Step by Step Advice on How to Get a Gorilla Permit in Uganda
How Do I Get a Gorilla Permit in Uganda? Here is our practical Gorilla Permit Advice for Uganda
How Do I Get a Gorilla Permit in Uganda? Using an Association of Uganda Tour Operators (AUTO) is best. By booking your Gorilla Safari through a member of AUT0, getting your permits becomes much easier than the instructional information you might find in articles, forums, and on travel websites.
The best way to get your gorilla permits is to book your safari in Uganda. It would be best to deal with an accredited Uganda Tour Operator licensed by the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) and an Association of Uganda Tour Operators (AUTO) member since such tour operators have the largest allocation of permits from the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
During the High Seasons of the year, Gorilla Permits are a precious and much sought-after commodity in Uganda. Only the Gorilla Habituation Experience Permits are more challenging to obtain than a regular trekking permit since there are only four Habituation Experience permits per day.
Uganda is the Premier Mountain Gorilla Trekking Destination because it offers safe and affordable Gorilla Trekking. The $700 Ugandan Gorilla Permits are less than half of Rwanda’s $1,500 Permit Price for the same Experience with the Mountain Gorillas.
Though Uganda has more Gorillas, more habituated families, and more permits than Rwanda and DR Congo combined during July, August, September, Dember, January, and February, more tourists want to track mountain gorillas than there are available permits.
Here you will learn the best ways to get your gorilla permits even during the high seasons of the year. We realize that Gorilla Permits are your tickets to an incredible encounter with the gentle giants of the forest, and we want you to have the best experience without a hassle with permits.
How to Get a Gorilla Permit in Uganda – Our Step-by-Step Advice
Steps that you can take to get the Gorilla Permits that you want in Uganda:
What is a Gorilla Permit suitable for? 
Here is what a permit means to you. A Gorilla Permit is a legal document issued by Uganda Wildlife Authority allowing you to be with a Gorilla Family for one hour. UWA issues the Permits, primarily marketed through the Association of Uganda Tour Operators, which the Uganda Tourism Board licenses.
There are presently 152 Permits available each day. The minimum age of a participant is 15. The Permit is issued not for a particular Gorilla Group but a Bwindi Impenetrable Forest sector such as Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga, and Nkuringo.
The Nyakagezi Group in Mgahinga Gorilla Park is different since it is the only group there. Permits are issued for a fixed date; that date is hard to change and needs approval. The Permit includes the Park Entrance Fee on the day of your gorilla trek.
A Gorilla Permit is your visa into the world of other giant Apes in the World, Mountain Gorillas, and the Gentle Giants of the Forest. It is your passport to an incredible once-in-a-lifetime encounter with the Mountain Gorillas, the most sought-after activity on the African Continent.
Gorilla Habituation Experience Permits are $1,500. The Experience takes place in the Rushaga area of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, and only four permits are available each day for a group.
How to Get a Gorilla Permit in Uganda during High Seasons – Step by Step Avice:
Here are our suggestions based on 15 years of experience as a tour operator:
- Plan your Gorilla Safari months ahead of time: Plan your Gorilla Trekking Safari for six months or more.
- Plan the Gorilla Trekking portion of your African Safari First: The mistake that African travelers often make is to book the gorilla safari after booking their time in other parts of Africa.
- Be Flexible with dates for your Gorilla Trek: Often, a tour operator may have to tell an enquiring client that permits are sold out on that date. Yet, the day before or after, there are permits.
- Make a timely decision: Do not delay your decisions. Permits can be there one day and gone the next day.
- Work with an accredited Gorilla Tour operator: They are allocated the majority of Permits.
How to Get a Gorilla Permit in Uganda
Most become frustrated (many cannot get through with calls and emails, there is no online system, and only a tiny portion of the permits are for direct sale to the public. It is a frustrating sin for most, and many licenses are sold that way.
The Secret to getting Gorilla Permits in Uganda is to use an Uganda Tourism Board-accredited tour operator who is also a member of the Association of Uganda Tour Operators locally referred to as AUTO.
Uganda Wildlife Authority only sells Gorilla Permits to accredited tour operators on the list given to them by the Uganda Tourism Board and members of AUTO.
The above procedures were finalized in 2022 for tourists to deal confidently with accredited tour operators that must meet the current standards of the Uganda Tourism Board and the Association of Uganda Tour Operators. The tourism board regularly inspects accredited tour operators to see if their standards are currently kept.
This simplifies getting a gorilla permit; it is only logical that you want to deal with an accredited tour operator with ready access to such licenses.
How to Get a Gorilla Permit in Uganda during the Off-Season when Permits are readily available:
The Best months of the year for r Gorilla Permit are April, May, mid-October through early December. They are considered the off-season, which means there are also fewer tourists, Uganda gets quiet, and yet Gorilla Trekking takes place daily, 365 days of the year, come rain or shine.
The months are also the rainy season months. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is a rainforest that can rain any day of the year. No one complained because it rained. Trekkers put on ponchos or rain jackets and venture into the forest to trek Gorillas.
During the Off-Season, Gorilla Permits are readily available, and even gorilla habituation experience permits are available during those months.
If you want to trek Mountain Gorillas, the permit availability forecast is bleak from July through September, and permit availability is there during the Off-Season Months.
Off-Season Permits are something to be considered.
How to Get a Gorilla Permit in Uganda
Consider using Kabiza Wilderness Safaris with 15 years of Experience in obtaining permits:
Consider us for your Gorilla, Chimpanzee, and Big Game Safari in Uganda. We will ensure you have the gorilla permits you need for your safari with us. Since 2008, we have carried out Hakuna Matata – Worry-Free Safaris with Gorilla Permits for over a decade.
We know Uganda; we live and work here, and Gorilla Safaris with permits are one of our specialties. We know the ins and outs of getting Gorilla Permits with the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
We are an Association of Uganda Tour Operators member licensed by the Uganda Tourism Board (License UTB/TT/82445).
We take the hassle out of the Gorilla Permit Process and allow you to focus on the upcoming Gorilla Encounter.
Contact Kabiza Wilderness Safaris – Your one-stop Primate-Wildlife Safari Provider with Permits included
