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Gorilla Safari

What is the Cost of a Gorilla Safari

What is the Cost of a Gorilla Safari

Gorilla Safari ,

Each and every client wants to know the price for a gorilla safari and indeed this is the most interesting questions that have been discussed in forums like trip advisor and the lonely planet. This is to act as a guide line and should just act as a guide line and should you have any questions, please our experienced tour consultants for more details. For the very successful gorilla trekking expedition, you need to have a gorilla permit, book and pay for your accommodation, transport to and fro Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Mgahinga National Park and the Volcanoes National Park. Depending on where you wish to trek the gorillas, the minimum days for a gorilla trek in Uganda is three while in Rwanda, its two days.

About the cost of the gorilla permits; within your budget, your number one item should be a gorilla permit. This is the item that gives you permission to see the endangered mountain gorillas for one hour per person in Uganda or Rwanda. Currently each gorilla permits costs US$800 and you contact you can contact us for your gorilla permit pre-purchase. Rwanda gorilla permit costs US$1500 per person. Gorilla permits for Bwindi and Ngahinga Gorilla National park are issued by Uganda Wildlife Authority head offices in Kampala on a fast come first serve basis while the gorilla permits for Rwanda are issued by Rwanda Development Board (RDB). Please contact us for availability and booking of gorilla permits at Uganda Wildlife Authority or Rwanda Development Board. It’s also advised that you pre purchase your gorilla permits 3-5 months in advance to avoid shortage most especially during the high seasons of June, July, August and September , then December, January and February.

The price and cost of Transport;

You will need to budget and plan transport to and from Bwindi impenetrable National park. The minimum days to Bwindi impenetrable National park by road is three days. This means you need to budget for three days. The first day is for transferring to Bwindi and the second day is moving round Bwindi impenetrable national park. You will need a vehicle to transfer you to and from the starting point of your gorilla trek and the third day is to drive back to Entebbe /Kampala.

You also need to budget for a vehicle with guide per day and then fuel to cater for the long distance from Entebbe to and from Bwindi Impenetrable national Park. You can also contact us for the rates of vehicle hire. You can also plan to fly to and from Bwindi impenetrable National Park as some companies like Aerolink operates scheduled flights and from Kihihi that is the nearest Air field and you need transfers from the Air strip to your lodge. The other companies like fly Uganda and Eagle Air operates charter flights to and from Bwindi impenetrable National Park.

The cost and price of accommodation; you will also have to budget for your accommodation for at least 2 nights. The first night is when you arrive in Bwindi impenetrable National Park and the second night is after your gorilla trek. Most of the accommodation offer rooms and meals on full board. And on depending on the type of accommodation, both sides of Bwindi impenetrable National Park and have budget, mid-range and the up market facilities so depending on your taste please do contact us for more information.

The cost of porters, we encourage all our clients to take porters for their gorilla trek for many reasons. These carry your bags and when you are about to come close to the gorillas, they will remain with your packed lunches and all the items that you might not need. They will give you a push or pull during your trek in the forest. This extra effort is to also enable you get your dream of viewing these mountain gorillas. The importance of taking a porter is that by doing so, you are contributing to community development since most of these porters are school going boys and girls and this chance was only given to students to work and get money to for their school fees. By paying for a porter, you are contributing to community development indirectly.

The tips are an appreciation of good service that is rendered to you by your safari guide, gorilla trekking guide, waitress and porters. It’s not a must that you have to do this. As a responsible tour company, we also recommend that you put some small funds aside for tipping.

The company markup, on top of the above costs, the company can put between 10% -20% of the total cost as filing or the service fee. This is part of our profit as well as helping us to book all services like gorilla permits, accommodation and making telephone calls to check availability and make sure that all is in order.