Uganda Rwanda Safari

14 Day Uganda safari via Kigali

3 Day Bwindi double trek via Kigali

4 Days Gorillas & Golden monkeys

5 Day Chimp & Gorilla Habituation

3 Day fly in Safari

The gorilla trekking safari in Uganda is in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga National Park. Currently, Uganda has about 19 gorilla trekking families in four areas: Buhoma in the north, Ruhija in the east, Nkuringo, and Rushaga in the south.

For Rwanda, about 15 gorilla trekking families are open to public booking. Volcanoes National Park is the only home of the mountain gorillas in Rwanda. This park lies in the northwestern part of Rwanda. 

The gorilla trekking permit is the only entry ticket to gorilla trekking in Uganda or Rwanda. To avoid panic, tourists must purchase their gorilla permits in advance, especially in the peak season. The peak Uganda tourism season is normally June, July, August, September, December, and January. This season, gorilla permits are in high demand yet limited to a maximum of 8 per gorilla family daily.

Gorilla trekking is an adventure where tourists visit a fully habituated gorilla family and have one hour with them.

The Uganda Wildlife Authority and Rwanda Development Board are mandated to sell and regulate the gorilla permits in Uganda and Rwanda, respectively.

The Uganda or Rwanda gorilla safari packages are graded according to Luxury, Mid-range, and budget packages.

What Is Included in a basic gorilla safari package for Uganda or Rwanda?

Gorilla trekking permit

Everyone must possess a gorilla permit to be allowed to attend a gorilla trekking adventure. Uganda currently has 152 gorilla trekking permits open to public booking, and Rwanda has 96 gorilla trekking permits per day.

Booking a gorilla trekking permit, especially in the peak season, which runs June through September and December to January, is in advance. This is because of the high demand for these permits, yet supply is limited to a maximum of 8 per gorilla family.

In the peak season, tourists reserve their gorilla permits as early as 6 months to a year upfront. 

What is the cost of a gorilla trekking permit?

The current cost of a Uganda gorilla trekking permit is $800 per person per trek for foreign nonresidents, $700 for foreign residents, and 300000 shs for East African residents.

Rwanda's current cost of gorilla permits is $1500 per person per trek for foreign nonresidents, $500 for foreign residents, and $300 per person for East African residents.

What is included in the cost of the gorilla permit?

The gorilla permit includes park entrance fees, security during gorilla safari, ranger guide fees, gorilla conservation support, and one hour with the mountain gorillas, to mention but a few.

Exclusions of gorilla trekking permit: transport, accommodation, snacks, and any other items of personal nature.

Accommodation During Gorilla Trekking Safari

After booking the gorilla permit, accommodation is next in line. In Uganda, the gorilla permits for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park are booked according to area. Bwindi National Park has four areas: the Buhoma area, the Ruhijah area, the Rushaga area, and the Nkuringo area. It is best to overnight within or closer to the area where your gorilla permit is booked to avoid having to drive in the night to catch up with early morning briefing.

In Rwanda, you can overnight in the facilities within Volcanoes National Park or in Kigali, the capital city.

Bwindi accommodations: Gorilla Forest Cap, Clouds Lodge, Engage Lodge, Ruhija Gorilla Lodge, Bwindi View Bandas, Rushaga Gorilla Safari Lodge, Bwindi Backpacker's Camp.

Mgahinga accommodations: Gahinga Lodge, Majambere Iwachu, Community Camp, Mountain Gahinga Lodge, Mutanda Lake Resort

Volcanoes National Park Accommodations: Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, Mountain Gorilla View Lodge, Hotel Muhavura, Kinigi Guest House, La Palme Hotel.

Transport To Gorilla Trekking Destinations

You can travel by road or air transport to the gorilla trekking destinations. During the peak seasons, choices of professional and knowledgeable driver guides also become slimmer because of the high demand for them.

In Rwanda, you can drive from Kigali International Airport to Volcanoes National Park, about 3 hours away.

The drive from Kampala or Entebbe to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga National Park is about 8 hours to 9 hours, following different routes like Kampala to Kabale to Kanungu to Buhoma, Kampala to Ntungamo to Rukungiri to Kihihi to Buhoma and others.

Air transport from Entebbe airport or Kajjansi airstrip to Kihihi or Kisoro Airstrips. There are daily domestic flights to these upcountry airstrips in Uganda, but you must hire a transfer vehicle to any of these destinations.

Charter flight services are available in Uganda at Entebbe Airport or Kajjansi Airstrip to Kihihi or Kosoro Airstrip. One can also charter from Kigali Airport to Volcanoes National Park.

Additional Activities To Combine With Gorilla Trekking

The minimum number of days you can do a gorilla trekking safari in Uganda is 3 days gorilla safari. The minimum number of days on Rwanda gorilla safaris is 2 days gorilla safari. You can add more days to have extra days on the gorilla trekking safari.

Other Uganda safari activities include chimpanzee trekking, white waters rafting, visiting the source of the River Nile, multicultural experience, Uganda birding, game drives, launch trips, and sport fishing, to mention but a few.

Other Rwanda safari activities include chimpanzee trekking, visiting genocide memorials, game drives, Rwanda birding, boat trips, and others.

One needs to tailor an itinerary that can cater to the activities you choose to combine with gorilla trekking in Uganda or Rwanda, depending on the holiday time available. 

