Budget Gorilla Trekking in Uganda

Ugan­da offers a life­time oppor­tu­ni­ty to all cat­e­gories of trav­el­ers world­wide to get up close and per­son­al with moun­tain goril­las while in their nat­ur­al habi­tat. Even as a bud­get trav­el­er, it is pos­si­ble to trav­el to Ugan­da and you immerse your­self into the jun­gles to explore the endan­gered moun­tain gorillas.

With only 3 coun­tries where moun­tain goril­las live, a bud­get goril­la trekking tour in Ugan­da should be a must-do to make your trav­el dream come true. Noth­ings does spark trav­el spir­it more than an encounter with moun­tain goril­las in the wild, and with our bud­get goril­la tours, it is pos­si­ble to be part of goril­la trekking also often described as a life­time expe­ri­ence or what oth­ers refer to as a dream come true.

Where to visit

What makes Ugan­da the most pre­ferred bud­get goril­la safari des­ti­na­tion is the fact that it has vari­ety of options for clients to choose from. Two Nation­al Parks are all open to guests to vis­it for goril­la trekking- Bwin­di Impen­e­tra­ble Nation­al Park and Mgahin­ga N. Park. The 2 Ugan­da parks host up to 21 habit­u­at­ed fam­i­lies of endan­gered moun­tain goril­las, and they are all open for goril­la tourism. These can be vis­it­ed in the 5 sec­tors – Nte­beko, Ruhi­ja, Nkuringo, Rusha­ga and Buhoma.

Obtain­ing bud­get goril­la per­mits in Uganda

Most vis­i­tors con­sid­er for budge goril­la tours con­sid­er­ing its rel­a­tive­ly cheap­er per­mits unlike Rwan­da. Each of Ugan­da goril­la trekking per­mits whether you are on bud­get or lux­u­ry goril­la safari is issued at USD700 for for­eign non­res­i­dents, USD600 for for­eign res­i­dents and shs.250000 cit­i­zens in East Africa. In Rwan­da, per­mits are avail­able for reser­va­tion at USD1500 per per­son- Rwan­da posi­tioned her­self as high-end destination.

How much is a bud­get goril­la tour ‑Ugan­da?

When plan­ning for a bud­get goril­la tour or lux­u­ry, there are key fac­tors that come to play. These include goril­la per­mits, accom­mo­da­tion, trans­porta­tion, etc and a nor­mal bud­get goril­la trip can cost from USD1200 to USD2000. A 3‑day goril­la tour can be arranged for you on bud­get basis or even if you want it on midrange/luxury package.

When to vis­it Ugan­da goril­las on budget?

The dry sea­son is the best time to trav­el for goril­la trekking that is from June to Sep­tem­ber or Decem­ber to Feb­ru­ary, but to cut on costs, the low sea­son is more prefer­able for bud­get or pack pack­ers. This is from March to May, Octo­ber, Novem­ber – but these months do record high rain­fall and the ground often becomes mud­dy or steep slopes turn slip­pery mak­ing it chal­leng­ing nav­i­gat­ing through the for­est as you look for a goril­la family.

Bud­get accom­mo­da­tion options

There is a long list of bud­get lodges and camps in & around Bwin­di, Mgahin­ga Nation­al Parks to con­sid­er for overnight sleep. They include Broad­bill For­est Camp, Buhoma Com­mu­ni­ty Ban­das, Bwin­di Back­pack­ers Lodge, Gift of Nature Lodge, CPTH Goril­la Con­ser­va­tion Camp, Nshon­gi Camp, Mutan­da Eco Com­mu­ni­ty Cen­tre, Ruhi­ja Com­mu­ni­ty Rest Camp, Ruhi­ja Goril­la Friends Resort. Oth­er bud­get lodges and specif­i­cal­ly at Mgahin­ga include Virun­ga Home­s­tay & Camp­sites, Kisoro Her­itage Guest­house, Coun­try­side Guest­house, Gold­en mon­key Guest­house, and many others.

What to car­ry on bud­get goril­la trekking- Uganda

·       Water­proof daypack

·       Water­proof hik­ing boots

·       Cam­era with no flashlight

·       Goril­la permit

·       Gar­den­ing gloves

·       Insect repellents

·       Bot­tled water + high ener­gy giv­ing snacks

·       First aid kit

·       Safari hat

·       Sun­screen, etc

How to get there

As bud­get trav­el­er, you will require a bud­get-friend­ly rental car or join a group tour to cut on the cost. By road, you can con­nect to Bwin­di or Mgahin­ga to see moun­tain goril­las start­ing from Entebbe or Kam­pala via Mbarara-Kabale route or go bor­der cross­ing from Kigali via Katu­na bor­der to Kabale, or Chani­ka to Kisoro then to Bwindi/Mgahinga Park.