What is the number of mountain gorilla permits in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park?
What is the number of mountain gorilla permits in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park? Bwindi is one of the luckiest national parks in the world to be hosting mountain gorillas and what makes it famous is hosting more than half of the mountain gorillas left in the world. Bwindi is located in southwestern Uganda on the borders with Mgahinga national park the smallest to host mountain gorillas in the world. Trekking of mountain gorillas in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park is done in 4 sectors which harbor different numbers of gorilla families. All the sectors are open for trekking at any time of the year and these include Rushaga, Ruhija, Buhoma, and Nkuringo.
Travelers planning to visit Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and spend 1 or 4 hours with mountain gorillas should know that the trekking is done among 19 habituated mountain gorilla families while habituation is done in 2 semi habituated gorilla families. The gorilla trekking sectors of Bwindi impenetrable forest national park are Buhoma in the north, Ruhija in the east, Rushaga, and Nkuringo in the south. Gorilla habituation sectors are Rushaga and Nkuringo all in the southern sector of the park with the activity being done on only 2 families- Bikingi and Bushaho.
What is the number of mountain gorilla permits in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park?
Bwindi impenetrable forest national park has 2 types of gorilla permits with the most common one being the gorilla trekking permit, and the other being the gorilla habituation permit. What makes these gorilla permits differ are the hours given to be around mountain gorillas and the number of people allowed to trek the gorilla families. The gorilla trekking is done by 8 people who be around mountain gorillas for 1 hour while the gorilla habituation permit is done by 4 people who be around mountain gorillas for 4 hours.
Bwindi impenetrable forest national park has the highest number of mountain gorillas in the world and these totals up to 19. The 19 families spread in different sectors of the permit form 152 permits which are available with the Uganda Wildlife Authority every day. The gorilla habituation permits are 8 which makes a total of 160 permits in a country. These gorilla permits are few according to the number of travelers in the world every day, we therefore advise our clients to book 3- 4 months in advance to book their permits and by doing so they avoid inconveniences.
How travelers intending to visit Bwindi impenetrable forest national park can book their gorilla permits.
Depending on where you are, Africa Adventure Vacations limited is ready to help you on booking a gorilla trekking or habituation permit for Bwindi impenetrable forest national park. All we do ask you in the first place are the travel dates which we use to check for the availability of the permits with the Uganda Wildlife Authority. Once the permits are available on the dates given, we do send you details of how you can send us money and we have received the money, we go-ahead to book a permit for you from the Uganda Wildlife Authority. After securing the permit, we send you scanned copies for your reports.
Travelers can also use the Uganda Wildlife Authority website to book gorilla permits for Bwindi impenetrable forest national park. All you need to do is send them an email containing the days you would want to travel and they will let you know whether the permits are available or not. And if they are available, you will have to send them money in order to get the permit. Doing all this should be done at least 3-4 months before the final day of meeting the gorillas in order to avoid inconveniences.
How much is spending time with mountain gorillas in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park?
Gorilla permits in all the sectors of Bwindi impenetrable forest national park are the same and also the experience. To trek any of the 19 habituated gorilla families you need what we call a gorilla trekking permit and this costs $700 foreign non-residents, $60 foreign residents, and shs250,000 citizens of East Africa. The gorilla trekking permits in all 4 sectors of Bwindi impenetrable forest national park allow a trekker to be around mountain gorillas for only 1 hour.
The other permits found nowhere else but in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park are the gorilla habituation permits. These are sold to people who would want to spend more than 1 hour with mountain gorillas in their natural habitats. The gorilla habituation permits are only 8 and each cost $1500 foreign non-residents, $100 foreign residents, and shs750,000 East African citizens. The gorilla habituation permits in Rushaga or Nkuringo sector allow a trekker to be around a semi habituated mountain gorilla family for 4 hours.
When to book gorilla permits for Bwindi impenetrable forest national park?
Booking of gorilla trekking permits and gorilla habituation permits for Bwindi can be done at any time of the year depending on the time you want to travel. But we always advise our clients to book at least 3-4 months before the final trekking day so as to avoid inconveniences. We encourage tourists to book 3-4 months in advance reason being only 8 habituation permits and 152 trekking permits are available on a single day and if we compare to the number of people who want to trek every day these are few so it’s better you grab yourself a permit earlier.
What is the most appropriate time to visit any of the sectors of Bwindi impenetrable forest national park for trekking?
After getting What is the number of mountain gorilla permits in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park? All 4 sectors of Bwindi impenetrable forest national park are open for mountain gorilla activities. However, the best time to visit the national park is the dry season of June to September and December to February. The dry season is recommended because it comes with little or no rainfall, the vegetation in the park is always thin hence clear views of the mountain gorillas, the trekking trails are less muddy and not slippery increasing the speed of trekking, and the roads leading to the park are passable.
Travelers having time to visit the mountain gorillas in the rainy season can still do so but they need to know that during this time, the rainfall is too much, the vegetation is thick, the trekking trails are muddy, and slippery and the roads to the park are impassable. The advantage of trekking mountain gorillas in the rainy season is that you will get huge discounts on accommodation facilities as well as some park activities. Tourists interested in trekking mountain gorillas in Bwindi are advised to book their gorilla trekking permits in advance of 3-4 months to avoid disappointments.
Trekking and habituation in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park
Both mountain gorilla habituation and trekking in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park start with a briefing at the different sector offices depending on where your permit indicates. The trekkers are expected to be at the briefing point very early in the morning where they will get a briefing about the dos and don’ts of the gorilla trekking or habituation activity from the rangers. After the briefing is done, the trekkers are led by the ranger guides into the jungle to search for the mountain gorillas.
During the search, trekkers will meet different park animals such as monkeys, elephants, bushpigs, giant forest hogs, duikers, and much more. after several hours of searching for these mountain gorillas, the trekkers (trekking permits) are given 1 hour to be around fully habituated mountain gorillas as they watch them do daily activities, learn about their habits and take photos. Those going for habituation are 4 hours to be around these apes in their natural habitats as they make them get used to human presence, watch them do daily activities, and take photos.
What to do with Africa Adventure Vacations?
Africa adventure vacations is a tour company based in Uganda licensed by the Uganda Tourism Board and a member of the Association of Uganda Tour Operators. Booking with Africa adventure vacations provides you safety and confidence during your safari courtesy of well-trained safari driver guides who are well conversant with all routes and tourism destinations in Africa. You can book with us any of the activities you want to do in Africa such as mountain gorilla trekking, mountain gorilla habituation, Chimpanzee trekking and habituation, birding, golden monkey trekking, game drives, hiking, nature walks, and community tours among others. Booking can be done at any time of the year, therefore, it is important to know the number of mountain gorilla permits in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park.
