Gorilla Permits are identifications in form of cards or documents that are offered by a governing body to allow a tourist access Gorilla National Parks and bee able to visit gorillas. This identification shows that one has been autjorized to visit the national park. In Uganda, gorilla permits are offered by Uganda Wildlife Authority.

WHAT ARE REQUIREMENTS FOR A GORILLA PERMIT FOR A UGANDAN AND NON UGANDA ?

You need to have a passport with you with every detail. It’s one of the requirements asked by the Uganda Wildlife Authority. The passport also helps them to find out if you have the right age for gorilla trekking. They will look at the date of birth to check for the required minimum age as shown in the passport. If it is discovered that the age of the trekker is under age the permit won’t be issued.

The Uganda Wildlife Authority keeps record of visitors who have trekked and have ever trekked gorillas in Uganda. This helps the Uganda wildlife to know the country that has visited Uganda and which always tends to visit more than the other.

Uganda will then formulate the promotional and marketing strategies in the tourism industry in order to attract more people from countries that have low number of tourists in Uganda. It’s the main reason why the Authorities ask for details of the passports required for gorilla permits for future reference.

All genuine tour Operators will always request for the passport details before any reservations for Gorilla permit due to the fact the Authorities of the wildlife may need to know the Nationality, age, however we should know if one needs a porter for Gorilla trekking or a special guider.

All the guides in Uganda speak English as a way of communicating their fully informed about the Gorilla trekking rules and regulations however some of the tourists do not speak English giving us the details of your passport will help us to know what kind of tourist is coming.

Since the Uganda Wildlife Authority is in charge of issuing permits and in case of anything of any emergency the Authorities will have full details of the trekkers.

People are travelling from all walks of the world to visit the pearl of Africa to enjoy the exciting experience.

One must have a gorilla permit in order to access the habitat, to have a life time experience.

                                     HOW MUCH DOES GORILLA PERMITS COST

Before travelling for Gorilla trekking you must contact a tour operator who will give you relevant gorilla information for Uganda, DRC and Rwanda in order to plan better for your safari trip.

Book a gorilla permit three months pro to your travel, the permit is acquired in time for the trekker.

A gorilla trekking permit is an identification which allows one to visit the Gorillas in the national park. Rwanda and Uganda gorilla permits are very competitive especially during high season which runs through June, July, August, September, December and February. Gorilla trekking permits are always sold out three months in advance before departure

A gorilla permit document or card is issued by the  Uganda Wildlife Authority.

A permit allows one to view the mountain Gorillas for one hour; it takes a maximum of 30 minutes to 7 hours while viewing the mountain Gorillas in the forest after which it expires.

A permit in Uganda costs USD 600 and in Rwanda USD 1500 while if one prefers a habituation process this will cost 1500 USD. A gorilla permit can only be used one in a single day for trekking gorillas in Uganda in two national parks, Mgahinga Gorilla National park and Bwindi impenetrable National park.

The Gorilla permits are secured and bought at the Uganda Wildlife Authority at a cost of 600 USD per person and foreign non residents at 500 USD and foreign residents 250,000 UGX East African Citizen.

                   HOW TO GET A GORILLA TREKKING PERMIT IN UGANDA  

The best way of obtaining a gorilla permit is to contact a Tour Operator in Uganda who is under the Association Of Uganda Tour Operators(AUTO). There are over 1000 Tour Operators in Uganda who are readily available to help you acquire the right Gorilla permit  .

They will charge according to the cost with no extra cost to obtain the permits. AUTO members are the only tour operators where you have a chance of obtaining the right permits. During the high season we recommend you book early since there is big flow of tourists in Uganda.

Avoid costly permits and being conned a number of fake operators who extract money from visitors by selling you discounted permits which do not exist.

You’re advised not to send money to personal accounts, express money, western union, money gram. Use bank accounts that are for Business, and have a credit card payment system.

Some of the frauds will even choose to use the AUTO logo however do not fall for such victims.

Also always remember to check out the history of a tour operator before you book with them.