Uganda gorilla permit-all you need to know, in this article Kisoro tours Uganda we are going to give all information you need to know about Uganda gorilla permits. The largest population of 60% of mountain gorillas in the world live in Uganda’s Bwindi impenetrable forest national park, other 40% of these endangered mountain gorillas live in Rwanda and the DR-Congo (DRC), a big percentage of the money collected from the tourists is used to conserve this endangered species
What is an Uganda gorilla permit all about?
A gorilla permit allows to spend one hour with the gorillas in their natural habitat so for anyone to see mountain gorillas in the wild, you must first purchase or buy a permit which can be bought or booked through a local tour operator like us or booked directly from Uganda wildlife authority offices in Kampala, one of the reasons to why one needs a permit to see gorillas is to control the number of people who trek each gorilla family, Gorillas in Uganda can be trekked in both Bwindi Impenetrable forest national park and in Mgahinga gorilla national park.
Uganda is the only place where tourists and other visitors can get the opportunity to participate in the mountain gorilla habituation process, so also for anyone to participate in habituation you need a habituation permit that allows tourists to take part in the habitation process which involves gradually encouraging wild mountain gorillas to feel comfortable in the presence of humans, habituation is led by professional researchers and well-experienced range guide, habituation permit is more expensive compared to the normal gorilla permit because with habituation tourists spend four hours with the gorillas while the normal permit is just one hour.
Price-cost of a gorilla permit in Uganda?
Uganda gorilla permit cost $700 per person, Uganda gorilla habituation experience permit costs US$1,500 per person, as I motioned above in Uganda gorilla permits are issued by a government body that is mandated by law to manage all Uganda national parks and wildlife reserves ( Uganda Wildlife Authority), yes you can book your permit directly from Uganda Wildlife Authority but it is recommended to use a trusted tour operator like us Kisoro tours because all our gorilla tours and other wildlife safaris include a gorilla permit.
Currently, Uganda has only 168 gorilla permits available daily in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and in Mgahinga gorilla national park while there are only 8 habituation permits available per day. If interested.
What is included in the Uganda gorilla permit and what is the canceling policy?
One Uganda permit grants you only access to trek habituated gorillas for one hour, while a habituation permit allows you to spend four hours with the wild mountain gorillas but take note that a gorilla permit does not include transport, accommodation and meals, and all other activities.
On how to cancel a gorilla permit in Uganda?
Once a gorilla permit is booked, purchased, and paid it is not refundable, through the time you obtain your gorilla permit in Uganda, by the time you arrive in Uganda for your gorilla safari, and then you happen to change your mind (maybe because you are sick or other personal reasons) not to go to for gorilla tracking, what would happen to your gorilla permits the question that needs answers as we are going to see below
There is a number of reasons that can enable you to get a refund of your money back for the gorilla permit depending on the number of days left on your actual tracking data before you cancel.
For example, if you fail to go for gorilla tracking due to illnesses, the Uganda Wildlife Authority will refund at least 50% of your gorilla permit money but you must have reached the tracking area so you can get a written recommendation from the Warden in charge.
For the visitors/tourists who enters the forest and tracks the gorillas for the entire day but fail to find the Habituated gorilla family that it was a to her/him in this case tourist will be able to get a refund of 75% of the gorilla permit money but you must have a recommendation from tourism warden in charge.
If you want to cancel the permit with no illness’s reasons let us say from 0 to 10 days to the gorilla tracking date here you get no refund.
If you choose to cancel your permit from one 1day to 45 days to the tracking date, you will get a 75% refund on your permit.
For those who intend to cancel between one month to 3 months before the tracking date, you will get a refund of 50% of your gorilla permit money.
If you cancel from 3 months and above you will still get 75% of your permit money refunded to you.
NOTE: only visitors/tourists who have paid a fully total amount of gorilla permit will be able to get a refund so this means if you had just paid a deposit you will not get a refund.
Gorilla tracking activity is the most exciting adventure activity in Africa yet the number of gorilla permits available per day is not increased so it is advisable to book your permit at least 6 months to a year in advance before the tracking date.
Also, NOTE that the above-mentioned gorilla cancellation policy can be only affected by Uganda Wildlife Authority NOT the local tour operator you have booked within fact these tour operators also have their own safari cancellation policies because they may charge you for the administrative costs this is to is you had booked your gorilla safari through them.
