Gorilla Trekking in Africa: Where to Go and What It Costs

The comparison

Only about 1,000 mountain gorillas remain in the wild and 604 of them live in the Virunga Massif, the chain of volcanoes that spans Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo. Whichever side of the border you trek, you are seeing the same species in the same ecosystem. Uganda, Rwanda and Congo are named the three leading gorilla trekking destinations in Africa.

Most travellers now choose between the first two.

Permit supply and booking advice

Rwanda issues only 96 permits each day, eight per troop, spread across twelve habituated families. Bookings are first come first served. For a June, July or August trek, book several months ahead.

Ugandan permit totals are not stated on the official pages, but the same advice applies: confirm permits before booking flights. In Rwanda you can reserve by paying 40% to 99% of the visiting fee when a slot is available, with the balance due before 30 days to confirm the permit. A no-show on the visiting date makes the permit expired.

Permit prices side by side

The Rwanda Development Board sets the foreign non-resident permit at $1,500 per person per day. The Uganda Wildlife Authority tariff sets the Bwindi and Mgahinga foreign non-resident permit at $800, with a rest-of-Africa rate of $500 and a foreign resident rate of $700. Rwanda also runs promotional rates.

A foreign resident in Rwanda pays $500 and an African citizen or African foreign resident pays $500 under the promotional rate, which is not valid from June to October, and Rwandan and East African citizens pay $200. A 30% low season discount for the full $1,500 permit runs from November to May, but only for trips that combine Volcanoes with at least two nights in Akagera or Nyungwe with one paid activity. One discounted permit is allowed per three-day, two-night stay.

A small consolation if gorillas are elusive in Rwanda: if you track all day and fail to contact a family, 75% of the tracking fee is refunded. If the gorillas' movement prevents tracking altogether, you get another chance or a full refund.

What does a full gorilla tour cost beyond the permit?

A guided day tour removes the logistics. Our cheapest option is 1 Day Rwanda Gorilla Trekking Tour In The Volcanoes National Park at $342 per person for 12 hours, but the gorilla permit is bought separately on top of that. Full-day tours that include the permit sit near $2,650 per person, such as 1 Day Gorilla Trekking Safari Tour at $2,650 and 1 Day Rwanda Gorilla Trekking Tour at $2,687.

Multi-day trips spread the cost across more experiences. In Uganda, 3 Day Uganda Gorilla Trekking and Batwa Pygmies Experience costs $1,860 per person and 3 Days gorilla trekking Safari tour in Uganda costs $2,600 per person. In Rwanda, 2 Days Gorilla & Golden Monkey Trekking Safaris costs $715 per person with the permit bought separately.

Add-ons are priced separately by the parks too: golden monkey tracking costs $100 for a foreigner, the Mount Bisoke hike costs $75 and the Dian Fossey tomb hike costs $75.

Choose Rwanda when time is short

Volcanoes National Park is about a three-hour drive from Kigali international airport, which makes a same-day gorilla trek possible. You report to the Kinigi headquarters at 7:00 AM for the briefing, then hike anywhere from 30 minutes to four or more hours at 2,500m to 4,000m altitude. The trade-off is the $1,500 permit.

If the flight arrives late or you simply want a buffer, a two-day format is safer. 2 Days Gorilla & Golden Monkey Trekking Safaris adds golden monkeys, whose troupes can include up to 30 monkeys, to the gorilla morning.

Choose Uganda for value and variety

Uganda's permit costs about half of Rwanda's. The catch used to be the drive: Bwindi sits about twelve hours from Entebbe. Most travellers now solve this by flying into Kigali and driving to Bwindi's southern sectors in around four hours.

Uganda also stacks well. A three-day trip adds the Batwa Cultural Experience after the trek, as in 3 Day Uganda Gorilla Trekking and Batwa Pygmies Experience. With five days you can cover gorilla trekking, chimp trekking and at least one boat safari.

Uganda additionally offers a gorilla habituation experience, a longer format with a family still being habituated, listed among the country's trekking options.

Rules that shape the trek day

Groups are capped at eight visitors per family and viewing time is limited to one hour. You must keep a distance of 7 meters, about 22 feet, from the gorillas. The Gorilla Friendly Pledge asks visitors to wear a facemask at all times in the presence of the gorillas and to leave no waste in the park.

