Gorilla trekking in Uganda

Gorilla trekking Uganda is one of the great activities in Africa that very many travelers come to enjoy on their holiday leaves and vacations. The activity is extremely interesting to an extend that it is everyone’s life time dream in the world to come and experience mountain gorilla trekking adventure in the African jungle.

Among the only the three countries in Africa that have got the rare endangered mountain gorillas, that is Uganda, Rwanda and the democratic republic of Cong, Uganda has been ranked as the best gorilla trekking destination with almost half of the mountain gorilla population leaving in Bwindi forest in their natural habitat.

Uganda

Adventure in the wild safari together with its team welcomes you to Uganda “The Pearl of Africa” to embrace you with the best gorilla trekking safari experience according to your budget.

Where to trek the mountain gorilla?

Uganda has only two national parks that has the mountain gorillas where trekking is done, this is Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and mountain Mgahinga gorilla national park which are located in the south western Uganda bordering Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo

Uganda has 18 habituated gorilla families for tourism, with 17 gorilla families found in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and only one gorilla family found in Mgahinga national park that has permanently chosen to settle in the park but it used to have its movements in Rwanda and Congo.  Mgahinga national park is part of the volcano massif conservation area; the other parts are Virunga national park and Volcanoes national park in Rwanda which are conservation places for the mountain gorillas in their respective countries.

Bwindi impenetrable forest national park has about 400 mountain gorillas species living in the high altitude areas of the forest and gorilla trekking in Uganda is famously best done in Bwindi forest due to the big population number of the gorillas living in the park.

The park has four sectors that are homes to the 17 gorilla families, each of these sectors has about 3, 4-5 gorilla families. These sectors are Nkuringo, sector, Buhoma sector, Rushaga sector and Rushaga sector, each of these sectors has its own accommodation facilities ranging from luxury, mid-range and budget accommodation facilities which offer excellent services to gorilla trekking travelers who visit Bwindi forest.

Bwindi forest has a very high altitude ranging from 1190 meters to 2607 meters and about 60% of the park has an approximate of 2000 m above sea level with very cold temperatures during the evening hours.

Uganda gorilla trekking permit

There is no traveler who is allowed to trek the mountain gorillas in Uganda in either Bwindi forest or Mgahinga national park without the gorilla trekking permit. The Uganda gorilla trekking permit is document or card that is in form of a license issued by the Uganda wildlife authority to a traveler to allow him/her trek the mountain gorillas in Bwindi forest or Mgahinga national park.

Uganda has one of the safe and affordable gorilla trekking permits which cost 600 USD per person per day per gorilla family and gorilla habituation costs 1500 USD person per day. Unlike gorilla trekking where you spend one hour with the gorilla family, with gorilla habituation travelers are allowed to spend four hours with a gorilla family from the time they have found the gorilla family.

Uganda gorilla trekking has an age limit where only a person above 15 years of age is allowed to trek mountain gorillas in the park and the person below 15 years is not allowed to trek the mountain gorillas.

Uganda gorilla trekking permit is only sold and purchased at the Uganda wildlife authority headquarter offices in Kampala and they cannot be purchased online.

How to acquire a Uganda gorilla trekking permit?

Before travelers purchase their gorilla trekking permit in Uganda, it is important that they get to know about the gorilla trekking permit availability before confirming their safari bookings with the tour operators so that travelers can schedule their dates and year of travel depending on the permit availability since the Uganda gorilla trekking permits tend to be sold out, competitive and on high demand especially during the peak season

We therefore advise travelers to make advance bookings of at least 5-6 months before the actual date of travel to avoid last minute booking and purchases in panic where we have registered cases like travelers tend to miss out the trekking adventure due to poor preparations like late booking. Travelers visiting Uganda for mountain gorilla trekking should know that the team at Uganda wildlife authority operates on a service of first come first serve that is why we emphasis advance booking before travel.  The Uganda wildlife authority accepts bookings of two years before travel provided your able to make booking of 30% and then pay the remaining balance on your arrivals.

Although you can make direct permit booking with the Uganda wildlife authority, we normally advise travelers to book with the genuine tour operators whom they have trusted to arrange the gorilla trekking safari since they are familiar with the booking process, it might be easier for them to quickly process your permit since they are on ground and they will assist to arrange the trekking accommodation, transportation depending on your interest as requested.

