When to book a gorilla permit for Bwindi: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is a mountain gorilla destination famous for harboring the highest number of these gorillas in the whole world. To see these mountain gorillas, all tourists must have a gorilla permit which is a document issued by the Uganda Wildlife Authority the government agency managing all national parks of Uganda.
Thousands of tourists from different parts of the world are interested in seeing mountain gorillas after knowing that they are close relatives to human beings sharing over 98% DNA. Mountain gorillas are seen in over 4 national parks in East Africa however Bwindi turns out to be the best place to see them for the park has the highest population with more than 99% chances of seeing them in the wild.
Even though Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park has so many mountain gorillas with the highest number of gorilla permits, they do sell out. This article is for tourists who have been looking for the best time to book the gorilla permits for Bwindi. The best time depends on whether one is going trekking or habituation like we are to explain below.
When to book a gorilla permit for Bwindi
Tourists who would love to see mountain gorillas in Bwindi need a gorilla permit. The park has gorilla trekking permits which are sold to tourists interested in gorilla trekking and gorilla habituation permits which are sold to tourists interested in gorilla habituation. The best time to book these gorilla permits depends on what one is interested in doing and the time they want to travel.
For tourists traveling in the high season, the best time to book the gorilla trekking permits is 3 to 4 months or more in advance. This is advised to avoid tourists from last-minute booking disappointments. A lot of tourists travel during the high season and gorilla permits sell out quickly. To avoid gorilla permits of your favorite sector it’s better to book 3 to 4 months or even more in advance.
Tourists who are interested in gorilla habituation need to book their gorilla permits 6 months or even more in advance, especially for those who want to travel in the high season. This is because the park has only 4 gorilla habituation permits on a day which are very few compared to tourists who would love to spend 4 hours with the mountain gorillas in the wild making them get used to human presence around them.
Tourists that are traveling during the low season, may book their gorilla permits even 1 to 2 months in advance. The low season has a few people interested in traveling and there are always gorilla permits available. Nkuringo sector has only 24 mountain gorilla families and this means that even in the low season they might sell out.
How to book a gorilla permit for Bwindi?
To book a gorilla permit for Bwindi impenetrable forest national park one needs to go through a licensed local tour operator. Gorilla permits are only sold by the Uganda Wildlife Authority to tour operators who are licensed by the Uganda Tourism Board. We would like to inform the self-drive tourists or those who love to organize the trip by themselves that it’s not allowed to book a gorilla permit directly from UWA.
Booking a gorilla permit through a local tour operator is very easy whether one is booking the safari with a company or just a gorilla permit. What is needed is the gorilla trekking date and the money to purchase the permit. For tourists who want to organize the safari with a tour company, there are consultants to design an itinerary and get the perfect date for gorilla trekking.
After getting a gorilla trekking date, the local tour company will contact the reservations office at Uganda Wildlife Authority to see if gorilla permits are available. Once they are available, the local tour operator will go ahead and reserve and later purchase the permits when money is available.
The cost of gorilla permits for Bwindi?
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park has gorilla tracking permits that are sold to tourists who want to spend one hour with the mountain gorillas. The park also has gorilla habituation permits sold to tourists who want to spend 4 hours around semi-habituated mountain gorillas making them get used to human presence around them.
A gorilla trekking permit in Bwindi costs $800 for foreign non-residents, $700 for foreign residents, $500 Rest of Africa, and UGX300,000 citizens of East African Member States. A gorilla habituation permit in Bwindi costs $1500 for foreign non-residents, $1000 for foreign residents, and Rest of Africa while Citizens of East African Member States pay UGX750,000.