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Gorilla Trekking Permit Guide: Costs, Availability, and Booking Tips

Read on for a detailed guide to gorilla trekking permits across Rwanda, Uganda, Republic of Congo and Central African Republic including details on costs, availability, and booking advice.

Before anyone begins a gorilla tracking trip, they must first purchase a gorilla permit (or permits). In Rwanda and Uganda, these are purchased at additional cost to the rest of your safari expenditure, whereas in the Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic they are included in the cost of your safari.

Importance of Gorilla Trekking Permits

The limited numbers of permits per day for gorilla trekking in parks such as Bwindi, Mgahinga (Uganda), and Rwanda are primarily implemented to ensure the sustainable conservation of the endangered gorilla population and their natural habitats. By restricting the number of visitors allowed to track gorillas each day, authorities can manage and minimise human impact on these sensitive ecosystems.

This approach helps to reduce disturbance to the gorillas, maintains their natural behaviour, minimises the risk of disease transmission between humans and gorillas, and promotes a more exclusive and controlled tourism experience for visitors.

Gorilla Permit Costs

Gorilla trekking permits are purchased on a per person, per trek basis, and the funds raised through their sale go to the park authorities. As a result, your travels will contribute directly to gorilla conservation and the upkeep of park infrastructure.

Costs differ depending on which country you’re visiting. As of 2024 the costs for each country are as followed:

Per trek, per person:

  • Rwanda - $1,500.
  • Uganda - $700 ($800 from July 2024).
  • Central African Republic - $450.

Multiple treks included, per person:

  • Republic of Congo - $750.

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St Western Lowland Gorilla Central African Republic Car Sergey Uryadnikov


Gorilla Trekking Safaris

CAR Isak Pretorias

Dzanga Sangha Gorilla Tracking Safari

Track endangered western lowland gorillas, observe forest elephants, bongos, and mangabey monkeys, and join the local Ba'Aka tribe on a net hunt in the dense rainforests of the Dzanga Sangha reserve. Journey to the rainforests of the remote Dzanga Sangha Reserve on this pioneering safari to the Central African Republic. Dzanga Sangha is one of the few places in the world where you can track habituated western lowland gorillas, and is also home to forest elephants and the elusive bongo antelope. Join the local Ba’Aka people as they hunt and gather medicinal herbs, and trek through pristine rainforest in search of colourful birdlife and mangabey monkeys. Staying in the comfortable yet basic Sangha Lodge, this safari is perfect for adventurous travellers hoping to get off the beaten track for incredible wildlife experiences.


From 10345 per person
St Uganda Mountain Gorilla Shutterstock Photocechcz

9 Day Western Lowland Gorilla & Bai Safari

Located in the north-west region of the Republic of the Congo, discover two unique camps inside the pristine Odzala-Kokoua National Park, and a third on a private concession bordering the national park. This is a lowland rainforest characterised by a network of bais, rivers, marshes and swamps. This vast and truly wild region, with its wide range of landscapes and habitat, is home to an incredible diversity of life. Forest elephant, leopard, bongo, forest buffalo, giant forest hog and hippo live alongside the greatest density of western lowland gorilla in Africa.

From 15205 per person
RWA Rwanda Gorilla Richard Denyer

Short Gorilla Tracking Safari

Nothing can prepare you for it. The moment you first encounter a mountain gorilla nestled in the midst of the verdant Rwandan thicket. As soon as you step foot in the legendary Virunga Mountains, there’s a palpable sense of interconnectedness, rippling from the land, to the wildlife, to the people.

From 11500 per person
RWA Cl Rwanda July Gorilla Sideview Credit Richard Denyer

Luxury Complete Rwanda Safari

The opportunity to visit Rwanda's three main wildlife hotspots whilst staying in the most luxurious accomodation and transferring vy helicopter, from tracking the world famouns mountain gorilla and meeting the doctors of the mountain gorilla vetinary project, to tracking the cheeky chimpanzee in Nyungwe and searching for a multitude of wildlfie on game drives in Akagera National Park.

From 39000 per person
UGA St Uganda Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Mountain Gorilla Shutterstock Gudkov Andrey

Contact a Gorilla Specialist Today

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Booking Your Gorilla Trekking Permits

Booking Your Gorilla Trekking Permits

You don't have to worry about anything, we take care of everything related to the process of booking the permits for you. Thanks to our expert guides and their connections in the national parks, we always have the best chances at finding the right family for each client, for example shorter tracking for people with mobility issues.

We've even had success with getting our guests in front of a family that they've seen in the past and wanted to see again so it's always worth getting in touch and discussing any specific requirements you have.

What to Expect from a Gorilla Trek

Gorilla Permit Availability

We’ve broken this down by country so you can see how this differs depending on where you’re interested in travelling to:

Uganda

The authority issues 152 gorilla permits per day for both Bwindi and Mgahinga national parks.

Rwanda

Just 100 gorilla permits are available per day. Each permit gives you access to one gorilla family, and only 8 visitors can view a family each day.

We will work with you to book your permits well in advance of your trek but it’s worth noting that they should be booked at least 3-6 months in advance. As you’ll now know, permits are limited in their availability and they can sell out quickly, especially during the dry season (also known as peak season). This typically includes June, July, August, September, December, January and February.

Booking Your Gorilla Trekking Permit

Our destination specialists will organise your gorilla permits for you, as organising them directly with the national parks can be hard work. Permit costs are the same whether booked through us or with the national parks.

We always recommend that our clients purchase a minimum of two gorilla permits per safari. This allows you to track two different gorilla families on the same trip and offers you a second chance to see them in the unlikely event that you fail to see gorillas on your first trek. You could also choose to buy two permits in two separate countries, which will allow you to discover what makes the different gorilla destinations unique.

In addition, many of those who have spent time with gorillas urge others to experience things differently during their second day with these great apes.

Accommodation Choices for Gorilla Trekking