Uganda Vs Rwanda Gorilla Trekking

Ugan­da and Rwan­da still stand out as Africa’s most vis­it­ed coun­tries when it comes to goril­la trekking, which coun­try is the best to vis­it? A vis­it to these two East Africa for goril­la trekking is a life­time oppor­tu­ni­ty to explore more about the endan­gered moun­tain goril­las. An esti­mat­ed pop­u­la­tion of 1063 moun­tain goril­las, the sub-species of East­ern goril­las still live on plan­et earth. They live in the 3 East-Cen­tral African states- Rwan­da, DRC, and Uganda.

Moun­tain goril­la pop­u­la­tion per destination

With only 1063 moun­tain goril­las left on earth, Ugan­da hosts almost half of them, and about 30% live in Rwan­da. Inter­est­ing­ly, Ugan­da has 2 loca­tions with 5 sec­tors where tourists can begin their jour­ney to see, inter­act and take pic­tures of the mas­sive moun­tain goril­las in the jun­gles. The parks to vis­it for goril­la trekking in Ugan­da include Mgahin­ga and Bwin­di Impen­e­tra­ble Nation­al Park, all these 2 con­ser­va­tion areas are locat­ed in far South­west­ern Uganda.

Rwanda’s moun­tain goril­las occu­py the Vol­ca­noes Nation­al Park, one of the Virun­ga Con­ser­va­tion Areas locat­ed in the North­west­ern side of the coun­try. 12 habit­u­at­ed goril­la fam­i­lies live in this park alone, and they are open to goril­la tourism. This is almost half of Uganda’s habit­u­at­ed goril­la fam­i­lies. In Ugan­da, 21 groups of moun­tain goril­las are open for track­ing, and 20 of them are in Bwin­di then one lives in only Mgahin­ga Goril­la Nation­al Park.

Goril­la per­mit price comparison

Vis­it­ing goril­las in Ugan­da and Rwan­da is pos­si­ble, but only for guests who trav­el to the parks with valid goril­la per­mits. The rates for goril­la trekking per­mits dif­fer, with Rwan­da issu­ing its goril­la per­mits at USD1500 per vis­i­tor, mak­ing it a favorite high-end goril­la destination.

Unlike Rwan­da, Ugan­da is a pre­ferred bud­get goril­la des­ti­na­tion although lux­u­ry safaris are also pos­si­ble to be arranged. Each of valid goril­la per­mit in Ugan­da costs USD700- for for­eign non-res­i­dents, East African cit­i­zens shs 250,000 while for­eign res­i­dents USD600 per person.

Whether you plan to enjoy up close with moun­tain goril­las in Rwan­da or Ugan­da, you need a goril­la per­mit, and it should be obtained ear­ly before an actu­al vis­it to see goril­la fam­i­lies in the wild. We encour­age all our clients to ensure that their Ugan­da or Rwan­da goril­la per­mits are secured at least 2–4 months/1 year before trav­el­ing to enjoy a goril­la tour.

Dis­tance from city centres

Before under­tak­ing a goril­la trek either in Rwan­da or Ugan­da, vis­i­tors have to trav­el up to the parks and these are locat­ed a bit far from the city cen­ter. In Ugan­da, a road trip from Kam­pala or Entebbe city to Bwin­di or Mgahin­ga Park, it takes vis­i­tors from 8–9 hours. From Kigali to Vol­ca­noes Park, it takes guests about 2–3 hours to drive.

There are alter­na­tive options that make your con­nec­tiv­i­ty eas­i­er to your dis­tant des­ti­na­tions for instance in Ugan­da, you can fly from Entebbe Inter­na­tion­al Air­port to Kisoro/Kihihi airstrip. Con­nect­ing from Kinigi/Kisoro airstrips to Mgahinga/Bwindi is eas­i­er since it takes about 1 hour’s dri­ve, and you would have saved much time.

Lodg­ing options

Rwan­da and Ugan­da all have a vari­ety of lodg­ing or accom­mo­da­tion options- bud­get, midrange, and lux­u­ry. Uganda’s lodges are rel­a­tive­ly bud­get-friend­ly, and in Rwan­da, most accom­mo­da­tion choic­es are high-end for instance Sabyinyo Sil­ver­back Lodge, Bisate Lodge, Five Vol­ca­noes, and others.

Extra experiences/activities

Both Ugan­da and Rwan­da have options for guests to enjoy oth­er expe­ri­ences oth­er than goril­la trekking. These include chim­panzee trekking although in Rwan­da, you have 2 options- Nyung­we For­est and Gish­wati-Muku­ra NP, and in Ugan­da, there are over 5 loca­tions that tourists can vis­it to trek chim­panzees in the African jun­gles. Game dri­ves in Ugan­da are car­ried out in over 4 des­ti­na­tions, with an oppor­tu­ni­ty for guests to get up close and per­son­al with the tree-climb­ing lions, and this is opposed to only one loca­tion in Rwan­da- Akagera Nation­al Park.