Direct Ugandan Operator·Kampala & Entebbe
Honest about the floor
There is a hard floor under a Uganda gorilla trip and it is the $800 permit. Everything above that line is negotiable; here is exactly where.
The gorilla permit is $800 for every foreign non-resident, set by the Uganda Wildlife Authority, and no operator can discount it. Park entry is $40–$50 per 24 hours. Boat cruises are $40. These are pass-through government costs and we itemise them at cost in every quote.
If a quote you receive elsewhere is materially below the sum of the statutory fees plus fuel and lodging, something is wrong with it, most often that the permit is not actually held.
Accommodation is the biggest lever: a clean ensuite banda at $60–$120 full board against $400+ for a premium lodge, on the same itinerary, with the same guide and the same permits. Season is the second: green-season rates run 20–30% below peak with better permit availability.
Beyond that, travel as a pair or a small group to split the vehicle, take a shared 4x4 where we offer one, skip the internal flights, and camp in Lake Mburo and Murchison where the campsites are good.
Three days from Entebbe or Kigali, budget lodging, road transfer, one permit: from $2,450 per person sharing. That is our 3-Day Gorilla Trekking Express and it is close to the honest floor for a private trip.
Travellers flying into Kigali save further, as Bwindi's southern sectors are four hours from Kigali against ten from Entebbe (cutting a night of accommodation and a tank of fuel).
Where you'll go
Gorilla trekking Uganda, home to roughly half the world's mountain gorillas
The compact savannah park: Uganda's easiest short add-on
Kazinga Channel cruises and the tree-climbing lions of Ishasha
Twenty-nine islands, terraced hills, and the place everyone decompresses after Bwindi
Other ways to travel
Permits are limited
Tell us your dates and we'll confirm live permit availability and lodge allocations, then send a costed, tailor-made itinerary, usually within the hour.
