Easy Guide to Booking a Gorilla Permit

The easiest and sure way to secure your gorilla trekking permits in Uganda or Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo is via a registered local tour operator in the country.

Securing a gorilla permits can seem a hustle especially for tourists planning to buy the gorilla pass independently without a full tour package as most of the local travel company are looking at making a small profile off the gorilla permit by offering service on top of acquiring the gorilla permit.

In this article, we give more information about acquiring gorilla tickets and the steps necessary to help tourists to effectively acquire gorilla trekking permits

What is a gorilla permit?

This is an official card or document that permits a traveler to trek gorillas in the wild. In Uganda, it normally a plastic card with a chip in it with all the details of the person wishing to track the gorillas, the date, sector and national park to track the gorillas. In Rwanda and Dr Congo, they use a paper document with a verified stamp from the authority, the traveler’s or tour company’s particular and the date and sector to track the gorillas. Without the card in Uganda or the paper document in Rwanda and Dr Congo, there is no way a traveler will be allowed to do a gorilla trekking experience unless there is scarcity of the cards. In such a scenario, you are given a letter backed up with the receipt of payment of the gorilla permit from the authority requesting the ground park management to allow the traveler to track the gorillas.

Who sells gorilla Tickets?

Different semi-autonomous government organizations offer gorilla passes in the three countries that make a gorilla trekking experience possible.

In Uganda, the organization responsible for selling the gorilla permits is the Uganda wildlife Authority. It’s base (office) is in Kampala the capital of Uganda. It is only place for the purchasing of gorilla permits.  This organization is also responsible for receipts of all the tourism activities in the ten national parks in Uganda.

In Rwanda, it is the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) – the department of tourism office. The RDB is found in Kigali the capital of Rwanda. It is also the only authority that issues gorilla permits in Rwanda.

In Dr Congo, it is the Virunga foundation– an organization responsible for managing most of the natural reserves in the Virunga areas of Congo. This organization manages Virunga national park, Kahuzi Biega National park and Nyiragongo crater. This is located in the Virunga region in eastern Congo.

Though the above are the only organization responsible to sell gorilla permits in their respective countries, the government of these countries liberalized the selling of the gorilla permits especially to local tour operators, hotels, car rental operators and safari lodges to make the work easy for the travelers. The traveler can buy a gorilla permit through the latter tourism stakeholders in particular local tour operators. A traveler should use a reputable or trusted local tour operator who will in turn contact the authorities to acquire a gorilla permit on behalf of the traveler. These local tour operators normally ask for a commission for acquiring a gorilla permit for a tourist.

Price of Gorilla permits in Uganda, Rwanda & Congo?

The prices of a gorilla permit are a bit hefty because of the high conservation costs that are incurred to protect the gorillas and also to limit the number of people to trek the gorillas as the gorillas are fragile as well as their habitats. They need limited pressure on them.

The gorilla permit in Uganda goes for 700$ per person, in Rwanda 1500$ and Dr Congo 450$.

Best time for discounted gorilla permits?

There are no more discounted gorilla permits in Uganda and Rwanda due to the high demand of them throughout the year. The price is the same throughout the year. On the contrary in Congo, discounted permits are still in existence at only 200$ per person in the low seasons of mid-March- May and mid-October- mid-December.

Who is eligible to buy a gorilla permit?

Everybody is eligible to buy a gorilla permit regardless of color and nationality. The only thing one needs to have are the finances to purchase it. Once any traveler gets the valid gorilla permit, he/she is good to go gorilla trekking.

Age limit to acquire gorilla permit?

Persons who are allowed to acquire the gorilla permits should be 15years and above. This is because 15years is the minimum age a person is mandated to go gorilla trekking. The aforementioned age limit was drawn for conservation and protection reasons. It is assumed that 15 years and above people are adults who are responsible and can apprehend the set guidelines of trekking the gorillas. The infants (14years and below) are assumed to be less physically fit to hike through the jungles of the gorilla habitats and are also reckless whereby they might violate some gorilla trekking guidelines like 7metre distance from the gorillas and also lowering the voice while hanging out with the gorillas.

Can I buy my gorilla permit online?

It is possible to purchase gorilla permit online. The designated authorities to issue gorilla permits have online portals (official websites) where a tourist can log onto and then he/she places an inquiry for the availability of the gorilla permits. The tourist is attended to by the organization reservation and then other advances are made and in the end the gorilla permit is secured.

However, the online purchasing of a gorilla permit is not as easy as it seems, sometimes it takes ages the reservation to attend to you yet the gorilla permits are on a very high demand. It is best to contact a local tour operator to physically buy the gorilla permit on behalf on you.

How many gorilla permits are available in Rwanda, Uganda & Congo?

The availability of gorilla permits in a certain country depends on the number of gorilla families that are trekked in their respective gorilla national parks. The maximum number of people to trek a certain gorilla family is 8 people in all the three countries. This was agreed on unanimously by the conservation organizations and the rule was adhered by the three countries.

Rwanda has 12 habituated gorilla families and therefore the available permit on a daily basis is 96 permits, Dr Congo has 8 families thus having 64 permits per day and Uganda which has 20 habituated families 19 families in Bwindi impenetrable national park and 1 family in Mgahinga national park and this makes it a having a whooping number of 160 gorilla permits on a day.

What is the best time to buy gorilla permits / Best time for gorilla trekking?

The best time to buy a gorilla permit is 3-6 months before your travel dates. The gorilla permits are on a very high demand in the three countries and they are issued on a first come first serve system. Therefore you need to buy a gorilla permit at the earliest convenient time possible not to miss out the amazing opportunity of meeting your closest cousins in the wild.

The best time for gorilla trekking was something of the past where the managements of lacked enough equipment and technical man power to make gorilla trekking happen in the best way possible. Nowadays the ground has been leveled up no matter the climate season, gorilla trekking is always great.

In the past, many previous gorilla trackers and local tour operators would advise the would be trackers that gorilla trekking was best in the dry season in the months of January-Mid March, June- Mid October and the last half of December. The months of April-May and last half of October- November.

It should be noted that a gorilla permit is the ticket for a gorilla trekking experience without it, a travelers is not allowed to even come close to the gorilla trekking habitats.  Therefore a traveler should follow the above ultimate guide to acquire the gorilla permits and a have an experience of a lifetime as he/she meets of the most amazing and intelligent animals in the wild.