You cannot visit if you are sick with a cold, flu or another contagious illness, because gorillas catch human respiratory infections. Keep your voice low, avoid rapid movements and do not litter. Documents are verified at park entry gates, and a wrong or false application can lead to denied entry even with a paid permit, so book under your correct passport details.

What your permit pays for

10% of permit revenue goes to local communities around Volcanoes National Park. That revenue share is a large part of why roughly 1,000 mountain gorillas now survive in the wild, up from a fraction of that decades ago. Rwanda doubled its permit price from $750 to $1,500 in May 2017 and raised the community share from 5% to 10% at the same time.

On the ground you get a briefing, armed park rangers, trackers who find the family before you arrive and a guaranteed one-hour encounter with animals that share about 98% of their DNA with humans. If tracking fails completely, Rwanda refunds 75% of the fee or gives you another day, so the risk of paying for nothing is capped.

Booking steps and the fine print

You can track through a local or international tour operator as a package, or book directly online. Rwanda processes applications in about one day and generates the permit automatically once the application is complete. To secure a slot in advance you pay 40% to 99% of the fee, with the balance due before 30 days to confirm.

Cash payment at the park is not permitted. Changing dates costs 20% of the application fee. More than 7 days before the visit it is approved automatically, within 7 days it needs RDB approval.

No refund is made in case of late arrivals, flight delays, absence or cancellation of the trip for any other reason, so build slack into your travel plans.

Age rules across activities

In Rwanda, gorilla tracking requires a minimum age of 15. Golden monkey tracking allows children from 12. The Mount Bisoke and Dian Fossey hikes require 15, while the Sabyinyo hike allows 12 and nature walks allow 5.

If you are travelling with younger children, one adult can trek while the other takes them on a nature walk or to the Musanze caves, which are only a 90-minute drive from Kigali and cost $50 for a foreigner.

What the day actually looks like

In Rwanda you report to Kinigi headquarters at 7:00 AM for the briefing. Tracking can run between 90 minutes and the whole morning depending on which family is assigned, and hikes range from 30 minutes to four or more hours at altitudes of 2,500m to 4,000m. Ugandan treks last 2 to 6 hours depending on where the gorillas are.

Expect 30 minutes to three quarters of the day in total, so prepare for both extremes. Porters are available in Rwanda to carry backpacks and cameras and help on the route, though the official pages do not print a fee. Gumboots, raincoats and gloves can be hired at park headquarters if the weather turns.

Packing and trail kit

The Gorilla Friendly Pledge recommends hiking boots or sturdy shoes, waterproof clothing, long sleeves and gloves. Uganda's Wildlife Authority rules for its parks add no flash photography. Bring rain gear in every season: permits are sold throughout the year and the wettest months are March to May.

Hiring a porter also spreads the benefit. Since 10% of permit revenue already goes to local communities, a porter's wage is a direct second channel. No official porter fee is printed, so agree the amount at the trailhead before you set off.

By traveller type

Short on time. Rwanda. Volcanoes is about three hours from Kigali airport, so 1 Day Rwanda Gorilla Trekking Tour In The Volcanoes National Park at $342 per person, permit separate, fits inside a single long day. On a budget. Uganda. The $800 permit halves the biggest cost, and 3 Day Uganda Gorilla Trekking and Batwa Pygmies Experience at $1,860 per person includes the Batwa encounter on top of the trek. Combining countries. Start in Kigali and trek both sides. 4 Day Rwanda and Uganda Gorilla Trekking does exactly that, and Traveller reports of combined Uganda and Rwanda trips with chimp and gorilla trekking are common among visitors who want both parks in one holiday. Maximum wildlife. Uganda.

With five days you can add chimp trekking and a boat safari to the gorillas. 5 Day Uganda Gorilla and Chimpanzee Safari is built for that. Comfort and pace. Rwanda. Short drives, a 7:00 AM briefing at Kinigi and the Ellen DeGeneres Campus, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. near the park, fill the afternoon after your trek for a suggested $25 donation per adult.