Home
>
Outdoors
>
Planning Your Own Gorilla Safari Will Save You Money - Heres How

Planning Your Own Gorilla Safari Will Save You Money - Heres How

Going on a gorilla safari must rank as one of the best wildlife experiences left in the natural world. Many people describe it as an overwhelming and awe-inspiring experience and worth every penny they spent on making it happen.

But it doesn't necessarily have to cost the earth.

You can organise and plan your own trek far cheaper than it would cost if you used a safari company as they need to work through the applicable wildlife authorities in each country to obtain gorilla permits anyway and you can do the same if you know how.

The trade-off is that it will be more inconvenient for you because you will need to organise all the logistics yourself whereas with a gorilla safari company you just turn up and go along for the ride.

If you are a do-it-yourself traveller, here is what you need to know to make it possible and save yourself some money...

Where to Find the Gorillas

Mountain gorillas are highly endangered and there are isolated pockets of them left in Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo. It's estimated that there are less than 650 mountain gorilla left in the world.

Travel to the Congo is considered risky because of the political and military instabilities that exist there but Uganda and Rwanda are perfect for a gorilla safari.

Your chances of seeing the gorillas are excellent in both Uganda and Rwanda because they are tracked each day by experienced trackers so their locations are known down to the last 24 hours. It's possible but quite rare for visitors not to see the gorillas.

In Uganda the big apes live in the Bwindi National Park and in Rwanda they can be found at the Volcanoes National Park.

There are three habituated gorilla groups in the Bwindi forest and a total of eighteen permits are issued every day at six per group.

In Rwanda there are four habituated gorilla groups and eight permits are issued per group bringing the total per day to thirty two.

There are some simple rules that apply when visiting these great apes: Don't go if you are sick because you might infect them and they are very susceptible to human diseases, no flash photography, maintain a seven metre distance, don't eat or drink around them and each group can stay for a maximum of one hour.

Best Time to Go on a Gorilla Safari

Bwindi is a rainforest so you can expect precipitation most of the year with the heaviest rains occurring in March - April and September - November while other months are reasonably dry. Annual precipitation is between 1130 mm and 2390 mm.

The annual temperature ranges between 7-20 degrees c with the coldest period between June- July.

The climate in the Volcanoes National Park is changeable and you can generally expect both sun and rainfall during the day. At 1,700m above sea level it is generally quite cold particularly in the evening so warm clothing is advised.

The park receives a high amount of rainfall, over 70 inches (1,800 mm) per year and daytime temperatures average about 70?F (21?C). The dry season occurs mid-June-September and December-March.

Rain is an inconvenience on a gorilla safari but it's not an insurmountable obstacle. Just make sure that you take a good pair of hiking boots with you because it can become very muddy and some parts are pretty steep which can cause you to slip.

Travel and Accommodation

Bwindi in Uganda can be reached from QENP in the north (2-3 hours), from Kabale to the south (1-2 hours), or from Kampala via Mbarara (6-8 hours). The roads meet at Butogota, 17km from the Buhoma entrance gate.

Two up-market tented camps, a lodge, community-run budget rooms and camping are available near the Buhoma entrance gate for accommodation the night before the gorilla safari.

In Rwanda the day before the gorilla trek you can take a 2 USD minibus to Ruhengeri (2 hours) or a 2 USD Virunga or Okapi bus from Kigale. Buses leave every hour (on the hour) from near the gare routi?re/bus station. If you want to leave early in the morning from Kigale it might be a good idea to buy a ticket the day before, but if you leave in the afternoon, you might buy a ticket in the morning.

In Ruhengeri you can stay at any of the decent guesthouses ranging from Home d'Accueil at 5USD, to Muhabura which is clean with private bathroom at 20USD. The expensive Gorillas nest is at Kinigi, a taxi car drive out of town.

Where and how to get the gorilla permit and transportation plus accommodation tips, advice and costs for both Uganda and Rwanda so that you can decide between them.

The get the gorilla permit if you decide to use a guide rather than plan your own trek.

detailed home cleaning Park Ridge ..

In The News:

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

OpenTable now uses AI to track your dining habits and share insights with restaurants. Learn what data they collect and how to protect your privacy.

Google's discontinued Nest thermostats still secretly upload home data to company servers despite losing smart features, raising serious privacy concerns.

New Android malware NGate steals NFC payment codes in real-time, allowing criminals to withdraw cash from ATMs without your card. Learn protection tips.

DoorDash confirms data breach exposing customer names, emails, addresses after social engineering attack. Learn how to protect yourself from scams.

Concerned about Google's AI scanning your Gmail? Learn how to disable Gemini features that access your emails, Drive files and Chat messages for privacy.

Google warns Android users about dangerous fake VPN apps hiding malware that steals passwords, banking details and personal data from phones and tablets.

Apple's digital passport feature lets iPhone users breeze through TSA checkpoints this holiday season using Digital ID technology at 250+ airports.

Planning Your Own Gorilla Safari Will Save You Money - Heres How

Outdoors