Guide on gorilla permit booking & cancellation policy in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo with Africa Adventure Safaris. A tourist cannot get involved in a gorilla trekking experience without a gorilla permit. There is no way a traveller can ever be allowed to watch the gorillas in the wild without this card or document. Gorilla trekking is a nature-based experience where visitors meet gorillas in their natural habitats. This tourism activity is swashbuckling and whoever has gotten involved in it says, “It is an experience of a lifetime”. Gorilla tracking brings a person closest to nature. There are three countries in the world that host the expedition, namely Uganda, Dr Congo and Rwanda. The gorilla trekking experience is a largely sought after tourism activity worldwide but comes with some regulations. The tracking of gorillas happens in a very fragile environment if encroached on frequently, it may end up degrading hence resulting in the loss of habitats of the gorillas. Therefore, several restrictive measures were set to regulate the number of people engaging in the gorilla safaris and one of them was the introduction of the gorilla permit.
The gorilla permit is a pass or card, which legitimately allows a tourist to watch the gorillas in the wild. Wildlife management authorities in the three gorilla countries issue the gorilla permits. For example, in Uganda, the Uganda wildlife authority is responsible, in Rwanda the Rwanda development board and in Dr Congo, the Virunga Foundation.
The methodology of buying or booking gorilla permits in the three countries of Uganda, Rwanda and Dr Congo is the same to a large extent but there are some tiny systematic procedures that at times differ as we explain below.
Purchasing Gorilla Permits in Uganda
Gorilla permit reservation is done both online and offline. The clients can contact the Uganda Wildlife Authority via their email address or go to their offices and place a reservation request. There is an option of booking indirectly through the tour company. This is the most convenient and reliable method of purchasing the gorilla permit in Uganda. The gorilla permits in Uganda cost 700$ per person. The gorilla permit of Uganda is a green and yellow card with a golden electronic chip in the middle. The visitors must present this card at the national park headquarters with some small printed receipt on the trekking day. Uganda has 20 habituated gorilla families, 19 families in Bwindi impenetrable park and 1 family in Mgahinga national park. This makes the available gorilla permit on any day 160 as 8 people are allowed to track each gorilla family.
Uganda has another gorilla encounter experience called gorilla habituation. Visitors spend much more time with the gorillas on the habituation experience.
It costs 1500$ since it is more intensive and takes such a long time.
Booking of Gorilla Permits in Congo
The gorilla permits in Congo cost 400$. Unlike the other two countries, Congo provides discounted gorilla permits particularly in the low season at a fee of 200$ per person. The low season consists of April-May and November. The Virunga Foundation issues the gorilla permits. The client can book the permit directly from the authorities or indirectly through a tour agent. It is always commendable to use the indirect method of the local tour operator because of the irregularities in the direct booking system. In Congo, there are two subspecies of gorillas tracked in two different national parks. In Virunga national park, the visitors trek the mountain gorillas while in Kahuzi Biega, eastern lowland gorillas are tracked.
Gorilla Permits Reservation in Rwanda
The gorilla permit in Rwanda is issued by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB). Tourists can directly contact the board via email or telephone to reserve the permit. They can use the indirect method through a local operator but still; the operator makes the permit payment to the RDB. The gorilla permit in Rwanda goes for 1500$ regardless of the tourism season. The permit in Rwanda is a paper document with the client’s particular or the tour company name and is well signed and stamped by RDB. The gorilla-tracking permit is collected at the head offices of the Rwanda Development Board in Kigali or at the Volcanoes national park in Ruhengeri.
Rwanda has 12 habituated gorilla families to trek and 8 people are allowed to track each family. This implies that 96 gorilla permits are available for tourists per day.
Gorilla Permit cancellation penalties and policy in Uganda
What the traveller has to bear in mind once the funds have been paid to the Uganda Wildlife Authority, a 100% refund is almost impossible because administrative and operating costs are accounted for right away when the reservation is made. The Uganda Wildlife Authority goes on deducting a certain percentage as the days go by to the cancellation time. Below is the cancellation policy of the Uganda Wildlife Authority;
From 91 days to above, the visitor is refunded 75% of the total gorilla permit fees
If the travel makes a cancellation within 46-90 days, he/she is entitled to a refund of 50% of the gorilla permit fees.
From 45 days to 9 days, the visitor is given back 25% of the total fees of the gorilla permit
From 8 to 0 days, there is no refund given to the client.
Note that the cancellation policy above applies to The Uganda Wildlife Authority, the tour operators might apply their own terms and conditions during the cancellation.
Requirements for booking a gorilla permit.
1. A person must be 15 years and beyond
2. Gorilla permit is issued on a first come first serve basis and also the date of tracking varies with the availability of the permit.
3. When booking directly, the visitor is requested their passport particulars whereas indirectly through local tour operators, the presentation of the particulars may not be asked for
4. Payment of the gorilla permit can be made by cash or electronic transfer through a bank or Pesapal.
More Information About Securing Gorilla Permits in Uganda, Rwanda and Congo
The gorilla permit fees include the actual gorilla trekking activity, park entrance and the park ranger’s wages for guiding the tourists around the park. Note that tips of the park rangers, porter, transport and safari lodge fees are excluded from the gorilla permit fees.
Reservation of the gorilla permits must be made at the earliest time possible. The best time to reserve the gorilla permit is six months before your gorilla trekking safari, especially for peak season travel (June-mid October, December and January-mid march). The gorilla permits are highly demanded and become scarce as time goes by.
A passport is requested to know your age and ascertain whether you need special attention like language and trekking help. The age is significantly looked at for the gorilla trekking expedition due to the 15-year age limit guideline. More so knowing the visitor’s age is one of the criteria is used to allocate the gorilla families to track during the briefing.
The gorilla permit fees are strictly set by the authority bodies in the various countries. The traveller must always first check the official websites of these bodies to know the price as it keeps changing over some time. The gorilla permit must always be bought at that price issued by the authority. The administrative costs added by the local tour operators at times must be of a consensus between them and the travellers.
In any business, there are scammers and travellers must be very keen on the bank account to deposit the gorilla permit funds. The account must always be under the name of the tour company. The travellers are advised to make an underground check of the tour company; they are booking with.
The gorilla permits are pricey due to lots of factors for instance the immense costs incurred to conserve and preserve the gorillas in the wild. Also, some funds are paid to the park rangers and others go to the local communities around the gorilla parks.
Gorilla tracking is done throughout the year be it the wet or dry season, thanks to the park management who have made it possible.