Uganda Gorilla Trekking Permits: Cost, Booking & Availability

What a Uganda gorilla permit costs in 2026

The Uganda Wildlife Authority sets a single national price for gorilla trekking, so the fee is identical whether you trek at Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga or Nkuringo in Bwindi, or at Mgahinga. No operator can discount it: anyone advertising a cheaper permit is either quoting an old rate or is not actually holding one.

• Foreign non-resident: $800 per person, per trek
• Foreign resident (holders of a Ugandan work or residence permit): $700 per person
• Gorilla habituation experience (Rushaga sector only): $1,500 per person

What the fee actually includes

The permit covers park entry on trekking day, the ranger-guide team, the armed escort, and one strictly timed hour with a habituated gorilla family once it is located. It does not cover transport to the trailhead, lodging, porters or tips.

Trekking itself runs anywhere from forty minutes to six hours each way through steep montane rainforest. A porter (around $20 plus a tip, hired at the trailhead) carries your daypack, gives you a hand on the climbs, and puts money directly into the local community. We recommend one for every traveller regardless of fitness.

How far ahead you need to book

UWA releases a fixed number of permits per gorilla family per day, sold on a first-paid basis. A permit is only yours once it is paid in full and issued against your passport details, as a reservation without payment holds nothing.

• June–September and December–February: book 4 to 6 months ahead
• March–May and October–November: 2 to 3 months is usually comfortable
• Habituation permits: a handful per day; treat 6 months as the target
• Last-minute travel: occasionally possible on cancellations, but never plan around it

Choose your sector before you choose a lodge

Bwindi's four trailheads sit hours apart on mountain roads, so the sector your permit is issued for determines which lodges are viable. Booking a lodge first and a permit second is the most common and most expensive mistake in Uganda safari planning.

Buhoma in the north is the most established, with the widest lodge range and the shortest transfer from Queen Elizabeth National Park. Ruhija sits highest and is the birding sector. Rushaga has the most habituated families and is the only place the four-hour habituation experience runs. Nkuringo offers the toughest trekking and the most dramatic scenery, and it is closest to the Rwandan border for travellers flying into Kigali.

Rules that affect who can trek

Trekkers must be 15 or older on the day of the trek. This is checked at the briefing against your passport and there is no discretion on it. Anyone showing symptoms of a respiratory infection on trekking morning will be refused entry, because gorillas share enough of our biology to catch what we carry. UWA's practice is to reschedule in that situation, which is a further reason to route the booking through an operator who can act on your behalf.

Frequently asked questions