Adventure in the wild safaris is one of the leading companies in arranging gorilla trekking safari adventure and their gorilla packages guarantees travelers the Uganda gorilla trekking permit without a lot of Hassel from the travelers side. For more information regarding your planned gorilla trek in Uganda feel free to contact us.

Best time to trek Uganda mountain gorillas

Both Bwindi forest and Mgahinga national park have got tropical rain forests that receive a lot of rainfall throughout out the year. They have dense thick forests and due to the tall tree canopies, there is little penetration of sunlight to ground and it is usually very cold during the rainy season.

Although gorilla trekking in Uganda is done throughout the year regardless weather it’s a rainy season or dry season, there is the recommended time to trek the mountain gorillas in Uganda

The best time to trek the mountain gorillas is during the dry season which is known as the peak season in Uganda. This is during the months of December to February which is termed as the short dry season and June to October that is the long dry season in the year.

During the dry season, the roads area dry and passable, the ground is not wet and slippery making hiking easy as travelers trek to find a gorilla family. However, though it’s a dry season the rains are unpredictable since a tropical rainforest area that receives rainfall any time of the year, we therefore advise travelers to carry their strong water proof rain jackets for rainfall emergences while on your trek in the jungle.

On the other hand, there are very many travelers who prefer to enjoy their gorilla trekking experience during the rainy season. Due to the fact that the gorilla trekking permit in the rainy season is not so competitive and can easily be purchased although the price remains the same regardless of the season.

At the same time travelers who traveler in the rainy season enjoy discounted rates on the accommodation facilities as lodge in Bwindi forest are fully occupied so tend to give discounted rates to group travelers who travel in the rainy season.

During the rainy season in Uganda to enhance continuous trekking of the mountain gorillas, travelers are recommended to carry the necessary equipment’s and clothing’s before they come for the trek. Such as water proof rain jackets to protect them from rain, strong gum boots to enhance the hiking in the muddy and slippery hilly grounds of the forest as they search for the gorilla trekking, garden hand gloves to protect their hands from germs of the rough thorny grass and ground that they touch to enhance the hiking until they reach a gorilla family among others.

Uganda gorilla trekking accommodation

As earlier mentioned Bwindi has four sectors with mountain gorilla families, each of these sectors have its own headquarter reception and each of the sectors has its own accommodation facilities which range from budget, mid-range and luxury facilities. We advise travelers to sleep in the sectors where they are going to trek the mountain gorillas since the sectors are far from each other and its inconveniencing because you might miss out the briefing guidelines.

Accommodation lodges in Rushaga sector; Rushaga gorilla camp, Rushaga gorilla haven, gorilla safari lodge, Ichumbi gorilla lodge among others.

Accommodation lodges in Nkuringo sector include; Nkuringo Bwindi gorilla lodge, crested crane Bwindi hotel, Virunga hotel and camp among others

Accommodation lodges in Buhoma sector include; Buhoma haven lodge, Buhoma community lodge, Bwindi forest lodge among others

Accommodation facilities in Ruhija sector include; Ruhija gorilla safari lodge, trekkers Tarvern, gorilla mist camp among others.

Uganda gorilla trekking safety

Gorilla trekking in Uganda one of the safe and affordable activities followed by Rwanda and then Congo. For many years over 20 years, uganda has not registered issues of insecurity.

Gorilla tourism in Uganda generates a lot of revenue to the country therefore a lot of concern has been put to the strong conservation efforts and security of travelers who visit Uganda to trek the mountain gorillas. In this the governments of Uganda together with the Uganda wildlife authority have deployed military forces like the UPDF police, the tourism police that keeps moving day and night at the border Rwanda and Congo and within and outside the park to ensure the safety of all travelers who come to enjoy their gorilla trekking adventure.

How to access Uganda mountain gorillas.

On road transport, it is approximately 9-10 hours’ drive from Kampala to Bwindi impenetrable forest national park using a 4×4 safari vehicle and it is about one hour flying from kajjansi – Entebbe to kihihi airstrip then you will be driven for about 30 minutes Ruhija or Buhoma sector to trek the mountain gorillas.

On road transport, it is 510km from Kampala to Mgahinga national park in kisoro which is approximately 8 hours’ drive using a 4×4 safari car.

In conclusion, Uganda is known as the pearl of Africa where it has a lot to offer apart from endangered mountain gorillas such as the culture of the indigenous people, wildlife and primates animals from the 10 national park which might not be found elsewhere in African. Contact adventure in the safari to supplement your gorilla trekking adventure.