HOW TO GET A GORILLA TREKKING PERMIT; BOOKING PROCEDURE
To book a Uganda mountain gorilla trekking permit to Bwindi impenetrable national park and Mgahinga gorilla parks in Uganda one has to go to the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) headquarters in Kampala. The cost of a mountain gorilla tracking is $500 USD for non-Uganda citizens. However, given the fact that these gorilla tracking permits are on such high demand and that one has to book about 3 months in advance to stand a chance of seeing the gorillas it is better to use a travel agency to book these permits.
Long Term Gorilla Trekking Permit bookings (approximately 2 years in advance)
- The maximum allowed time to book for a permit in advance is 2 years as long as you pay 30% of the mandatory tracking fees. The rest of the money should then be paid 91 days to the date of the gorilla trekking. Late top-up is not permitted however, if you wish to continue with the payments due to some reason you will be required to pay a surcharge of 20%. When the grace period of 7 days elapses you will forfeit your deposit as it is non-refundable.
- As tour operators we are required to book only 20 permits during the opening day of each month and the rest that are not sold are open to all other tour operators the following day.
Gorilla Trekking Permit Refunds/Cancellation Guidelines
- For those tourists who may not have tracked gorillas due unavoidable circumstances the Uganda Wildlife Authority refunds about 50% at the recommendation of the game Warden who is in charge. However, this clause applies only to visitors who are known to have tracked Mgahinga national park or Bwindi Impenetrable National park.
- For the tourists who fail to see the gorillas when tracking in Mgahinga national park due to the movement of the gorillas into Rwanda, a full refund will be made. However, failure to see the gorillas for any other reason other than illness when one has gone tracking will result in a refund of 75%. All refunds are made at the Uganda Wildlife Authority Reservation Offices in Kampala.
Upon Cancellation Uganda Wildlife Authority Retains The Following Percentages;
- 0 – 8 days – no refund
- 9 – 45 days – 75% (25% refund to client)
- 46-90 days – 50%
- 91 days and above – 25% (75% refund to client)
Note: All these are days to the tracking date.
Book a gorilla permit for some of our gorilla tour packages