What Is Excluded from the Basic Gorilla Trekking Safari in Uganda and Rwanda

International flights

The flights you hope to use to the mountain gorilla destinations, Uganda or Rwanda, must be booked in advance. If your gorilla safari itinerary starts with gorilla trekking, you have to spend at least a night before the safari in Uganda or arrive with very early morning flights.

If your tour plans do not go as arranged, you may miss the opportunity to stay with the mountain gorillas. The gorilla permit is nonrefundable, especially towards the days of the trek or if you are a no-show without standing reason reporter to Uganda Wildlife Authority.

Since this is an average gorilla trekking safari, even internal/ domestic flights are excluded from this package since this is normally booked by clients on luxury or mid-range gorilla safari packages.

Tips

When you decide to tip rangers, driver guides, or other service providers, it's a token of appreciation for the assistance rendered. Tipping is an excellent gesture while on gorilla safari as it's one of the direct ways of giving back to staff. At Encounter Africa Safaris, we encourage clients to tip generously as this enables service providers to do more and offer better to their customers. Some facilities have a common place for tips; please take note of this. 

Tips are excluded from the gorilla trekking safari package.

Porter cost

A porter is a person who can assist you in carrying your gorilla trekking gear so that you can walk freely in the wilderness. The gorilla trekking experience is tedious because of the nature of the topography, which is mountainous with plateaus and ridges. Sometimes, mountain gorillas spend part of their day on the slopes or deep in the valley, so you must find them. 

 With a porter, you can walk in the wilderness freely with nothing pulling you back. Portere are local people from the community whose life depends on assisting tourists. When you hire them, they use the money to purchase the things that support their day-to-day life.

A porter is not included in the gorilla trekking package.

Snacks or drinking water to take during gorilla trekking adventure

Breakfast is taken too early to last the entire Time of gorilla trekking, and although the Virunga area is cold, you need to quench your thirst. During the gorilla trek, you take breaks to reenergize and keep searching or following the mountain gorillas because the Time of finding them is unknown.

As the budget for the gorilla safari is drawn, snacks or drinking water on the day of the trek are not included.

When Is The Best Time To Book Gorilla Trekking Safari In Uganda Or Rwanda?

Booking gorilla trekking safaris in Uganda or Rwanda is open all year round, but tourists prefer the dry season. The dry season is normally June, July, August, September, December, and January. The forest is full of life, and the mountain gorillas are more active, walking freely, feeding, and lounging closer to the ground.

You have to note that completion for gorilla permits in the dry season is cutthroat, yet supply is limited to a maximum of 8 per gorilla family. Finding the availability of Uganda or Rwanda gorilla permits in the last few days is quite hard and puzzling.

Much as last-minute gorilla permit availability is more open in the low season, this is not guaranteed all the Time. Before traveling to do gorilla trekking in the low season, you need to check the availability of gorilla permits and purchase them just for security.

Which is the best country for gorillas of Rwanda and Uganda?

 Gorilla trekking is a heart-melting experience, especially when you stare into the gentle eyes of these primates, no matter the destination. To find the difference of which country is best for gorilla trekking in Uganda and Rwanda, the following may be considered:

The cost of gorilla permit

The current cost of a gorilla permit for Rwanda is $1500 per person per trek, while Uganda gorilla permits currently cost $800 per trek.

Drive Time to the gorilla trekking destination.

The drive time from Kigali Airport to Volcanoes National Park is 3 hours, while from Entebbe Airport to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is 8 to 9 hours. You can do gorilla trekking in Uganda through Rwanda, and the drive time from Kigali airport to Bwindi impenetrable national Park through Gatuna or Kyanika border is about 5 to 6 hours.

Additional activities to combine with gorilla trekking

Uganda has more safari activities to combine with gorilla trekking, chimpanzee trekking, game drives, visiting the source of the river Nile, white water rafting, launch trips, and others. Rwanda is limited with additional activities to combine with gorilla trekking safaris like game drives, chimpanzee trekking, and Rwanda birding, to mention but a few.

Number of gorilla trekking permits

At the moment, Rwanda has 96 gorilla trekking permits open to public booking, while Uganda at the moment has 152 gorilla permits open to public booking per day.

How long is the gorilla trekking safari in Uganda or Rwanda?

The Time you take in the wilderness on the gorilla trekking day is still being determined, but some tourists have managed to spot the mountain gorillas in two hours while others have spent about three-quarters of the day.

The Time of locating the mountain gorillas is determined by factors like the proximity of their food, in case of a fight with another gorilla family, the death of a family member, weather conditions prevailing in the day, the pace of other trekkers, and others.

Some patience is required to find the mountain gorillas that wander in the forest without stoppage. To see the mountain gorillas, you must have some fitness level, too because they may spend part of their day on the slopes or deep in the valley.

When you locate the mountain gorillas, only one hour is allowed with them for conservation reasons. The mountain gorillas have to spend the day in the wilderness to satisfy their huge bodies throughout the day and night. Mountain gorillas are generally vegetarian, with bamboo as their delicacy. The presence of humans disrupts the running of their day-to-day life, including procreation.

When departing from the mountain gorillas, do it stealthily to avoid agitating the mountain gorillas.

Contact us for more information.