Uganda Gorilla Trekking Permit: Price, Booking and Rules

The price depends on your residence, not on the park: Bwindi and Mgahinga charge the same. The table sets out every category the Uganda Wildlife Authority lists, including the habituation experience and its rise on 1 January 2027.

The standard tracking permit stays at $800 for foreign non-residents in the revised tariff that takes effect on 1 January 2027. Only the habituation experience and the chimpanzee fees go up.

The Uganda Wildlife Authority introduced the low season rates on 26 February 2026 with immediate effect. They cover the wettest months, when fewer people travel. The catch is in the small print: a low season permit cannot be rescheduled, so if your dates move, the $600 is gone.

Low season chimpanzee permits

The same months bring chimpanzee tracking down to $200 for foreign non-residents and $150 for foreign residents, which matters if your trip adds Kibale, like the 5-Day Gorilla and Chimpanzee Trekking trip.

Everything around the trek is separate, and tours differ in how much of it they cover. Budget for these on top unless your tour lists them.

• Transport to the trailhead, which is the long part: Kampala to Buhoma is about 390 km of tarmac plus 82 km of murram road
• Lodging near your sector
• A porter, if you want one: UWA lists a porter fee of UGX 40,000
• A single-entry Uganda tourist visa, $50
• Tips for guides and porters, paid in cash
• The Batwa trail ($40 in Bwindi, $80 in Mgahinga) or golden monkey tracking ($60), if you add them

A permit holder also gets a free day of entry to Mount Elgon National Park or Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve within a month of the trek, though not their activity fees.

In practice this means the permit comes with a tour, or through an operator who sells the permit alone with transport. Every listing in this catalogue is run by an operator who buys the permit for you, whether or not its price includes it.

Full payment at booking since 1 March 2026

Until March 2026 an operator could hold a permit for seven days without paying. That window is suspended: the Uganda Wildlife Authority now secures a permit only on full payment at the moment of booking. Expect the operator to ask for the permit money up front, even when the rest of the tour is paid later.

What to have ready

The permit is issued for one date, one park and one gorilla group. Have your passport details and fixed dates before you book, and carry the permit and payment receipt on the day, as UWA rules require.

The permit line decides the real price. Here are the trips side by side with the permit added where the listing leaves it out.

A permit-extra price is not a cheaper trek: it is a trip that hands you part of the bill. Compare totals, then compare what else is inside, such as meals, nights and the Batwa visit.

• Minimum age for gorilla tracking: 15 years
• At most eight visitors per gorilla group per day
• One hour with the group
• Keep a distance of 10 m (32.8 ft) from the gorillas
• No eating, drinking or smoking during the tracking
• No flash photography
• Do not visit the gorillas with a cold or another infectious illness
• If you must cough or sneeze, cover your face and turn away

Rangers can refuse a visitor who shows signs of illness, because gorillas catch human colds. That is also why many trekkers wear a face mask near the group.

Instead of one hour with a group used to visitors, you join researchers and trackers with a group still being habituated, for about four hours or more. The Private 5-Day Gorilla and Chimpanzee Habituation Experience includes both the gorilla and the chimpanzee habituation permit, at $4,436.26.

Chimpanzee habituation in Kibale rises in the same tariff, from $300 to $400 for foreign non-residents.

The rules match: both countries set the minimum age at 15, eight visitors per group and one hour with the gorillas. Rwanda issues 96 permits a day in Volcanoes National Park, and trackers gather at Kinigi at 7am.

Kigali is still the short way into southern Bwindi, which is why the 1-Day Mgahinga Gorilla Trek from Kigali crosses the border for a Uganda permit. More in Uganda vs Rwanda gorilla trekking.

Bwindi covers 321 km2 between 1,160 m and 2,607 m and protects approximately 459 mountain gorillas, almost half of the world population, in 25 habituated groups. Its four trailheads are Buhoma in the north, Ruhija in the east, and Rushaga and Nkuringo in the south, nearest Kisoro and Kigali.

Mgahinga is Uganda's smallest national park, 33.7 km2 on the Virunga volcanoes, with one habituated gorilla group. Because the sector is fixed on the permit, book your lodge in the same area: the Bwindi gorilla trekking guide and the Mgahinga gorilla trekking guide explain each one.

The cheapest totals are the permit-extra trips: they cover the car, the border and a basic bed, and leave meals and the permit to you. The higher totals buy lodges, every meal and extras such as the Batwa trail or a canoe ride on Lake Bunyonyi.

On top of any total come the $50 visa, tips and drinks, plus the porter if you hire one. Longer trips spread the cost: the 8-Day Uganda Safari with Chimps and Gorilla Trekking is $3,429 with both permits, park fees and meals, about $429 a day. Compare every option in Uganda gorilla trekking tours.