Gorilla Trekking Uganda

Gorilla trekking Uganda is one of the most trilling experiences while in adventure in Africa, which refers to hiking to the tropical rain forests in Africa to see the endangered mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. They are called endangered mountain gorillas because of the fact that they are at high risk of extinction due to various threats.

In simpler terms, endangered mountain gorillas means that these amazing creatures are; rare to find because in Africa, they are only found in three countries as we shall see, they are vulnerable and threatened to extinction.

On that note therefore, it has always been a big call to protect and conserve these incredible creatures and their habitats!! While gorilla trekking in Uganda, you observe and interact with gorillas in their natural habitat with a ranger guide.

An Ultimate Gorilla trekking Uganda experience – know what happens on a Gorilla Trekking Adventure in Uganda

The gorilla trekking experience usually starts in the morning, first and fore most, you will have breakfast while at the lodge so as to prepare for the gorilla trekking experience. Our driver will then pick you from the lodge is our 4×4 safari vehicle and drive you to the park headquarters.

At the park headquarters, you will meet with other people who have come on a gorilla trekking safari adventure. The main point of meeting at the park headquarters is to be briefed about what the gorilla trekking adventure entails.

The briefing is usually done by the game rangers and they brief the gorilla safari adventurers about the rules and guidelines to follow while on the trekking adventure. The briefing usually starts in the morning at 7:00am. The guidelines include the dos and don’ts while trekking.

After the briefing exercise, the rangers will assign all of the people into trekking groups of eight people per group ( 8 is the maximum number), and thereafter, assign you a gorilla trekking family for trekking.

Usually the assignment of gorilla trekking families is done on a basis of physical fitness of the trekkers. That is to say, trekkers who are not physically fit are assigned gorilla families that re not so far away and those that are easy to navigate.

Most of the times, trekkers prefer to trek a certain gorilla family, if so, request the game rangers to place you into that group that is going to trek the gorilla family that you are interested in.

Thereafter, the trekking starts and its guided by the game rangers. The trekking process lasts between 3 to 5 hours. The duration can be prolonged due to the distance of travel. While trekking, you will meet various wild life such as; monkeys, bush pigs, forest elephants among others.

On reaching the gorilla families, you are only allowed to have one hour to interact with the gorillas. Take pictures of the gorillas and videos, please note, flash photography is not allowed.

After the one hour with the gorillas, the game ranger will then lead the hike back to the park headquarters, while at the headquarters, you will be awarded a gorilla trekking certificate in honor of your gorilla trekking experience.

The driver will then drive you back to the lodge and then have lunch and relaxation.

Rules for gorilla trekking in Uganda - guidelines you need to know while in the gorilla trekking experience

Those intending to do gorilla trekking in uganda should be 15 years and above, why 15 years and above? Below 15 years, children usually have flue/ colds that could be spread to the mountain gorillas because of the fact that they are susceptible to flue and colds.
You must be clean and make sure you wash your hands before and after the trekking exercise, cleanliness while trekking is key.
No one will be allowed to do gorilla trekking in uganda without a gorilla trekking permit. Always ensure you have a gorilla trekking permit, make sure you book in time with the tour operator to avoid any inconveniences.
When you reach the gorilla families, please ensure you are atleast a distance of 7 meters away from the gorillas.
When with the gorillas, you will only be strictly, given one hour to spend with the mountain gorillas. In this one hour you will interact with them, take photos and make various videos.
Flash photography is highly prohibited incase you want to take pictures. Similary flash videography is not allowed. Take photos but avoid flash lights.
Do not touch the gorillas.
Always ensure that you remain in the assigned groups of 8 people, make sure you donot lose track from the rest of the group.
Do not smoke, or bring drinks
Do not play with the mountain gorillas
Keep the voices down while in the trekking exercise
Incase you have a contagious disease, you are encouraged not to trek because you will infect the mountain gorillas.
Respect the mountain gorillas, ensure not to intimidate them.

Gorilla trekking permits in Uganda

A gorilla permit is one of the most important items when we are talking about gorilla trekking in Uganda, probably also important as far as other African countries are concerned, for example, countries like Rwanda and previously the democratic republic of Congo that used to carry out gorilla trekking.

It is a legal document issued by the relevant national park authorities that allows a person to participate in trekking the mountain gorillas with a guided gorilla tour.

In Uganda gorilla permits are only and only issued by the Uganda wild life authority, who have their headquarters in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. Uganda wild life authority is located on plot 7 of Kira road, P.O. Box 3530, kampala Uganda

Cost of gorilla permits in Uganda

In the republic of Uganda, gorilla trekking permits are at a cost of $800 per person for foreign non-residents. Initially, the cost was $700 for foreign non-residents but now later changed to $800 per person who is a foreigner and a non-resident.

On addition to that, gorilla permits cost $700 for foreigners but residents in the republic of Uganda. For example foreigners from countries like USA, Canada, Belgium, France etc. but residing in Uganda.

For Africans, gorilla permits in Uganda will only cost you $500 per person and lastly, for east Africans, for example people from Ugandan, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda the permits cost UGX 300,000.

Cost of a gorilla trekking permit- know the cost of acquiring a gorilla trekking permit in Uganda and in Rwanda.

First and fore most, please note that gorilla trekking permits are only issued out to persons who are above the age of 15 years and above, why 15 years and above? UWA believes that at 15 years and above, one is brave enough and legible to participate in the gorilla trekking adventure.

So a permit will be given to you by the Uganda wild life authority usually termed as UWA and you will only spend one hour with the gorillas.

Gorilla permits are issued out for national parks of bwindi and mgahinga national park in uganda and in Rwanda, gorilla trekking permits are issued out for the national park of volcanoes national park.

Most people want to do gorilla trekking, but they always ask themselves, what is the cost of a gorilla permit for trekking, how do I acquire a gorilla trekking permit? What is the validity of my gorilla trekking permit?, what is the cancellation and refund policy of my already acquired gorilla trekking permit, lets dive deeper into this.