book gorilla permits for adventure

Gorillas are incredibly the most spectacular and the most sought-after creatures Worldwide, you can see them in only three East African countries; Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Currently, there are more than 1004 mountain gorillas that are still living in the world and tourists can only trek them in any of the four national parks that are situated in the heart of Africa.

In Uganda, Tourists have only two choices to trek these spectacular Apes in the wild and nowhere else except in the misty valleys of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Mgahinga National Park -Southwest. Uganda is proud to be home to over 500 rare mountain gorillas which represent half of the world’s gorillas.

In Rwanda, mountain gorilla trekking takes place in the Volcanoes National Park which represents a 3^rd of the mountain gorillas at Virunga Massif while a quarter of them are also inhabited within the Virunga National Park in DRC.

Reserving a gorilla permit is a must if you are to track mountain gorillas in Africa. In Uganda, gorilla permits are obtainable at $600 for foreign non-residents, $500 for foreign residents, and shs.250000 for East African residents. To spend more hours with these creatures, the best for you is to embark on the Mountain gorilla Habituation Experience which is done in only Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in the two gorilla groups (Bikingi and Bushaho gorilla families).

The permits for a gorilla safari in Rwanda are obtainable at $1500 for foreign nonresidents, $1000 for foreign residents, and shs.750000 for East African residents. There is no need to mind about the cost but what is important is that you will have the whole day and all the 4 hours of face to face interaction with these fascinating primates in their natural habitat.

You can book Gorilla permit to Uganda wildlife authority

You can obtain a permit in two ways first-directly from the reservation at Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). UWA manages all the 10 national parks in Uganda and the headquarters is based in Kampala. The other option is directly from trusted and authentic tour agents (operators). If you wish to book directly from UWA, you ought to contact the reservation’s office by emailing them to inquire more on available dates that you wish to go for a trek.

You should also know that traveling from Kampala to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is an all-day safari that will require you to take a 3-day safari. In case, the exact dates that you wish to go and track the mountain gorillas are not there, then you can request UWA management to make you aware of the next possible dates and they will do it for you. After, you will be required to reply to UWA expressing your interest to reserve the permit(s) and requesting them to abruptly keep the permits as you arrange the payment.

They will therefore advise you on their banking details, where you will go on to make an electric transfer of the money. You will also need to send a copy of the transaction receipt by email or fax to UWA. Money transfer in most cases takes less than three days and UWA will maintain your tentative reservation for a period of about seven days as they wait for the transfer to go through. Make sure you also inform the bank to remove the bank charges from you to avoid sending less of what you are supposed to pay for the permits otherwise they may not reserve for you the permit.

By booking on ground with the tour operator

Tour operators obtain gorilla permits from UWA and visitors purchase them without necessarily going through UWA. Getting a gorilla permit is a bit tiresome and challenging for most visitors and the best option is to contact the authorized tour operators in Uganda for assistance. The process is a bit faster for visitors to obtain their permits through tour operators. You will need to send your passport details, nationality and your full names to help the tour agent register your gorilla permits. After visitors must travel in person to get their gorilla permits in Kampala or Entebbe and this should be at least a day prior to the gorilla trekking date.

It is also important for you to understand that Uganda’s tour operators through Association of Uganda Tour Operators (AUTO) almost purchase up to 80% of the available gorilla permits at up to two years out from the intended period of gorilla tracking. Every member in most cases obtains up to 20 gorilla permits in any month and a deposit of 30% is payable on every permit reserved while the balance will be payable 3 months time from the month of gorilla trekking by the first working day of the month.