gorilla trekking in uganda | gorilla trekking in rwanda

Devine African Safaris is a leader in conservation-oriented small and large group travel. We connect travelers, adventurers, photographers and conservationists through adventure gorilla trekking safaris, Uganda tours, Rwanda tours.

Planning a holiday with us begins with listening to your dreams and what you have visualized as the starting point. We then craft a personalized itinerary to make it real.

Our staff are experts at knowing what is possible, practical and advisable.

Our Gorilla trekking safaris are combined with Community village walks which immerses visitors in the customs and practices of the local people. The village walk tours take in varied activities such as farming, brewing local beer, dispensing traditional medicines and conclude with dancing displays by members of the Batwa community. 

We offer uniquely designed luxury gorilla safaris, budget gorilla safaris, affordable gorilla trekking safaris in Uganda, gorilla safari holidays in Rwanda, gorilla tours in Congo, chimpanzee tracking Uganda safaris, cultural tours Rwanda safaris, birdwatching Uganda tours, wildlife adventure safaris in Uganda & Rwanda & combined Uganda gorilla safaris and Rwanda gorilla tracking safaris.

Mountain Gorilla tracking is the world's most remarkable wildlife encounters and takes place in the remote forests of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, Mgahinga National Park in Uganda, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Virunga National Park in Congo.

Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) the tourism governing body in Uganda sells 96 gorilla permits per day for Bwindi National Park (88 permits for 11 gorilla groups) and Mgahinga National Park (8 permits for one gorilla group).

Due to the high demand of gorilla permits in the peak seasons (December to February and June to September) and other months of the year, most willing gorilla safaris trekkers are often left out.

Within Uganda, Gorilla trekking is conducted in Bwindi National Park or in Mgahinga National Park. But because of the inconsistency of gorillas in Mgahinga, majority of the sold permits are for Bwindi NP.

In Uganda, every gorilla permit goes for US $ 600. In the past years, April, May and November used to cost US $ 450. Please note that these offers no longer exist.

On a single day, nearly 72 people travel into Bwindi to see gorillas and only 8 people are allowed to see  a gorilla family. We strongly encourage you to book your gorilla permit with a safari agent, the most prominent mistake is to book a gorilla family which is far away from your choice of accommodation!

The routes to Bwindi and its various regions are often tricky; this is a remote area. If you would like to do the gorilla trek on your own so as to save costs, you might end up incurring more. Safari guides have been trained to help you with this.

Several travelers intending to trek gorillas have found this process  tiring and they have opted to the quicker less tiring option of reserving their trekking permits through a local Uganda safari operator.

These tour operators normally add an extra fee of US$60 to US$100 for each permit. These gorilla tour companies won’t charge you for purchasing a gorilla permit in case you are going to use their other tour services such as transfers however if you simply want only a permit from them then they will put an extra charge of up to US$100 per gorilla permit they book, since they need to make calls, pick the permit, deliver it to you and other administrative costs.

The process is more like the above, although the tour agencies normally speed up the reservation so you will be able to confirm your gorilla permit faster.

1. You inform them of the dates for your tour to Uganda and specify the date for trekking the gorillas
2. They will inform you if your preferred dates are available for trekking and also temporarily book them.
3. They will send you our bank details so that  you can transfer the money for the gorilla permits or even pay by credit card.
4. They will send you an acknowledgement email for the money transfer. Please remember to instruct your bank to deduct the bank charges for the transaction from your account. they don’t ask for any extra money for the gorilla permit if you are reserving the rest of your tour through them. Any additional costs will be for services like telephony and transport that will be incurred when acquiring the permit.
5. You will send a copy of your passport availing the details which will be used to register for your permit. Normally they need just your full names, nationality and the passport number
6. Your names will be registered and then we acquire the gorilla permit. On receiving the payment they will buy the gorilla permit but then having this permit doesn’t 100% guarantee you seeing the gorillas although chances of seeing them are about 98%.

Gorilla permits within Rwanda were recently increased up to $1500 per individual and then in Uganda they go each for USD 600. The permit offers you one hour with the mountain gorillas in a group of 8 people.