Gorilla trekking is not a common activity around the world because the few surviving mountain gorillas are only found in East Africa. To be more precise, you can only find them in the three countries of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Many gorilla trackers always book fully inclusive gorilla safari package which include the price of the permit, transportation from Kampala to Mgahinga National Park or Bwindi Forest and getting back, as well as meals and accommodation. Some of these package deals go from US$1500 and above however this depends on the choice of the accommodation facility for the overnight and a gorilla package.

Decide on a Tour Operator or Not?

If you choose to book everything individually you should do it in time. For example, booking a gorilla permit yourself at times becomes difficult because chances of getting them are less. Tour companies and travel agencies have a bigger chance of getting them than individual. And the other problem with traveling alone is that some destinations do not have road signs, you also need to have a local knowledge about the destination and the lodges/hotels for your overnight. So, it’s very important to use a genuine tour and travel company as they can book everything for you at a cheap price and have a cheap wonderful gorilla experience. It’s important to have your budget safari Uganda booked through a recognized tour operator

The Start and End Point

As earlier highlighted, Bwindi and Mgahinga are highly isolated from Kampala and Entebbe airport. So, in order to minimize the cost of transportation, we advise our international guests to fly in through Kigali airport Rwanda. The distance from Kigali to Bwindi is relatively short compared to that of Kampala to Bwindi.  Kigali city is then preferred as our start/end point on short budget Uganda Gorilla Safaris.

Take a short trip

However much you may need to save; you can never spend less on a longer Gorilla Safari than the one on a short gorilla Safari. The more you stay on a trip, the more you spend yet the main tourist activity, Gorilla Trekking can easily be done in 2 or 3 days.

Take a Gorilla Tour During the Low Season

Just like any other Uganda safari activity, the best time to trek Gorillas in Uganda is during the dry season which is between December – February, and June – September. However, this is the high season and no Lodges or tour operators offer discounts which makes it expensive to trek.

The low season is between October – November, and April to May. However, this is the rainy season but the advantage with it is that many Lodges offer discounts. Take advantage of this season to have discounted accommodation and travel on a budget.

Budget Gorilla Trekking in Groups                                                                                                

In order to save big, organizing a group gorilla trek is the best option. Groups help each individual traveler to share costs of transport with others thus highly reducing the cost of the trek. However, for group tours we advise travelers to book at-least four months in advance to ensure that the whole group gets their budget gorilla trekking permits.