Buying gorilla permits in Uganda online

Buying gorilla permits in Uganda online: Uganda Wildlife Authority is looking forward to introducing a system where gorilla permit buying is done online to ease the whole booking process. With time, travelers from within and outside Uganda will be able to access gorilla permits online without going through a tour operator or Uganda Wildlife Authority. Travelers will be able to check for the availability of gorilla permits first, pay, and book themselves the gorilla permits for any national park they want to visit.

Buying gorilla permits in Uganda online

Uganda Wildlife Authority is looking at this method as one of the best ways to ease travelers from searching for trusted tour operators who won’t scam people’s money and also save the time of contacting who to buy the permits for you. The local tour operators are happy with this coming method because they think they will be losing clients who would have booked using them to organize the safaris in the country.

Buying gorilla permits in Uganda online will not only kill the business for tour operators but also tourism in other national parks because some of the travelers will be coming to encounter mountain gorillas only. When the local tour operators book gorilla permits and organize safaris for travelers, they market other national parks where travelers go for wildlife viewing, boat cruises, and much more.

As Uganda Wildlife Authority is planning to implement an online system where you can obtain your permit without going physically to the Uganda wildlife authority headquarters or passing through a local Tour Operator, apparently you can apply and acquire your gorilla permits using a tour operator or directly from a local tour operator as we are to explain below.

Buying gorilla tracking permits in Uganda

Directly from Uganda Wildlife Authority

Travelers intending to visit Bwindi impenetrable forest national park or Mgahinga national park can book gorilla permits directly from Uganda Wildlife Authority which is a government body in charge of tourism in the country. To book with Uganda Wildlife Authority, you need to first get the dates of the month and year you want to visit Uganda and encounter mountain gorillas. You will contact the reservation offices via email and tell them the dates of the month and year you want to trek gorillas.

The information shall be used to check for the availability of the gorilla permits and an email will be sent to you to let you know whether they are available or not. In case they are not available, you will be asked to choose other dates and once they are available, you will be sent different banking details and how much you need to pay for the permit. You will go to the bank, send the money and thereafter send a scanned copy of the receipt for confirmation. Your permit shall be booked and once you arrive in the country, you will find it at the Uganda Wildlife Authority offices in Kampala.

Using a local tour operator

A lot of tour operators have been licensed by Uganda Tourism Board to carry out tourism activities in the country among which include booking gorilla permits on behalf of travelers. Africa Adventure Vacations is one of the few tour operators you need to trust to book gorilla permits for you. To book with us, you will need to contact us via email with the dates of the month and year you want to travel, and then we shall use this information to check for the availability of the permits with Uganda Wildlife Authority which is responsible for issuing out of the permits.

Once the permits are not available, we shall ask you to change the dates and once they are available, we shall send you different banking details with the price of the permits. You will use any of the banks that is okay for you to send us the money and thereafter send us a scanned copy of the receipt for confirmation. We shall go ahead to buy the permit for you, pick it up from Uganda Wildlife Authority and you will find it with us when you arrive in the country.

Buying gorilla permits in Uganda in advance

When to buy Uganda gorilla permits online

Gorilla permits can be bought at any time of the year as long as it’s not the trekking day however travelers are asked to buy their gorilla permits 3-4 months early in advance. Buying gorilla permits 3-4 months in advance is strongly advised for travelers that are visiting Uganda for gorilla trekking in the dry season which occurs from June to September and December to February. During the dry season, there are lots of travelers that want to visit Uganda for gorilla trekking and therefore permits do sell out quickly. Uganda Wildlife Authority sells out gorilla permits on a forest come first serve basis and therefor travelers intending to visit the park in the dry season must book their permits as early as possible.

Travelers that are intending to visit Uganda for gorilla trekking in the rainy season can book their permits 3-4 months in advance for proper planning of their safari however it’s not that necessary because even a few weeks to the trekking day the permits are always available. The reason as to why permits don’t sell out in the rainy season is there are a few travelers coming to visit the park because there is always plenty of rainfall.

How much are Uganda gorilla permits?

Uganda gorilla permits are cards issued to travelers to enable them to encounter mountain gorillas in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and Mgahinga national park. To encounter gorillas in Uganda you need a gorilla permit and each normal gorilla trekking permit costs $700 for foreign non-residents, $600 for foreign residents, and UGX250,000 citizens of East Africa. Travelers that want to spend more time with mountain gorillas can buy gorilla habituation permits which cost $1500 for foreign non-residents, $1000 for foreign residents, and UGX750,000 for citizens of East Africa.